scholarly journals It Takes a Village to Combat a Fake News Army: Wikipedia’s Community and Policies for Information Literacy

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630512093730
Author(s):  
Zachary J. McDowell ◽  
Matthew A. Vetter

The fake news crisis points to a complex set of circumstances in which new media ecologies struggle to address challenges related to authenticity, rhetorical manipulation and disinformation, and the inability of traditional educational models to adequately teach toward critical information literacy. While social media sites such as Facebook acknowledge the culpability of their platforms in spreading fake news, and create new strategies for addressing this problem, such measures are woefully inadequate. Wikipedia, nearing its 20th year, however, has developed numerous practices and policies to ensure information validity and verifiability. This article explores the connection between participation in the Wikipedia community, the development of critical information literacies, and the ability to navigate the current new media landscape. Analysis and review of Wikipedia’s community policies and the procedures resulting from these policies demonstrate the encyclopedia’s unique capacity to protect against problematic information. We ultimately argue that Wikipedia has become and remains one of the few places on the internet dedicated to combating fake news, and make recommendations on how to leverage Wikipedia practices and policies for information validation outside of the encyclopedia.

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (19) ◽  
pp. 140-160
Author(s):  
Recep Ünal ◽  
Alp Şahin Çiçeklioğlu

The recent increase in usage of concepts such as ‘fake news’ or ‘post-truth’ reveals the importance of digital literacy especially on social media. In the digital era, people’s views on different topics are attempted to be manipulated with disinformation and fake news. Fake content is rapidly replacing the reality among new media users. It is stated with concepts such as ‘filter bubbles’ and ‘echo chambers’ that there is a greater tendency for people to be fed with content that is ideologically appropriate to their own views and to believe in fake news in this content. This article analyzes the structure and functioning of fact-checking organizations in the context of preventing propagation of fake news and improving digital literacy. The research is based on content analysis of verification activities of the fact-checking organization Teyit.org, which is a member of International Fact-Checking Network in Turkey, between January 1 and June 31, 2018. By conducting in-depth interviews with the verification team, propagation of fake news on social networks, fact-checking processes and their methods of combating fake news are revealed. Our article found that fake content spreading specifically through the Internet predominantly consists of political issues.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianca Da Costa Maia Lopes ◽  
Arthur Coelho Bezerra

RESUMO No cenário da era digital, partimos de uma reflexão sobre os desafios à preservação da informação na web diante da hiperinformação que trafega pela rede, com destaque para os caminhos percorridos entre informação e desinformação.  Pretendemos abordar   aspectos da memória no espaço da web e tomar a atual circulação de fake news como exemplo que ilustra a dialética da liberdade sociotécnica contemporânea. Em tal contexto, destacamos a relevância dos estudos de “competência crítica em informação” empreendidos por pesquisadores da ciência da informação, que auxiliam a compreender como as informações veiculadas na internet atendem a propósitos específicos de determinados agentes e grupos políticos, reforçando elementos de poder intrínsecos aos regimes de informação.Palavras-chave: Hiperinformação; Memória; Preservação; Competência Crítica em Informação; Era Digital.ABSTRACT In the scenario of the digital age, we start from a reflection on the challenges to the preservation of information on the web in view of the hyperinformation that travels through the network, highlighting the paths traveled between information and disinformation. We intend to address aspects of memory in the web space and take the current fake news circulation as an example that illustrates the dialectics of contemporary sociotechnical freedom. In this context, we highlight the relevance of studies of "critical information literacy" undertaken by Information Science researchers, which help to understand how the information transmitted on the Internet serves the specific purposes of certain agents and political groups, reinforcing intrinsic power elements of information regimes.Keywords: Hyperinformation; Memory; Preservation; Critical Information Literacy; Digital Age.


Author(s):  
Lena Nadarevic ◽  
Rolf Reber ◽  
Anne Josephine Helmecke ◽  
Dilara Köse

Abstract To better understand the spread of fake news in the Internet age, it is important to uncover the variables that influence the perceived truth of information. Although previous research identified several reliable predictors of truth judgments—such as source credibility, repeated information exposure, and presentation format—little is known about their simultaneous effects. In a series of four experiments, we investigated how the abovementioned factors jointly affect the perceived truth of statements (Experiments 1 and 2) and simulated social media postings (Experiments 3 and 4). Experiment 1 explored the role of source credibility (high vs. low vs. no source information) and presentation format (with vs. without a picture). In Experiments 2 and 3, we additionally manipulated repeated exposure (yes vs. no). Finally, Experiment 4 examined the role of source credibility (high vs. low) and type of repetition (congruent vs. incongruent vs. no repetition) in further detail. In sum, we found no effect of presentation format on truth judgments, but strong, additive effects of source credibility and repetition. Truth judgments were higher for information presented by credible sources than non-credible sources and information without sources. Moreover, congruent (i.e., verbatim) repetition increased perceived truth whereas semantically incongruent repetition decreased perceived truth, irrespectively of the source. Our findings show that people do not rely on a single judgment cue when evaluating a statement’s truth but take source credibility and their meta-cognitive feelings into account.


