Fakes about Coronavirus: Communicational Technologies for Constructing False Messages

Introduction. Interest in the problem of false (fake) news has increased significantly in the situation of the coronavirus pandemic, when the flow of false information considered as an obstacle to the implementation of measures to combat the pandemic itself and its consequences. The authors aim to study the existing works devoted to the analysis of the construction and recognition of false news about COVID-19, paying special attention to the procedures of fact-checking-process of verifying the accuracy of the information contained in the message. The novelty of the author’s approach lies in the use of a content analysis of the fact-checking resource to identify communication technologies for constructing fake news about the coronavirus. Methodology and sources. As a theoretical framework, authors used the information model of communication by Claude Shannon, structuring communication as a process of information transmission and fixing the possibility of noise (distortion) in various parts of this process. The empirical basis of the study was a fact-checking resource that specializes in identifying fakes about the coronavirus (47 units of analysis were considered for the period from March to May 2020). Results and discussion. In the result of the research, specific communication technologies of purposeful construction of false news were identified – distortions in the communication channel, distortions in the message code (content), distortions in the message source. We also identified the types of distortions associated with the content of communication – based on the creation of false content, recoding information (giving it a new interpretation), editing the original. Different frequency of application of these technologies for a given volume of analysis units were been recorded, as well as the predominance of the technology of distortion of the communication channel. Conclusion. The authors draw a conclusion about the importance and relevance of the topic of constructing fake news in the situation of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrate the productivity of using fact-checking resources to identify various communicative technologies for constructing false messages, which creates new prospects for recognizing and countering them.

Authors: Vasil’kova V. V., Trekin P. A.

Direction: Sociology

Keywords: communicational technologies, fakes, factchecking, coronavirus, communication channel, message code

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