Venezuelan Refugees in Brazil: Communication Rights and Digital Inequalities During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Julia Camargo, Denise Cogo and Amanda Alencar
Additional contact information
Julia Camargo: Department of International Relations, Federal University of Roraima, Brazil
Denise Cogo: Department of Communication, Higher School of Advertising and Marketing, Brazil
Amanda Alencar: Department of Media and Communication, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Media and Communication, 2022, vol. 10, issue 2, 230-340

Abstract: The article analyzes the experiences of Venezuelan refugees in the city of Boa Vista (Brazil) in exercising their communication rights in the context of social and digital inequalities aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This article outlines a perspective on digital inequalities from a rights-based approach, which focuses on granting the right to communicate to those who lack it rather than providing access to technology without highlighting the structural changes that are needed for promoting representation and participation of marginalized communities. Building on online and face-to-face interviews with 12 Venezuelan refugees, we identified three scenarios where inequalities regarding access and uses of ICTs are materialized: (a) reduction of digital communication interactions and affective networks due to the deterioration of connectivity in Venezuela and the suspension of local communication services provided by humanitarian agencies; (b) barriers to accessing information about rights and basic services, such as education, health, work, and shelter, given the reduction of communication channels and the closure of reference centers supporting refugees; and (c) increased exposure to fake news, scams, and hate speech in social media platforms and message apps, generating disinformation and enhancing risks of exploitation and marginalization of refugees.

Keywords: citizen communication; communication rights; Covid-19; digital inequalities; Venezuelan refugees (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/5051 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:meanco:v10:y:2022:i:2:p:230-340

DOI: 10.17645/mac.v10i2.5051

Access Statistics for this article

Media and Communication is currently edited by Raquel Silva

More articles in Media and Communication from Cogitatio Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by António Vieira () and IT Department ().