scholarly journals FAKE NEWS AND THE RITUALISATION OF THE SELF

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-121
Author(s):  
ELENI KARAS

Two hundred years have passed since the question of subjectivity (re-interpreted through Kierkegaard’s existentialism) became central in modern philosophy. Over these two centuries, multiple theories addressed and questioned the borders between authentic subjectivity and an internalized panopticon of the hegemonic views that dominate the subject. Nevertheless, they still have to be definitively defined. As we may try to point Fake News (FN) is an opponent to subjectivity, and yet it comes from the subject. FN is the intentional spreading through new technologies of false information on a global level by subjects that use social media, a process influencing not only the sense of socio-political reality but also the concept of identity. Identities (personal or collective) are in general the combination of the socially determined understanding of ‘who I am’ and the socially and psychologically influenced ‘mental model’ of ‘what the world - and the self within it - should be’, all expressed and produced under the fundamental influence of our idiosyncratic characteristics. One of the fields that all these factors meet and interact is the new mediated environment where almost everyone can participate and contribute. According to the Sociology of Communication as founded by Giddens, Habermas and Luckmann (Leydesdorff 2000) this makes the public part of our identity the dominant one, creating a ritual in which our narcissistic elements dominate our private ones. The Self, addressing itself into the public like an echo and back to the Self, becomes ritualized. In our paper, we explore the interrelation of this phenomenon with the creation and distribution of Fake News, from the vantage point of Kierkegaard’s existential philosophy.

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Janaina Rigo Santin ◽  
Marlon Dai Pra

This paper, built from a bibliographic review, using the hypothetical deductive method, deals with the growing problem related to the dissemination of false information, which in its turn interferes directly in the formation of public opinion and, consequently, in democracy and the fundamental civic rights exercise. Throughout the text, it is observed how this phenomenon is present and takes power in different media, particularly in electronic media, reaching many people and blurring the right to information. In this way the Brazilian political scenario was observed, especially in the 2018 electoral process, in which fake news marked the campaigns, bringing to the public a series of distorted values rather than cohesive proposals and well-defined strategies. From this analysis we understand the need for an education on the subject, so that the practices of disinformation can be gradually combated preserving and praising reliable information committed to the citizen's rights and democracy.


SEEU Review ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-85
Author(s):  
Adrian Besimi ◽  
Visar Shehu

Abstract In the last period, especially during the COVID-19 pandemics, individuals as well as institutions globally and in North Macedonia particularly, have failed to correctly respond to the new challenges related to cyber security, online attacks, and fake news. Being that in a state of isolation and quarantine most governmental institutions have heavily relied on online tools to communicate among each other and with the public, it is quite evident that they have not been well prepared to adopt new technologies. This paper aims to bridge together the needs for technology during the COVID-19 pandemics versus the security challenges that many forget to mention. The primary focus of this paper is to elaborate on the security challenges associated with technology with several examples from incidents around the world and from North Macedonia. As such, it represents a perspective paper with focus on current and emerging advances on IT security for running the “new normal” world.


2021 ◽  
pp. 244-245
Author(s):  
Rakesh Anbazhagan ◽  
Srinivas Govindarajulu ◽  
Sudha Seshayyan

At this pandemic situation where the global response to ght the COVID-19 pandemic through the cooperation of the general public, the negative shade of internet connectivity has been revealed, with the overload of misinformation which is being spread about the virus and management of outbreak are increasing day by day, may pose a greater risk to public health. These widespread of misinformation, rumours and fake news is termed as Infodemic by the WHO (World Health Organization), these massive content of misinformation makes it difcult for people to obtain the information from the trustworthy sources. With hope hanging on the vaccine, the scepticism and false information being rapidly developing towards it, would cause another health crisis. Getting correct and accurate information via reliable sources, especially the information which is provided by the ofcial institutions and organs of governments could help in decreasing the apprehension among the public. With this insight the paper aims to review about the infodemic, its implication and hindrances to combat Covid-19 in India.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 229-238
Author(s):  
Ester Almenar ◽  
Sue Aran-Ramspott ◽  
Jaume Suau ◽  
Pere Masip

