Who is to blame? Conventional and unconventional media disinformation spread during a natural catastrophe

Autor principal:
Javier Lorenzo Rodríguez (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid)
Autores:
Alberto de León (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid)
Programa:
Sesión 4, Sesión 4
Día: jueves, 10 de septiembre de 2026
Hora: 09:00 a 10:45
Lugar: 18

The ideological polarisation in democratic systems is increasingly exacerbated by the digital dissemination of

disinformation. While social media is often blamed, the role of traditional media in amplifying these narratives remains under-examined. This research analyses the agents of disinformation during the 2024 DANA floods in Spain. Through manual expert curation of the top 300 influential accounts across Facebook and other social platforms, representing over 50 million interactions, we identify the primary "agents of disinformation”. Our findings, supported by a Kruskal-Wallis test, reveal a significant divergence in framing: while official state actors maintain a resilient and technical discourse, traditional media outlets often converge with political activists in tone and sentiment, acting as multipliers of affective polarisation.

Palabras clave: Climate crisis, disinformation, social media, radical right