Narrative Coherence and Disinformation: The Case of Anti-vaccine Groups in Latin America

The study investigates the role of narratives in the persistence of disinformation networks of anti-vaccine groups. A network and textual analysis was conducted on a corpus of 1,271,115 Telegram messages between 2020 and 2024. The analysis reveals the relevance of narrative coherence in the spread of disinformation, transcending the main actors of the network. Our results point to the need to consider misinformation as a product of the tensions in the information ecosystem in the face of the crisis in institutions and its effects on contemporary societies. Therefore, we propose an approach that goes beyond considering it simply as a product of "malicious actors" or a problem of facticity. Hence the importance of considering it as a systemic phenomenon from an approach that considers both power relations and the cultural contexts situated to combat it.