scholarly journals Sharing fake news about health in the cross-platform messaging app WhatsApp during the COVID-19 pandemic: A pilot study

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (`10) ◽  
pp. 403-410
Author(s):  
David Araújo Pinheiro ◽  
Mariana Gomes Leitão De Araújo ◽  
Keilla Barbosa De Souza ◽  
Beatriz de Sousa Campos ◽  
Evanete Maria De Oliveira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Sociodemographic Characteristics ◽  
Fake News ◽  
False Information ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Current Scenario ◽  
Cross Platform ◽  
False News

In the current scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of false information has spread through social networks. This study aimed to characterize the types of fake news in health and the factors that influence its sharing. This is a descriptive cross-sectional observational study conducted by health scholars who analyzed the messages received in the WhatsApp network and the sociodemographic characteristics of sharers in the year 2020. Results: The level of education influences the spread of false news, and family members have a higher frequency of sharing these news. As for the type of content of fake news, the fabricated content and false context stood out as the most shared ones. The characteristic of the group of researchers may have influenced the receivement of a smaller amount of fake news, since they are able to recognize and refute

scholarly journals Looks Real, or Really Fake? Warnings, Visual Attention and Detection of False News Articles

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-180
Author(s):  
Bartosz W. Wojdynski ◽  
Matthew T. Binford ◽  
Brittany N. Jefferson
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Information Design ◽  
Correct Classification ◽  
Fake News ◽  
False Information ◽  
Article Type ◽  
Science News ◽  
False News

Abstract In recent years, online misinformation designed to resemble news by adopting news design conventions has proven to be a powerful vehicle for deception and persuasion. In a 2 (prior warning: present/absent) x 2 (article type: false/true) eye-tracking experiment, news consumers (N=49) viewed four science news articles from unfamiliar sources, then rated each article for credibility before being asked to classify each as true news or as false information presented as news. Results show that reminding participants about the existence of fake news significantly improved correct classification of false news articles, but did not lead to a significant increase in misclassification of true news articles as false. Analysis of eye-tracking data showed that duration of visual attention to news identifier elements, such as the headline, byline, timestamp on a page, predicted correct article classification. Implications for consumer education and information design are discussed.

scholarly journals Post-truth and trust in journalism: an analysis of credibility indicators in Brazilian venues

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 452-473
Author(s):  
Marcelo Träsel ◽  
Sílvia Lisboa ◽  
Giulia Reis Vinciprova
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Digital Networks ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Redes Sociales ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Current Scenario

The terms ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’ have been used to describe the augmented dissemination potential of misinformation in digital networks in the second decade of the years 2000. In Brazil, different actors have been exploiting digital social networks for political purposes, disseminating content that imitates legitimate journalistic material, often obtaining better audience metrics than the news stories published by mainstream media. This article is divided into two parts. First, defines the term pseudojournalism to classify fraudulent texts that use journalistic narrative resources to deceive the audience. Second, it presents the results of an analysis of 23 political content producers with the greatest audience on Facebook in Brazil, based on the credibility indicators developed by Projeto Credibilidade (Trust Project). The results suggest that, in the current scenario, it is not possible to distinguish the quality journalism from pseudojournalism based on the characteristics of the websites and articles published by political content producers.Os termos “notícias falsas” e “pós-verdade” vêm sendo usados para descrever a potencialização da desinformação nas redes digitais na segunda década dos anos 2000. No Brasil, diversos atores vêm instrumentalizando as redes sociais para disputas políticas, espalhando conteúdo falso que imita materiais jornalísticos legítimos, muitas vezes obtendo mais audiência do que o noticiário de veículos tradicionais. Este artigo se divide em duas partes. Na primeira, conceitua o termo pseudojornalismo para classificar textos fraudulentos que usam os recursos narrativos jornalísticos para ludibriar a audiência. Na segunda, apresenta os resultados de uma análise de 23 produtores de conteúdo político do país com maior audiência no Facebook, a partir dos indicadores de credibilidade desenvolvidos pelo Projeto Credibilidade (Trust Project). Os resultados sugerem que, no cenário atual, não é possível distinguir o jornalismo de qualidade do pseudojornalismo a partir das características dos websites e matérias publicadas por produtores de conteúdo político.Las expresiones “noticias falsas” y “posverdad” vienen siendo utilizados para describir la potencialización de la desinformación en las redes digitales en la segunda década de los años 2000. En Brasil, distintos actores vienen instrumentalizando las redes sociales para disputas políticas, diseminando contenido falso que simula materiales periodísticos legítimos, obteniendo, a menudo, mayor audiencia que el noticiero de medios tradicionales. Este artículo está dividido en dos partes. Primero, conceptualiza el término pseudoperiodismo para calificar textos fraudulentos que utilizan los recursos de narración típicos del periodismo para engañar a la audiencia. En segundo lugar, presenta los resultados de un análisis de 23 productores de contenido político del país con mayor audiencia en Facebook, a partir de los indicadores de credibilidad desarrollados por el Proyecto Credibilidad (Trust Project). Los resultados sugieren que, en el escenario actual, no es posible diferenciar el periodismo de calidad del pseudoperiodismo a partir de las características de los sitios web y de materias publicadas por productores de contenido político.

