Abstract:
This study investigates the contemporary challenge of fake news faced by the state of Pakistan
during the most recent national election campaign of 2018. Carrying out misinformation within
the borders and from the external sources, targeting public opinion has become a norm for
majority of the states. Extreme rhetoric is created in the form of fake news, false narratives,
concocted stories and propagandas, negatively impacting the perception of a common man.
The saga of misinformation creates different partisan groups who are in support of extreme
narratives formulated by different actors. They craft different strategies and use tools (like
social media) for promulgating fake stories. The shift from physical violence towards rhetoric
is exceptionally visible in our society. The goal of this qualitative research was to learn more
about the topic of fake news in Pakistan and how it affects social media users who vote in major
democratic elections. The two-step flow theory and public choice theory were employed in this
study to examine how individuals used social media during the election process. In view of the
impact of fake news on the 2018 elections, the purpose of this study was to find out why people
found fake news appealing. During the 2018 election, participants discovered a substantial
volume of fake news items on social media, according to the thematic analysis. Therefore, this
study highlighted how fake news is perceived and have an impact on public opinion in the
novel case of Pakistan through exploratory study using qualitative analysis, revealing a major
finding from the generated themes that how social media was creating societal polarization. It
also suggests how it can be curbed in the upcoming elections.
