Digital disinformation during the 2020 parliamentary elections in Lithuania
ENThe 2020 parliamentary elections in Lithuania were marked not only by the SARS-CoV-2 virus but also by increasingly widespread misinformation and disinformation related to different contexts of the pandemic. The coronavirus, which appeared suddenly and unexpectedly, caused a feeling of threat to the health of citizens, and this in turn created a huge demand for information on the new threat and protection against it. In the media space - especially on the internet - false, context-altered, unverified information began to appear alongside true information. Among the distorted publications were rumours and manipulated information intended to cause feelings of insecurity and panic and create artificial divisions within society. This disinformation impacted the content of media coverage during the campaign and elections in Lithuania. The purpose of this chapter is to analyse fake media content aimed at undermining the credibility of electoral actors and procedures. The authors aim to identify which topics the fake news content focused on (e.g. COVID-19, campaign actors, electoral procedures) and their potential impact on the electoral campaign and election outcome.
