Fact or fake? The organization of fake news networks about the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

As fast as the spread of SARS-CoV-2, fake news spreads in an exponential way through the virtual environment, and can have devastating consequences for the economy, politics and public health, for example. The present study makes use of a netnographic inspired research carried out in an open social network to map the network of actors around an admittedly false news story about the Covid-19 cure. We seek, then, the answer to the following question: How does the organization of fake news networks occurs through reports about Covid-19? Starting from an initial post (P1), which talks about a prescription without scientific proof about a method to combat Covid-19, we mapped the unfolding of the network of human and non-human actors around the P1. As a result, we found an exponential engagement around the fake news, causing an incalculable consequence for public health.

Keywords

• fake news
• covid-19
• pós-verdade
• teoria ator-rede