scholarly journals False news around COVID-19 circulated less on Sina Weibo than on Twitter. How to overcome false information?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Pulido Rodríguez ◽  
Beatriz Villarejo Carballido ◽  
Gisela Redondo-Sama ◽  
Mengna Guo ◽  
Mimar Ramis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
World Economic Forum ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
False Information ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Sina Weibo ◽  
World Economic ◽  
False News

Since the Coronavirus health emergency was declared, many are the fake news that have circulated around this topic, including rumours, conspiracy theories and myths. According to the World Economic Forum, fake news is one of the threats in today's societies, since this type of information circulates fast and is often inaccurate and misleading. Moreover, fake-news are far more shared than evidence-based news among social media users and thus, this can potentially lead to decisions that do not consider the individual’s best interest. Drawing from this evidence, the present study aims at comparing the type of Tweets and Sina Weibo posts regarding COVID-19 that contain either false or scientific veracious information. To that end 1923 messages from each social media were retrieved, classified and compared. Results show that there is more false news published and shared on Twitter than in Sina Weibo, at the same time science-based evidence is more shared on Twitter than in Weibo but less than false news. This stresses the need to find effective practices to limit the circulation of false information.

scholarly journals Infodemia: Another Enemy for Romanian Frontline Healthcare Workers to Fight during the COVID-19 Outbreak

Medicina ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (12) ◽  
pp. 679
Author(s):  
Ica Secosan ◽  
Delia Virga ◽  
Zorin Petrisor Crainiceanu ◽  
Lavinia Melania Bratu ◽  
Tiberiu Bratu
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
The Self ◽  
Psychological Consequences ◽  
False Information ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Causality Relationship ◽  
Cross Sectional Design ◽  
As Stress ◽  
False News ◽  
Frontline Healthcare Workers

Background and Objectives: The population has been overwhelmed with false information related to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, spreading rapidly through social media and other channels. We aimed to investigate if frontline healthcare workers affected by infodemia show different psychological consequences than frontline clinicians who do not declare to be affected by false news related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: One hundred twenty-six frontline healthcare workers from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Emergency Departments in Romania completed a survey to assess stress, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders, between March and April 2020. We split the sample of frontline healthcare workers into two groups based on the self-evaluated criteria: if they were or were not affected by infodemia in their activity. Results: Considering limitations such as the cross-sectional design, the lack of causality relationship, and the sample size, the results show that, the frontline medical workers who declared to be affected by false news were significantly more stressed, felt more anxiety, and suffered more from insomnia than healthcare workers who are not affected by false information related to pandemic time. Conclusions: The infodemia has significant psychological consequences such as stress, anxiety, and insomnia on already overwhelmed doctors and nurses in the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis. These findings suggest that medical misinformation’s psychological implications must be considered when different interventions regarding frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic are implemented.

