Erokhina Yulia
School for Theory of Law and Cross-sectoral Legal Disciplines, Faculty of Law, HSE University, Moscow, Russian Federation.
Int J Semiot Law. 2022;35(3):1187-1213. doi: 10.1007/s11196-022-09888-4. Epub 2022 Feb 23.
Fake news is created as ordinary news stylistically but it consists of deliberate disinformation or hoaxes (aimed at misinforming or deceiving people). The text is generally constructed to cause negative emotions and feelings in readers: fear, panic, distrust, and paranoia. It is done to manipulate the opinion and consciousness of a large number of people and eventually leads to changes in the values, ideas and attitudes that already exist in the public awareness. The result is a schism that has already gone beyond the usual spiritual strife. Moreover, its expansion has weakened the defining feature of Russian Orthodoxy which lies in trust and support of the state and authorities. The Russian Orthodox Church has to deal not only with public health crisis but also with profound differences within its ranks over the churchgoers' behavior in the conditions of a pandemic. The article analyzes legal regulations and mechanisms for countering fake news about the Russian Orthodox Church, and provides examples from the judicial practice. It also determines the mechanisms of the worshippers' reaction to the fake news involving the Russian Orthodox Church. Using semiotic methodology, the author reveals re-encoding of the symbolic meaning of such signs as "Russian Orthodox cross" and "red cross". The connotative meaning of these signs leads to contradictions in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
假新闻在文体上被炮制得如同普通新闻，但它包含蓄意的虚假信息或骗局（旨在误导或欺骗人们）。其文本通常被构建出来以引发读者的负面情绪和感受：恐惧、恐慌、不信任和偏执。这样做是为了操纵大量民众的观点和意识，并最终导致公众认知中已然存在的价值观、观念和态度发生改变。结果是一种分裂，这种分裂已经超出了通常的精神冲突范畴。此外，其蔓延削弱了俄罗斯东正教的决定性特征，而这一特征在于对国家和当局的信任与支持。俄罗斯东正教会不仅要应对公共卫生危机，还要应对其内部在疫情背景下关于信徒行为的深刻分歧。本文分析了应对有关俄罗斯东正教会假新闻的法律法规和机制，并提供了司法实践中的实例。它还确定了信徒对涉及俄罗斯东正教会假新闻的反应机制。作者运用符号学方法，揭示了诸如“俄罗斯东正教十字架”和“红十字”等符号象征意义的重新编码。这些符号的内涵意义在新冠疫情背景下引发了矛盾。
