Technology, transmission, trust, and tendency: Detecting trends in COVID-19 related fabricated content of virtual fact-check networks

¹ Researcher, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Manipal University Jaipur, Dehmi Kalan, Jaipur, 303007, Rajasthan, India.
² Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Allahabad, Prayagraj, 211002, India.
³ Assistant Professor, Department of Mass Communication and Media Studies, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, 151 401
⁴ Assistant Professor, Department of Law, School of Legal Studies, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, 151401, Punjab, India.
⁵ Research Scholar, Department of Mass Communication and Media Studies, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, 151 401
⁶ Research Scholar, Department of Mass Communication and Media Studies, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, 151 401

¹ Corresponding author: jmcamit@gmail.com

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak has punctured every part of a person's life, along with how people perform, enjoy, study, work out, and interact with one another. The debunking industry has tried to lessen the enormous spread of false information in modern society due to the growth of social media. Current research investigates debunked fallacious content relating to COVID-19 in India, intending to understand the key themes and trends in fabricated content for health literacy. The study is exploratory and uses supervised machine learning for the purpose of classification. The study uses thematic analysis techniques to look at the 506 claims of false information about COVID-19 that Indian fact-checking platforms have refuted. The results discern specific trends and health literacy within the range. The tendency toward fallacious content starts with anger toward China and creates communal hatred against India's minority group. Political propaganda, then false health information, was the main subject of such content. Moreover, many misrepresented and refuted claims came from the mainstream media.