Information Warfare and Cognitive Sovereignty in Brazil: Strategic, Legal, and Institutional Challenges in the Contemporary Information Environment

This preprint examines information warfare and cognitive sovereignty in Brazil through an interdisciplinary framework combining strategic studies, international law, domestic legal structures, information operations, cognitive warfare, and contemporary security studies. It analyzes how digital platforms, disinformation, influence operations, algorithmic environments, artificial intelligence, and coordinated informational strategies can affect public perception, institutional stability, democratic processes, strategic autonomy, and national decision-making. The paper develops the concept of cognitive sovereignty as the capacity of a State and its society to preserve autonomous judgment and institutional resilience in an environment characterized by persistent informational competition. Particular attention is given to the legal and strategic limits of State responses, the distinction between legitimate information activity and hostile influence operations, and the need to reconcile national security with fundamental rights and democratic safeguards.