Resumo

HERRERO-DIZ, Paula  e  PEREZ-ESCOLAR, Marta. Analysis of Hoaxes about COVID-19 Debunked by Maldita and Colombiacheck: Effects of the Infodemic on the Behavior of Societ^**. Palabra Clave [online]. 2022, vol.25, n.1, e2517.  Epub 17-Mar-2022. ISSN 0122-8285.  https://doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2022.25.1.7.

Current studies on the effects of disinformation have mainly focused on politics, whereas fake health news are potentially more harmful to consumer welfare than political hoaxes. The most representative example of this approach is the current crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The World Health Organization alerted, in February 2020, of another coronavirus-associated pandemic: the infodemic, which refers to the spread of false information on health with direct consequences for people’s well-being. To study this phenomenon further, this research, which has a clear international projection, aims to identify the media frames that predominate in COVID-19-related hoaxes in Spain (N = 708), as detected by the Maldita.es and Colombiacheck verification platforms. From an inductive perspective-qualitative methodology-five frames were inferred to analyze this infodemic: “impact,” “polarization,” “super-remedies,” “causes,” and “clickbait.” The results show that “impact” is the dominant frame and refers to hoaxes that inspire fear and confusion in the audience. These results are somehow logical; considering the intrinsic characteristics of hoaxes that include the “impact” frame, disinformation induces the user’s urgent need to alarm or alert other individuals.

Palavras-chave : Coronavirus; COVID-19; disinformation; framing; hoaxes; infodemic; media frames.

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