Fake News about Covid-19: Dialogical Relationships between Persuasion Techniques and Legitimacy and Credibility Effects

Abstract

This article examines the dialogic relations between persuasion techniques and legitimacy effects in a fake news item on the YouTube platform. The analysis is grounded in contributions regarding dialogism and processes of signification from Bakhtin's Circle. The methodology considers relationships between ideology and the material reality of signs, signs and concrete forms of communication, and communication and material base, as indicated by Volóchinov. The primary findings highlight persuasion techniques categorized as humor, false representation, appeal to authority, and emotional appeal, which were employed to refute the social interpretation of the community spread of COVID-19 and to bolster the idea that the official death toll was false.

Keywords:
Fake news; Dialogism; Understanding; COVID-19; Persuasion Techniques