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Paper short abstract:

This paper evaluates the role of online milieux of socialisation as potential sources of precarious information. Specifically, it identifies the key COVID-19-related narratives shared on thematic social media groups for labour migrants from Uzbekistan to Russia.

Paper long abstract:

Although some examples of precarious and misleading information related to the global COVID-19 pandemic have been reported on, the various sources of such information and the magnitude of its impact are yet to be fully comprehended. Moreover, there are cases and contexts that are underrepresented in academic inquiries. In response to the near absence of academic literature on the topic, this article takes on the task of evaluating the role of online milieux of socialisation for labour migrants from Uzbekistan to Russia as potential sources of precarious information related to COVID-19. Specifically, it addresses thematic groups across social media platforms such as Odnoklassniki, VKontakte, Facebook, and Telegram. The article responds to the following research question: What are the key COVID-19-related narratives shared on thematic social media groups for labour migrants from Uzbekistan to Russia? Through a netnographic study of these groups, the article presents the five identified COVID-19-related narrative clusters: “the remedy,” “practical information,” “the news,” “asking for help,” and “conspiracies and religion.” Given that all the identified narrative clusters contained misleading information, the article initiates a discussion on the role that thematic social media groups can play in (dis)informing labour migrants.