Startseite Examining the spread of disinformation on Facebook during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic: A case study in Switzerland
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Examining the spread of disinformation on Facebook during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic: A case study in Switzerland

  • Mirjam Baumann EMAIL logo und Edda Humprecht ORCID logo
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 2. Oktober 2024
Communications
Aus der Zeitschrift Communications Band 50 Heft 2

Abstract

Disinformation poses a significant threat to democratic societies, particularly in the context of the Covid-19 health crisis. This study delves into the prevalence and nature of disinformation in social media by analyzing Facebook accounts of political actors and alternative media within the unique Swiss landscape during the first wave of the pandemic. Using standardized quantitative content analysis, we categorize posts as either accurate, reconfigured, or fabricated. Our findings reveal a disconcerting pattern: Disinformation was shared more frequently than accurate information. Notably, right-wing politicians and parties, alongside alternative media sources, emerged as the most prolific disseminators of disinformation. Digging deeper, we discovered that the predominant form of disinformation shared on social media was reconfigured disinformation, signifying manipulated or contextually distorted information. This prevalence of reconfigured disinformation on social media platforms raises pressing concerns about the public’s ability to discern fact from fiction. Moreover, our study shines a spotlight on the inadvertent or perhaps deliberate contributions of right-wing politicians and parties and alternative media sources to the propagation of disinformation. By examining this phenomenon within the Swiss context during the initial wave of the pandemic, we provide valuable insights into the dynamics of disinformation and its implications for society during crisis situations.

Keywords: disinformation; content analysis; alternative media; political actors

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Published Online: 2024-10-02
Published in Print: 2025-05-28

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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  13. Examining the spread of disinformation on Facebook during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic: A case study in Switzerland
  14. COVID-19 vaccine reviews on YouTube: What do they say?
  15. It’s the political economy after all: Implications of the case of Israel’s media system transition on the theory of media systems
  16. Periods of upheaval and their effect on mediatized ways of life: Changes in media use in the wake of separation, new partnership, children leaving the parental home, and relocation
  17. Solving the crisis with “do-it-yourself heroes”? The media coverage on pioneer communities, Covid-19, and technological solutionism
  18. What makes audiences resilient to disinformation? Integrating micro, meso, and macro factors based on a systematic literature review
  19. “That’s just, like, your opinion” – European citizens’ ability to distinguish factual information from opinion
  20. Book reviews
  21. Cuelenaere, E., Willems, G., & Joye, S. (Eds.) (2021). European film remakes. Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474460668. 272 pp.
  22. Cushion, S. (2024). Beyond mainstream media: Alternative media and the future of journalism. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003360865. 193 pp.
  23. Frau-Meigs, D., & Corbu, N. (2024). Disinformation debunked: Building resilience through media and information literacy. Routledge. 328 pp. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003387404
https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2023-0059
Schlagwörter für diesen Artikel
disinformation; content analysis; alternative media; political actors

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Titelseiten
  2. Articles
  3. Communication and academic burnout: The effects of social support and participation in decision-making
  4. With time comes trust? The development of misinformation perceptions related to COVID-19 over a six-month period: Evidence from a five-wave panel survey study in the Netherlands
  5. A qualitative examination of (political) media diets across age cohorts in five countries
  6. Oldies but goldies? Comparing the trustworthiness and credibility of ‘new’ and ‘old’ information intermediaries
  7. Life online during the pandemic : How university students feel about abrupt mediatization
  8. Publishing strategies and professional demarcations: Enacting media logic(s) in European academic climate communication through open letters
  9. International cooperation on (counter)publics between tradition and reorientation: Social democracy and its media in the Cold War era
  10. The Silicon Valley paradox: A qualitative interview study on the social, cultural, and ideological foundations of a global innovation center
  11. Quality and conflicts of communication consulting: Demystifying the concept and current practices based on a study of consultants and clients across Europe
  12. Hate speech mainstreaming in the Greek virtual public sphere: A quantitative and qualitative approach
  13. Examining the spread of disinformation on Facebook during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic: A case study in Switzerland
  14. COVID-19 vaccine reviews on YouTube: What do they say?
  15. It’s the political economy after all: Implications of the case of Israel’s media system transition on the theory of media systems
  16. Periods of upheaval and their effect on mediatized ways of life: Changes in media use in the wake of separation, new partnership, children leaving the parental home, and relocation
  17. Solving the crisis with “do-it-yourself heroes”? The media coverage on pioneer communities, Covid-19, and technological solutionism
  18. What makes audiences resilient to disinformation? Integrating micro, meso, and macro factors based on a systematic literature review
  19. “That’s just, like, your opinion” – European citizens’ ability to distinguish factual information from opinion
  20. Book reviews
  21. Cuelenaere, E., Willems, G., & Joye, S. (Eds.) (2021). European film remakes. Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474460668. 272 pp.
  22. Cushion, S. (2024). Beyond mainstream media: Alternative media and the future of journalism. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003360865. 193 pp.
  23. Frau-Meigs, D., & Corbu, N. (2024). Disinformation debunked: Building resilience through media and information literacy. Routledge. 328 pp. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003387404
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