Ignorance, social media and the university (school): negationism and pseudo-horizontality in the debate

Abstract

This article presents an experience report in the university subject called Philosophy, in a face-to-face course, with part of its schedule taught by distance learning methods, at a private university in Rio de Janeiro. It presents an episode faced by the teacher-tutor, who had suffered accusations of “political-ideological activism” in the preparation and correction of an assessment activity, which has reported the threats and intimidation suffered in their right and duty to educate and teach. Therefore, we discuss, based on what happened, how the use of ignorance (denialism) has been configured as a strategy to create a false horizontality in debates and how it encourages coercion in the field of education, catapulted by social media. We also approach the need to think about the presence of these denialist perspectives as well as about the speeches generated by them and circulating on/through social media which have echoed through universities and schools. And, finally, highlight the importance of the debate about ethical-political formation while promoting democratic education.