scholarly journals Gender Differences in Tackling Fake News: Different Degrees of Concern, but Same Problems

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 229-238
Author(s):  
Ester Almenar ◽  
Sue Aran-Ramspott ◽  
Jaume Suau ◽  
Pere Masip
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Spanish Population ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
False Information ◽  
Traditional Media ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media Ecosystem ◽  
False News

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.

scholarly journals JOURNALISM AND FACT-CHECKING: typification of sources used for checking and criteria for selecting fact-checked material – an analysis by Agência Lupa and Aos Fatos

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 368-393
Author(s):  
Daniel De Rezende Damasceno ◽  
Edgard Patrício
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Behavioral Approach ◽  
The Political ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Redes Sociales ◽  
False Information ◽  
Fact Checking ◽  
Political Agents ◽  
Official Sources

Fact-checking was initially used to verify the factuality of information given by political agents. However, the proliferation of false information on social networks and concerns about the political use of spreading lies have led to fact-checking methodologies also being used to combat fake news. In terms of a cognitive and behavioral approach, Lazer et al. (2018) suggest there are some doubts as to how effective this methodology is. This article analyzes the performance of two Brazilian checking agencies, Aos Fatos and Agência Lupa. We demonstrate that, although checking discourse is directly related to the credibility of organizations, the agencies themselves do not lay out the criteria for selecting what is to be checked. The platforms that use this form of fact-checking mainly rely on data and studies provided by official sources and public institutions, once again compromising the credibility of the process.A prática de fact-checking foi iniciada para verificar a factualidade das informações nos discursos de agentes políticos. Mas a proliferação de informações falsas nas redes sociais da internet, e a preocupação com a disseminação de mentiras como instrumento político, fez com que as metodologias de fact-checking também fossem utilizadas para combater fake news. Levando em consideração uma abordagem cognitiva e comportamental, Lazer et al. (2018) alertam que existem dúvidas quanto à eficácia dessa utilização. Esse artigo analisa a atuação de duas agências brasileiras de checagem, Aos Fatos e Agência Lupa. Demonstramos que, apesar da checagem de discursos ter relação direta com a credibilidade das organizações, as próprias agências não explicitam os critérios que orientam a seleção do que é checado. E que nessa modalidade de checagem, as plataformas de fact-checking se valem, sobretudo, de dados e estudos fornecidos por fontes oficiais e instituições públicas, comprometendo mais uma vez a credibilidade do processo.La práctica de fact-checking inició para verificar la factualidad de las informaciones en los discursos de agentes políticos. Pero la proliferación de informaciones falsas en las redes sociales de internet, y la preocupación por la diseminación de mentiras como instrumento político, hizo que las metodologías de fact-checking también fueran utilizadas para combatir las fake news. Teniendo en cuenta un enfoque cognitivo y conductual, Lazer et al. (2018) advierten que existen dudas sobre la eficacia de esta utilización. Este artículo analiza la actuación de dos agencias brasileñas de chequeo, Aos Fatos y Agência Lupa. Demostramos que, aunque la verificación del discurso tiene una relación directa con la credibilidad de las organizaciones, las agencias mismas no detallan los criterios que guían la selección de lo que se verifica. Y que en este modo de verificación, las plataformas de verificación de hechos se basan principalmente en datos y estudios proporcionados por fuentes oficiales e instituciones públicas, comprometiendo una vez más la credibilidad del proceso.

scholarly journals Fakes about Coronavirus: Communicational Technologies for Constructing False Messages

Discourse ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 79-91
Author(s):  
V. V. Vasilkova ◽  
P. A. Trekin
Keyword(s):  
Communication Channel ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Fake News ◽  
False Information ◽  
Information Giving ◽  
Message Source ◽  
Units Of Analysis ◽  
Fact Checking ◽  
New Interpretation ◽  
False News

