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Introduction: The present study focuses on the analysis of the perception on the roles of mass media during the health crisis derived from the COVID-19 pandemic. It also studies how people adopt specific roles oriented towards the legitimation and implementation of control and social rules. Methodology: A questionnaire was designed based on a set of Likert type answers responded by 704 people from different regions in Spain. Data were analyzed using SPSS software package. Results: Results indicate that sex and age are determining variables in the legitimation and implementation of social control between peers. Results also indicate that there is a relationship between the way people perceive the role of media and their predisposition to abide and exercise social rules and control. Discussion and conclusions: Both the literature and obtained data show that there is a relationship between the role of media in situations of social alarm and health crisis, and the processes of legitimation of cosmovisions of "reality" derived from disinformation, hoaxes and noise information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]