Vigilância e filtragem de conteúdo nas redes digitais: desafios para a competência crítica em informação.

Abstract

From the recognition of the digital environment as a primary source of information for a growing number of people, the work presents two problems - the surveillance and content filtering - which relate to the current socio-technical structure of digital platforms. In the text, such problems are pointed out as challenges for the prospects of a critical information theory, in the opinion of a group of researchers of information science and librarianship. These authors bring to their studies the contribution of critical theory, with the sociological horizon that considers the political and economic conditions of the current information system. By doing so, they want to contribute to the democratization promises, reducing inequality and autonomy of individuals. Following such conceptual track, this text will address the phenomena of surveillance and monitoring of personal data on the internet and the filtering of information on digital platforms such as social networks and search engines, pointing out the algorithms that tend to reify the user experience from their previous behavior on the network. The conclusion is that both creativity and dialectical thinking, which are essential for the critical information literacy, must be sought through the transgression of the internet filters, operation to be performed by individuals who, questioning their own understandings and searching for dissenting voices, overcome the barriers imposed by current digital information industry.