The Brexit referendum is a good example of the particular vulnerability of the European project when fighting disinformation. Therefore, EU institutions have developed a series of initiatives throughout 2018 to define a European strategy to counter disinformation that emphasizes the responsibility of social networks in reporting false content. In addition, given the weakness of the European public sphere, the European institutions support the creation of European networks of fact checkers. This strategy implies the denunciation of lies, rather than the promotion of alternative interpretive frames, which authors like Lakoff (2004) consider an error from a framing point of view. Empirically, we demonstrate through an analysis of the main networks of actors on this matter (academics, foundations, think tanks, media, social network platforms and fact checkers) that there is a dispute to defi...

The Brexit referendum is a good example of the particular vulnerability of the European project when fighting disinformation. Therefore, EU institutions have developed a series of initiatives throughout 2018 to define a European strategy to counter disinformation that emphasizes the responsibility of social networks in reporting false content. In addition, given the weakness of the European public sphere, the European institutions support the creation of European networks of fact checkers. This strategy implies the denunciation of lies, rather than the promotion of alternative interpretive frames, which authors like Lakoff (2004) consider an error from a framing point of view. Empirically, we demonstrate through an analysis of the main networks of actors on this matter (academics, foundations, think tanks, media, social network platforms and fact checkers) that there is a dispute to defi...

Disinformation is currently one of Europe's greatest challenges. In the past years, the European continent in general and, more precisely, the European Union have been suffering from various disinformation campaigns: such as the one that led to Brexit; the parallel health and disinformation pandemic; or the hybrid propaganda strategy following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In this context, the death of Queen Elizabeth II of England has also been marked by disinformation practices that went viral throughout Europe. Therefore, this research aims to delve into the nature of disinformation regarding the death of the Queen in the timeframe between 8 and 22 September 2022, focusing in three European countries, namely Spain, the United Kingdom and France. For that purpose, the study is based on a content analysis of 76 publications published by fact-checking organisation, as well as open-end...