Post-truth, conspiracy, and fake news in the uncertain times of the COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the truth about the virus and its implications were at issue and were the object of a heated debate, nationally and globally. Because of the novelty of that experience, convergent truths emerged in Morocco, exacerbating the uncertainty that was already prevailing. This article examines these convergent truths, their epistemological bases, claims, and resources. This analysis shows the existence of different powers and strategies to which different truths are linked. The creative truth upheld by the existing dominant power, drawing, for legitimacy, on empirical scientific knowledge and claiming control over the situation. The esoteric truth based on conspiracy theories, political conflict, or the religious doctrine of fatalism and popular culture was supported and diffused through social media and gained traction among the public, already distrustful of the dominant narrative and of the scientific expertise. While other forms of truths existed in this post-truth era, this article focuses on these two kinds of truth, and examines how both were constitutive of two antagonistic discourses that used different kinds of propaganda including even fake news or alternative facts to provide (false or emotional) grounds for their claims. The scrutiny of the interactions between these discourses through media texts showed that while the government used propagandistic (pseudo)scientific messages to control the population and reinforce its authority, with little regard for people’s doubts, worries, and fears, the social media users formed different clusters of like-minded people and resisted the dominant narrative taking advantage of the growing distrust of the government among the population and the communication blunders of some public policy officials.