Offensive and hateful communication or programmed disinformation? An analysis of the characteristics and discourse of the #ExposeBillGates conspiracy event
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First, some electoral processes and then the COVID-19 crisis have brought offensive and dangerous disinformation events in social media into the spotlight. This research analyses an event concerning disinformation and the launch and dissemination of the hashtag #ExposeBillGates, through the 183,016 tweets that used this hashtag during its period of activity in June 2020. Through network analysis and by processing the content of the messages through text mining, it was observed that the size of the event was highly dependent on the participation of a small number of accounts, and some violent and abusive communication was found, although not hate speech. The need to deeply study the relationship between two macro communicative phenomena of a different nature, but more intertwined in their “problematic” origin than may appear, is discussed.
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Jesús C. Aguerri, Postdoctoral researcher. Crímina Centre, Miguel Hernández University of Elche
Postdoctoral researcher (Juan de la Cierva - Formation at the Crímina Centre for the Analysis and Prevention of Crime. Doctorate in Sociology from the University of Zaragoza and has undertaken work concerning sociology in cyberspace and the management of freedom of expression.
Fernando Miró-Llinares, Professor of Criminal Law. Crímina Centre, Miguel Hernández University of Elche
Professor of Criminal Law at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche and director of the Crímina Centre for the Analysis and Prevention of Crime. He was head researcher for multiple national and international projects and is the author of a number of publications of note on the management of discourse on social media, radicalization, and cyberspace.
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