Misinformation, Fake News, and Ideological State Apparatus: A Study of Communication in the light of Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The concepts of fake news and rumors in communication are not new. The practice of spreading propaganda for the benefit of the dominant has been around us for several centuries with the rise of societies and power structures. But the mediums through which they are spread have changed over the years. The oral mode has given way to media and the cyber world. All social media platforms are participating in this process. As information is power, that is why every individual using social media platforms is powerful in his/her domain. This power becomes a menace when the information is manipulated from the source. The destructive power of this phenomenon is evident in this COVID-19 scenario as well. The modes of communication are being distorted and as a result, the information is becoming beyond recognition by common people. Here the manipulation is not only caused by the governments and their ideologies as stated by Louis Althusser, but also by a group of cybercriminals. Amidst this pandemic situation, sound information is the key to restrain the panic and confusion of the masses. WHO’s Director-General Dr. Tedros has said that miss information causes confusion and spreads fear. It hampers the response towards the outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic remains a silent example of how social media has bred a multitude of falsehoods. In the first few months of 2020, information and news reports about coronavirus (COVID19) disease were rapidly published on social media and social marketing sites throughout the internet. In this pandemic situation, there are thousands of people who are spreading information, rumors, and misinformation making it critical for the governments to control. At the same time, it continues to harm the mental health of every individual. The paper aims to analyze the causes and effects of the spreading of fake news and misinformation.