The Semiotics of Fact-Checked Fake News: A Mixed-Method Analysis of English-Language Facebook and X Posts (January–June 2025)

The current paper focuses on the way visual and textual signs in fake news produce populist narratives on Facebook and X. Different from prior literature that emphasizes psychological and political effects, the research explores the creation of disinformation through semiotics. An explanatory sequential mixed-method approach is applied in analyzing 200 English-language posts posted between January and June 2025, 100 posts from each social network site and verified by trusted fact-checking organizations. Content analysis allowed for identifying prevailing themes, while multimodal analysis used such notions as myth and connotation by Barthes and the visual grammar of Kress and van Leeuwen. It was found that anti-elite narratives and threatening imagery were prominent, with anger and fear being prevalent emotions. Facebook was using more manipulated images and national icons, while X utilized slogans and hashtags. In general, fake news can be viewed as a multimodal semiotic system producing political identities and ideologies.