ABSTRACT
In times of social distancing and lockdown as a result of the global COVID-19 outbreak, digital media have become all the more central to our everyday lives. Despite numerous benefits that digital media offer, ample evidence shows that these platforms have also facilitated the viral spread of misinformation, and even disinformation, in relation to the epidemic. This chapter explores how WhatsApp users in Hong Kong creatively confront disinformation with parody fake voice messages - an emerging audio-based digital genre that has not been studied extensively. Specifically, it examines the discourse features which parodists tend to deploy in imitating fake voice messages and the range of functions which this genre may serve. The chapter concludes with some suggestions for future directions.