In the current media ecosystem, in which the traditional media coexists with new players who are able to produce information and spread it widely, there is growing concern about the increasing prominence of fake news. Despite some significant efforts to determine the effects of misinformation, the results are so far inconclusive. Previous research has sought to analyze how the public perceive the effects of disinformation. This article is set in this context, and its main objective is to investigate users’ perception of fake news, as well as identify the criteria on which their recognition strategies are based. The research pays particular attention to determining whether there are gender differences in the concern about the effects of fake news, the degree of difficulty in detecting fake news and the most common topics it covers. The results are based on the analysis of a representative survey of the Spanish population (N = 1,001) where participants were asked about their relationship with fake news and their competence in determining the veracity of the information, and their ability to identify false content were assessed. The findings show that men and women’s perception of difficulty in identifying fake news is similar, while women are more concerned than men about the pernicious effects of misinformation on society. Gender differences are also found in the topics of the false information received. A greater proportion of men receive false news on political issues, while women tend to more frequently receive fake news about celebrities.


2021 ◽  

Fake news has been the subject of a rapid research response, from a range of fields, given its impact on multiple sectors, the public sphere, and everyday life. The most prominent areas and disciplines contributing research and academic writing on fake news have been journalism, media and cultural studies, media literacy, politics, technology, and education. Whilst the concept is part of a broader concern with misinformation, the term “fake news” came to widespread public attention during the 2016 US presidential election. During the campaign, inaccurate social media posts were spread to large groups of users, a form of “viral” circulation found most prominently on the Facebook platform. A subsequent investigation discovered a large quantity of the posts were generated in the town of Veles in Macedonia, leading to concerns about the automated factory production of messages, including by “bots.” A key development in the use of the term “fake news” was Donald Trump’s adoption of it, following his election, as a negative description of unfavorable media coverage, going so far as to respond to unwanted questions from reporters in press conferences with “you’re fake news.” Fake news is a recent development in a long-established area of persuasive, misleading, or disproportionate mass communication. Research into fake news and analysis of it can be broken down into a set of categories. Political fake news is intended to misinform and influence (a contemporary form of propaganda). Strategic “cyberwarfare” by one nation on another may include spreading false information through fake social media accounts, authored by “bots.” Commercial fake news operates in the form of “clickbait,” whereby advertising revenue is attracted and combined with the economic affordances of user data trading. It is important to recognize that multinational digital corporations integrate this kind of communication into their business models. The distinctive impact of fake news has been to destabilize mainstream news media and provoke a crisis of trust in journalism, contributing to polarized public discourse and an increase in discriminatory communication. Research into fake news and the broader “information disorder” has explored fake news as propaganda, the role of technology, algorithms, and data harnessing in the spreading of fake news; fake news as an existential threat to journalism; fake news as part of the process of undermining or challenging democracy; protection from fake news through verification or “fact-checking” tools and more sustainable, longer term educational approaches to developing resilience to misinformation through media literacy. The term “fake news,” however, has been the subject of disagreement, with journalists, policymakers, educators, and researchers arguing either that it presents an oxymoron as false information cannot be categorized as news as defined by journalistic codes of practice (and thus plays into the hands of those who wish to undermine mainstream media) or that it assumes a “false binary” between real and fake, ignoring the gatekeeping agendas at work in all news production.


