Mapping Stigmatizing Hoaxes Towards Immigrants on Twitter and Digital Media: Case Study in Spain, Greece, and Italy

Abstract

This text presents a mapping of the hoaxes published on Twitter and in digital media during 2020 in Spain, Greece, and Italy after having been classified as disinformation with the intention of causing harm in the fact-checking portals of the three cited countries. Verification services that are members of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) have been chosen for this analysis: Spain (Newtral.es/Maldita.es), Greece (Ellinika Hoaxes), and Italy (Facta News/Lavoce.info). The chosen online portals belong to FactCheckEU, a European project launched by the international verification network. The validated sample presents 150 pieces of information identified as hoaxes by the verification platforms and disseminated in the current communication scenarios by the network in the three direct recipient countries of the migratory phenomenon through the Mediterranean. A qualitative methodology applied to the case study is used, which is complemented by critical discourse analysis.