Combating fake news in textbooks

an analysis of the Português: Linguagens collection (PNLD 2024–2027)

Abstract

The expansion of digital technologies has broadened access to information, while also intensifying information disorder, thereby highlighting the need to foster critical readers. This article analyzes how the fight against fake news is addressed in the Português: Linguagens textbook collection (Saraiva), approved by the Brazilian National Textbook Program (PNLD 2024–2027) for the final years of elementary education. The study focuses on reading and writing activities aimed at developing critical and media literacy. The theoretical framework is grounded in Sociodiscursive Interactionism (Bronckart, 2006, 2008), the didactic transposition of textual genres (Schneuwly & Dolz, 2004), studies on information disorder (Wardle & Derakhshan, 2017; Santaella, 2019), and literacy studies (Kleiman, 1995; Street, 1984; Knobel & Lankshear, 2003). Methodologically, this is a qualitative, interpretive documentary study. The findings show that the textbook addresses the topic in a cross-curricular manner by integrating different discourse genres, such as interviews, comic strips, public awareness campaigns, and editorials, while encouraging source verification, fact-checking, critical reflection, and ethical engagement with information circulating on social media. However, the analysis also reveals that the textbook emphasizes the individual responsibility of readers in combating fake news, paying limited attention to the structural dimensions of disinformation, such as algorithms, digital platforms, political and economic interests, as well as the multisemiotic strategies employed in fake news. It is concluded that, although the textbook makes an important contribution to the development of critical readers, its approach could be strengthened through more in-depth discussions of the social and technological processes underlying disinformation, thereby reinforcing the teacher's role in promoting a broader perspective on media and information literacy.