NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND ELECTIONS: SHOULD THE STATE PLAY ANY ROLE IN COMBATING MISINFORMATION?

Given the paradigm shift caused by new technologies, should the State play any role in combating misinformation in elections? This is the question to be addressed in the research that will lead to the scientific article. Assuming that it is necessary to gauge how far misinformation has been tackled in the electoral process with the emergence of new technologies through jurisprudential research. After preliminary research into the Superior electoral Court (Tribunal Superior Eleitoral -TSE) case-law and into the twenty-seven regional electoral courts, the hypothesis is that misinformation was not addressed as a relevant object aimed at protecting the freedom of voting. The exception would derive from decisions on the improper use of media (article 22 of LC 64/90). Restricting the disclosure of facts that are knowingly untrue