“DISINFORMATION IN DIGITAL POLITCAL DISCOURSE: A STUDY OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN PAKISTAN”

Abstract

In today digital world, the rapid proliferation of disinformation is one of the global risks and challenging issue. In this regard, the study investigated disinformation in digital political discourse of Pakistan that to what extent political parties in Pakistan engage in disinformation on social media. For this purpose, social media posts of four high profile political parties were manually analyzed. The researcher found that these political parties are highly indulged in disinformation, sharing disinformation for political agendas to achieve their political motive. Furthermore, these parties practice different disinformation trends and attributes to create confusion in public by sharing misleading and fabrication stories together. Misleading and fabrication were the most prominent attributes in Pakistan political landscape. Especially, misleading content is the most powerful and persuasive attribute of disinformation and calculated strategy in political communication of Pakistan. The study also showed that the prevalence of disinformation increases as the election time approaches.