DISINFORMATION AND ISLAMOPHOBIA IN TIMES OF INFODEMICS. A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS FROM SPAIN

Abstract

This article carries out a sociological exploration of disinformation based on the analysis of Islamophobic hoaxes in Spain during the first months of the COVID-19 outbreak. Our hypothesis places the focus of the research on understanding the sociological dynamics that have emerged from the interaction between networked connections, the asymmetrical information environment and the irruption of the radical right.. After explaining the chosen methodology - qualitative in nature - and in the light of the hypothesis put forward, the article identifies and presents three main narratives extracted from the analysis of 17 Islamophobic fake news stories, which corroborate the results of previous studies and enable us to analyse the Islamophobic content of the sample of hoaxes selected as well as the sociological dynamics that explain the genesis and expansion of the disinformation phenomenon based on the selected case study.