The lies of the year in Portugal had a clear focus: “a specific type” of immigrants

False accusations that immigrants are privileged in public services, the wrong idea about religion and the use of isolated episodes that affect “a specific type of immigrants, who are not Brazilians or Ukrainians”.

Immigration, particularly associated with Muslim communities, was the main focus of disinformation in Portugal throughout 2025, says the coordinator of the project to combat disinformation Iberifier in Portugal, Gustavo Cardoso.

Contacted by the Lusa agency, as part of this project, the ISCTE professor stated that the main theme of disinformation in 2025 “has to do with , with focus essentially on the idea [errada] that immigrants have a religion in common, which is Islam”.

“Violence, crime, some kind of social chaos, but also false accusations that immigrants are privileged in access to health, education, that they receive social benefits and even housing, are different examples of what is built around misinformation about immigration, essentially Muslim immigrants”, explains the sociologist.

Gustavo Cardoso also mentions the “idea of ​​demographic replacement by immigrants and the consequent loss of Portuguese identity” as narratives constructed from real episodeslike the questions of .

Despite all the disinformative narratives and specificities, the academic states that in this matter “what is common is immigration and the focus on a specific type of immigrantswho are not Brazilians or Ukrainians, but Muslims”.

“This year is marked by this classification of immigrants”, he highlights.

Politicization of disinformation

Furthermore, for the Iberifier coordinator there are some aspects that marked 2025 in terms of disinformation.

Firstly, there is a continuity of of misinformationespecially associated with electoral cycles and the issue of immigration, as already explained.

“It has not changed, which is based on immigration and boosted by the electoral cycles that occurred during the year”, explains the sociologist.

For example, in the case of legislative elections, on social media, immigration reached 21 million views, five times more than corruptionthe second most talked about topic.

Narratives that come from outside and AI

Secondly, there continues to be the internationalization of common narratives everywhere, but which have a reinterpretation for the context of each country. “There are narratives that come from abroad, but are used in Portugal to focus on certain themes”, says the academic.

Thirdly, “the normalization of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)used for fraud and essentially with the aim of expanding the reach and credibility of what people are intended to do”.

Fourthly, Gustavo Cardoso lists the systematic use of real crises, such as , as platforms to create “emotional outrage that serves to manage another type of disinformation”.

In this way, “misinformation is always present in everyday life, although we may not realize it. Still, the more elections there are, the greater the probability, in terms of a disinformative phenomenon”, concluded the university student.