Digital Power in Latin America: Hashtags and deepfakes as political tools

Abstract

Latin American countries are among the top ten countries in the world where the Internet, social networks, and new technologies including deepfakes, synthetic media, etc. have gained popularity among various stakeholders. Digital diplomacy being a channel to make influence on target audience through social media has turned out to be a driver in domestic and foreign policies of the countries, including Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela, etc. The digital diplomacy is the cohesive element of the cyber power interpreted here as the ability of a country to influence on technological and political processes in the world. The article discusses digital instruments of influence, notably hashtag diplomacy and deepfakes. They are most often applied in Latin American countries in political events. While the hashtag diplomacy steers a rapid mobilization of citizens, deepfakes make the audience be manipulated through the creating of synthetic content (generated by algorithms or artificial intelligence) of the media, false news and events that contributes to the polarization of opinions, the spreading of rumors and conspiracy theories, and extremist actions as well. The high efficiency and deceptive potential of the technology make it possible to consider it as a national threat. In order to illustrate the activity of state and non-state actors in social networks, the authors used the case of the TikTok social platform. The research methodology is based on data retrieved from the Latin American segment of the Internet, and on the subsequent qualitative analysis. The study has made a classification of deepfakes that are most actively used for political purposes in the Latin American region. The article analyzes examples of both destructive and “soft” use of deepfakes.