Abstract

RIOS GORDILLO, Carlos Alberto. Pandemic, Rumors, Fake News: Deciphering the Infodemic in Mexico. Secuencia [online]. 2023, n.117, e2071.  Epub Aug 07, 2023. ISSN 2395-8464.  https://doi.org/10.18234/secuencia.v0i117.2071.

This article studies the infodemic in Mexico, which arose as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. During the first lockdown of 2020, as panic and riots against government institutions spread through the center, south and southeast of the country, the legend of the werewolf was born. To explain the twofold influence of the pandemic and the infodemic on living conditions and the collective mindset, the research draws on the work of Marc Bloch and Carlo Ginzburg on rumors, fake news, the false and the fictitious, as well as evidence from social networks and the national and international press. The article concludes that fake news and rumors about fantastic and supernatural beings are the key to accessing the collective consciousness and the state of society.

Keywords : COVID-19; infodemic; rumors; social unrest; werewolf.