Managing the Noise: Discreet Verification and Disinformation Practices Among Peruvian Students

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21142/DES-1704-2025-0088

Keywords:

Information literacy, Media education, Access to information, Gender roles, University students

Abstract

The circulation of disinformation is a structural feature of young people’s informational habitat in Latin America. This study aimed to explore how Peruvian female university students confront disinformation and what fact-checking strategies they develop. Six in-person focus groups were conducted with 36 Communication students (aged 18-21) and analyzed through thematic coding. Findings show that disinformation is perceived as an inevitable part of their digital diet and managed through situational adaptation processes that generate ambiguities between confidence and vulnerability, credibility and consumption, and tensions in family and peer relationships. The Bad News game was received with interest but also raised ethical concerns about producing false content. We conclude that students deploy discreet and silent verification practices that, although effective, remain invisible in conventional indicators of digital citizenship.

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Author Biographies

  • Julio-César Mateus, Universidad de Lima

    Doctor en Comunicación por la Universidad Pompeu Fabra de Barcelona. Profesor asociado e investigador en la Facultad de Comunicación y Escuela de Posgrado de la Universidad de Lima, donde coordina el grupo de investigación en Comunicación, Educación y Cultura (CEC). Sus líneas de investigación abordan la educación mediática, las teorías de comunicación y las culturas digitales.

  • Elohim Monard, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison, Estados Unidos

    Candidato a doctor en la School of Journalism and Mass Communication de la Universidad de Wisconsin-Madison. Su investigación se centra en las intersecciones entre verdad, tecnología y democracia, especialmente en cómo se construyen la confianza y la legitimidad en contextos políticos conflictivos. Ha sido profesor de Comunicación y de Ciencia Política y trabajó en gobierno, cooperación internacional y sociedad civil en el Perú.

  • Lucia Ballesteros-Aguayo, Universidad de Málaga. Málaga, España

    Doctora en Comunicación y licenciada en Periodismo y en Publicidad. Es profesora en la Facultad de Comunicación de la Universidad de Málaga. Sus líneas de investigación son media literacy, disinformation y media studies. Es autora de más de 40 artículos científicos y monografías, como Diccionario posverdad (Comares, 2023) y «A fact-checking tool based on Artificial Intelligence to fight disinformation on Telegram» en la revista científica Communication & Society.

  • Manuel Etesse, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Lima, Perú

    Doctor en Sociología por la Universidad Sorbonne Paris Cité. Profesor e investigador en el Departamento de Educación de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Sus líneas de investigación abordan la calidad y equidad en la educación, métodos de investigación y tecnologías emergentes.

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Published

2025-12-22

How to Cite

Managing the Noise: Discreet Verification and Disinformation Practices Among Peruvian Students. (2025). Desde El Sur, 17(4), e0088. https://doi.org/10.21142/DES-1704-2025-0088

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