FROM FAKE NEWS TO REAL NEWS WITH A TWIST: DISINFORMATION AND COVID-19 NARRATIVES

Abstract

Given the major shift in perception, communication and identity triggered by the pandemic over the last two years, the use of digital tools to guide patterns of association, mobilization and action seems more powerful than ever. Although Fake News has been making headlines since the early days of globalization, its later developments revealed interesting conjectures on topics such as the rise of non-state hegemons, ascent of digital diasporas, deterritorialization, or post-politics. In this context, the distances between fake news and reality tend to be blurred by the intervention of interpretive bias, while the role of public’s beliefs, latent iconography and power mythology becomes more critical. Following this argument, the paper looks at some of the emerging trends in fake news and master narratives in digital media, also tackling the implications triggered by their potential use in the context of hybrid confrontations.