Author(s):  
Oloo Ong’ong’a

The rise of fake news into the new media platform has raised significant concern in Africa and Kenya in recent years. The new media has embedded itself with fake news, which sometimes has led to the misunderstanding and misinformation of particular events that might be of the public interest. The general public, policymakers, and scholars, as well as the media, have found this as a very challenging issue. The upsurge of the new technologies, mainly social media, has posed challenges as youth immerse themselves in utilizing these social media for their own benefits. This is coupled with the creation and spreading of fake news, which sometimes when it goes viral; they lead to stress, panic and uncertainty to the individuals that come across them. The ability of users’ exceptional capacity to produce, reproduce, and distribute their information to a broad audience makes social media, an essential tool in the information age. The article critically reviews the literature on fake news and recommends for media literacy, strengthening the legal structures and use of sophisticated technologies as a strategy to fight fake news in the social media in Kenya.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 419-428
Author(s):  
Erna Kumalasari Nurnawati ◽  
Ellyawan Setyo Arbintarso

The Covid19 pandemic that has hit the entire world since March 2020 provides various aspects of people's lives: economic, social, behavior, and life habits. One aspect that often occurs is the flood of information about a pandemic, especially in the early days of the virus outbreak. This community service aims to provide understanding in responding to the flood of information during the pandemic to the public, especially the women at the Persatuan Wanita Darussalam (PWD) in Darussalam 3 Residential, Ngemplak, Sleman. The method used in community service is by observing the subject, providing online counseling using the zoom meeting application by utilizing the RT / RW Net in the housing and followed by follow-up monitoring in the form of post-extension monitoring. The result of this service activity is that the community, especially, gets learning and understanding how to deal with the flood of information during the pandemic, especially in filtering real and false information (hoax).


2021 ◽  
pp. 2046147X2110140
Author(s):  
Jessica Borge

This article responds to a special call for papers on the subject of ‘Taboos in Health Communication: Stigma, Silence and Voice’ and presents the historic case study of the London Rubber Company, manufacturers of Durex condoms, who used PR techniques to undermine confidence in the oral contraceptive pill over 1961–1965. It is argued that continuities between the public discussion of birth control products between the 1960s and today can help practitioners to better understand the nature and uses of ‘fake news’, secrecy and transparency and the productive possibilities of rumour. It is written from the perspective of an empirical research historian with an interest in historical cases of PR relating to contraception, using a qualitative, chronological approach based on original archival research.


MELINTAS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-218
Author(s):  
Yanuarius Muni

Fake news spreads quickly and changes situations in the society. It has become a sort of linguistic violence circulating negative ideologies and perspectives that slowly destroy people both mentally and physically. The growing tendency of circulating fake news raises a serious problem in the society and moreover among Christians, for important human values, including religious values, are disregarded. Christian understanding of human beings as created in the image of God implies that they have the capacity to use good words to build a sacred society, that is, a society blessed by God. However, the tendency to retrieve and to disseminate information too quickly occurs almost automatically in this age of information, which ironically threatens every good intention of the self in building a trusting community. This article explores the elements of Christian communication based on the Church teachings on the subject matter, in order to counter the tendency of desacralisation of the self on social media and to promote truthful as well as deliberating communication in the society.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattia Mattei ◽  
Guido Caldarelli ◽  
Tiziano Squartini ◽  
Fabio Saracco

AbstractThe Covid-19 pandemic has had a deep impact on the lives of the entire world population, inducing a participated societal debate. As in other contexts, the debate has been the subject of several d/misinformation campaigns; in a quite unprecedented fashion, however, the presence of false information has seriously put at risk the public health. In this sense, detecting the presence of malicious narratives and identifying the kinds of users that are more prone to spread them represent the first step to limit the persistence of the former ones. In the present paper we analyse the semantic network observed on Twitter during the first Italian lockdown (induced by the hashtags contained in approximately 1.5 millions tweets published between the 23rd of March 2020 and the 23rd of April 2020) and study the extent to which various discursive communities are exposed to d/misinformation arguments. As observed in other studies, the recovered discursive communities largely overlap with traditional political parties, even if the debated topics concern different facets of the management of the pandemic. Although the themes directly related to d/misinformation are a minority of those discussed within our semantic networks, their popularity is unevenly distributed among the various discursive communities.


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