Libri ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna Kammer ◽  
Kodjo Atiso ◽  
Edward Mensah Borteye

Abstract This comparative cultural study examines differences in digital citizenship between undergraduate information literacy students at two different, but similar, universities across the globe from each other. Under the notion that the internet and prevalence of mobile devices allow students to participate online as digital citizens in ways that were impossible before, we use mixed methods to compare the attitudes and experiences of undergraduate students at a university in the midwestern United States (U.S.), with a university on the southwestern coast of Ghana. We also examine the policies related to technology use at these schools. The findings indicate that Ghanaian students had higher levels of digital citizenship. Other findings suggest that network issues are a problem for students in both schools, especially for Ghana, and ethical aspects of internet use, like cyberbullying, hacking, and fake news, deter students from participating online as much as they would like.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 451-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Khattab

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation and unscientific interpretations flooded the internet. Seeking credible information in Egypt was paramount at the time. An answer to this quest was ‘Ask Nameesa’, an award-winning Egyptian-focused chatbot that utilizes Facebook Messenger to communicate with social media users in an individualized response engagement. It relies on information validated by WHO and the Egyptian Ministry of Health. This article examines the structure of Ask Nameesa as an example of infobots and studies the interactive engagement it offers users to provide health information. The study analyses data gathered by interviewing the founder and CEO of DXwand, the company that developed Ask Nameesa as well as content analysis of conversations with Ask Nameesa to assess its user engagement. The study aims at understanding the potential Ask Nameesa has in providing information literacy and tackling public demand for information.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justyna Masłyk

Abstract The main purpose of this article is to present the results of research concerning the use of social media by companies from the SME sector in Podkarpackie Province. The article includes data obtained in the first stage of the study, which is a part of a research project on the use of social media in the area of creating the image of an organization / company as an employer.The survey covered the entire population of companies from the SME sector, which are registered in Podkarpackie Province (REGON database). The research phase, the results of which are presented in this article, mainly involved the analysis of data on companies from the SME sector in Podkarpackie Province in terms of their presence on the Internet (having an individual website, having company profiles on selected social networks). The results of the first stage of the study confirm that the companies see the potential of the online presence / functioning in social media (more and more companies have their own website, Facebook profiles). The dynamics of changes in this area is definitely not adequate to the pace of new media development. On the basis of preliminary results of further stages of the research, it can also be concluded that in the vast majority of cases, however, these are non-strategic and non-systematic activities.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Raihan Nasution

In this digital era, young people are very vulnerable to negative things, therefore Islam as a religion which is rahmatan lil alamin, must take appropriate and fast actions to save young generations of Islam from getting lost in the darkness of cyberspace life. This article is prepared with a library research approach by conducting a literature review and collecting data from various sources and subsequently, the data is analyzed descriptively by presenting facts or findings which are then theoretically reviewed. Therefore da’wah of digital era really must use the media, especially new media. The development of communication technology has changed the way people communicate and interact. Nowadays, almost everyone uses the internet to send, search, and read information. Therefore, the Qur’an Surah An-Nahl: 125 offering da'wah methods of digital era have to be able to attract sympathetic Millennials, presenting representative, interactive and innovative da'wah methods through social media is the best way to save the young generations of Islam in the future.


2022 ◽  
pp. 255-263
Author(s):  
Chirag Visani ◽  
Vishal Sorathiya ◽  
Sunil Lavadiya

The popularity of the internet has increased the use of e-commerce websites and news channels. Fake news has been around for many years, and with the arrival of social media and modern-day news at its peak, easy access to e-platform and exponential growth of the knowledge available on social media networks has made it intricate to differentiate between right and wrong information, which has caused large effects on the offline society already. A crucial goal in improving the trustworthiness of data in online social networks is to spot fake news so the detection of spam news becomes important. For sentiment mining, the authors specialise in leveraging Facebook, Twitter, and Whatsapp, the most prominent microblogging platforms. They illustrate how to assemble a corpus automatically for sentiment analysis and opinion mining. They create a sentiment classifier using the corpus that can classify between fake, real, and neutral opinions in a document.


2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-530
Author(s):  
Paul Bernal

The current ‘fake news’ phenomenon is a modern manifestation of something that has existed throughout history. The difference between what happens now and what has happened before is driven by the nature of the internet and social media – and Facebook in particular. Three key strands of Facebook’s business model – invading privacy to profile individuals, analysing mass data to profile groups, then algorithmically curating content and targeting individuals and groups for advertising – create a perfect environment for fake news. Proposals to ‘deal’ with fake news either focus on symptoms or embed us further in the algorithms that create the problem. Whilst we embrace social media, particularly as a route to news, there is little that can be done to reduce the impact of fake news and misinformation. The question is whether the benefits to freedom of expression that social media brings mean that this is a price worth paying.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sarah Kieswetter

This study aimed to use my own practice to explore patriarchal hegemony in new media art, and its relationship with technology (in this case the internet) through a feminist lens. In this research, the term ‘patriarchal hegemony’ refers to the internet/social media being an inherently male-dominated and controlled space. The theoretical framework is informed by theories from cultural studies addressed though a feminist scope. Furthermore, this study sought to critically analyse how techno-feminist (digitally driven and online feminist activism) artists and activists use technology, the internet, and social media as new innovative platforms. This feminist activism seeks to disrupt and create awareness of the dominant patriarchal hegemonic thinking within contemporary society (Morgan 2017:11). I used my own art practice as a point of departure to investigate techno-feminism and also conducted research on the work of other selected feminist artists who use their digital presence to articulate their media-based art activism. In addition, I critiqued how internet GIFs can be used as visual mechanisms to create awareness of patriarchal hegemony and propose alternatives.


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