Introduction. Interest in the problem of false (fake) news has increased significantly in the situation of the coronavirus pandemic, when the flow of false information considered as an obstacle to the implementation of measures to combat the pandemic itself and its consequences. The authors aim to study the existing works devoted to the analysis of the construction and recognition of false news about COVID-19, paying special attention to the procedures of fact-checking-process of verifying the accuracy of the information contained in the message. The novelty of the author’s approach lies in the use of a content analysis of the fact-checking resource to identify communication technologies for constructing fake news about the coronavirus.Methodology and sources. As a theoretical framework, authors used the information model of communication by Claude Shannon, structuring communication as a process of information transmission and fixing the possibility of noise (distortion) in various parts of this process. The empirical basis of the study was a fact-checking resource that specializes in identifying fakes about the coronavirus (47 units of analysis were considered for the period from March to May 2020).Results and discussion. In the result of the research, specific communication technologies of purposeful construction of false news were identified – distortions in the communication channel, distortions in the message code (content), distortions in the message source. We also identified the types of distortions associated with the content of communication – based on the creation of false content, recoding information (giving it a new interpretation), editing the original. Different frequency of application of these technologies for a given volume of analysis units were been recorded, as well a s the predominance of the technology of distortion of the communication channel.Conclusion. The authors draw a conclusion about the importance and relevance of the topic of constructing fake news in the situation of the ongoing COVID -19 pandemic, demonstrate the productivity of using fact-checking resources to identify various communicative technologies for constructing false messages, which creates new prospects for recognizing and countering them.

scholarly journals EFFECTS OF FALSE NEWS ON DECISION MAKING, ACCORDING TO ISLAMIC OUTLOOK

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-44
Author(s):  
Shama Razi ◽  
◽  
Hamma Jillani ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Rational Model ◽  
False Information ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
Adverse Impacts ◽  
Administrative Model ◽  
False News ◽  
Decision Making Model

In Islam, there is strict prohibition of sneering at people, mocking and bad-mouthing. Islamic perspective shows spreading of such news which isn’t verified and is solely on the basis of guess, suspicion and delusions is prohibited. Moreover, Muslims are forbidden of spreading rumors and false information/news without any verification. There are different models studied under the decision making such as a) rational model, b) the administrative model, and c) the Retrospective Decision-Making Model. Fabrication of false/wrong accusation about any person is another atrocious sin. Muslims rely on moral principles for their decision making process, any false/fake news not only harm their mutual relationships in the society also it will lead to misconceptions. The foremost theme is to keep Muslims away from any commotion which intentionally or unintentionally hurts any other person and he has to be in the pang of guilty afterwards. This study identifies the adverse impacts of spreading fake news and how it is prohibited from Islamic evidences. Moreover, a link between decision making and impact of news on it is developed based on the review of existing literature.

scholarly journals Albanian Digital Communications: Some Aspects of Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-337
Author(s):  
Blerina Mahamutaj
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Media Literacy ◽  
Self Control ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Media ◽  
False Information ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Urgent Task ◽  
Low Incomes ◽  
High Level

Internet communications in Albania are developing according to a special scenario. It is explained by the countrys long international isolation and, accordingly, the late arrival of digitalization in this European state. The author notes the high level of currently provided Internet services: Albania is ahead of the leading countries in some indicators. However, this breakthrough is taking place against the background of the generally low level of education of the Albanians and low incomes of the population, so the supply does not match the demand, it overtakes it. A separate problem is the large amount of false information that goes from social networks to online media. The immediate urgent task that the Albanian media community will have to solve is increasing media literacy and regulating the Internet (either through users self-control or with the help of the state).

scholarly journals Misinformation: determinants of gullibility

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Gruener
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Belief System ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
News Stories ◽  
False News

This paper analyzes the susceptibility to misinformation in a survey experiment by considering three hand-picked topics (climate change, Covid-19, and artificial intelligence). Subjects had to rate the reliability of several statements within these fields. We find evidence for a monological belief system (i.e., being susceptible to one statement containing misinformation is correlated with falling to other false news stories). Moreover, trust in social networks is positively associated with falling for misinformation. Whereas, there is some evidence that risk perception, willingness to think deliberately, actively open-minded thinking, and trust in science and media protects against being susceptible to misinformation. Surprisingly, the level of education does not seem to matter much.

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