scholarly journals Research note: The scale of Facebook’s problem depends upon how ‘fake news’ is classified

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Mass Scale ◽  
Research Note ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Scale Problem ◽  
Media Organizations ◽  
False News

Ushering in the contemporary ‘fake news’ crisis, Craig Silverman of Buzzfeed News reported that it outperformed mainstream news on Facebook in the three months prior to the 2016 US presidential elections. Here the report’s methods and findings are revisited for 2020. Examining Facebook user engagement of election-related stories, and applying Silverman’s classification of fake news, it was found that the problem has worsened, implying that the measures undertaken to date have not remedied the issue. If, however, one were to classify ‘fake news’ in a stricter fashion, as Facebook as well as certain media organizations do with the notion of ‘false news’, the scale of the problem shrinks. A smaller scale problem could imply a greater role for fact-checkers (rather than deferring to mass-scale content moderation), while a larger one could lead to the further politicisation of source adjudication, where labelling particular sources broadly as ‘fake’, ‘problematic’ and/or ‘junk’ results in backlash.

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 Hoaks Dalam Kajian Pemikiran Islam dan Hukum Positif

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-306
Author(s):  
Supriyadi Ahmad ◽  
Husnul Hotimah
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Elections ◽  
The Political ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Islamic Studies ◽  
Positive Law ◽  
Legal Perspective ◽  
Or Groups ◽  
Islamic Thought ◽  
A Charge ◽  
False News

Abstract:Hoaks originating from "focus pocus" originally from Latin "hoc est corpus", means false news. Hoaks also comes from English, namely Hoax, which means fake news. Terminologically, hoax is a false message in an attempt to deceive or influence readers or dealers to believe something, even though the source of the news delivered is completely baseless. Ahead of the Legislative and Presidential Elections in Indonesia 2019, hoaks have entered the political sphere which can threaten the nation's unity and unity. In the perspective of Islamic thought, hoax is a public lie or dissemination of information that is misleading and even defame the other party. The hoax maker is classified as a party that harms others and the hoaxes made are categorized as ifki hadith or false news. Therefore, the perpetrators were threatened with very severe torture. In a positive legal perspective, hoax is a charge of false and misleading news, a content that creates hatred or hostility of certain individuals and/or groups based on ethnicity, religion, race, and between groups (SARA). The culprit can be punished with a maximum of ten years in prison.Keywords: Hoax, Islamic Studies, Positive Law. Abstrak:Hoaks yang berasal dari “hocus pocus” aslinya dari bahasa Latin “hoc est corpus”, berarti berita bohong. Hoaks juga berasal dari Bahasa Inggris Hoax, yang berarti berita palsu. Secara terminologis, hoaks merupakan sebuah pemberitaan palsu dalam usaha untuk menipu atau mempengaruhi pembaca atau pengedar untuk mempercayai sesuatu, padahal sumber berita yang disampaikan adalah palsu tidak berdasar sama sekali. Menjelang Pemilu Legislatif dan Pemilu Presiden di Indonesia tahun 2019, hoaks telah memasuki ranah politik yang dapat mengancam persatuan dan kesatuan bangsa. Dalam perspektif pemikiran Islam, hoaks adalah pembohongan publik atau penyebaran informasi yang menyesatkan dan bahkan menistakan pihak lain. Pembuat hoaks digolongkan sebagai pihak yang merugikan orang lain dan hoaks yang dibuatnya dikategorikan sebagai haditsul ifki atau berita bohong. Oleh karena itu, penyebarnya diancam dengan siksa yang sangat berat. Dalam perspektif hukum Positif, hoaks merupakan muatan berita bohong dan menyesatkan, muatan yang menimbulkan rasa kebencian atau permusuhan individu dan/atau kelompok masyarakat tertentu berdasarkan atas suku, agama, ras, dan antar golongan (SARA). Pelakunya dapat dihukum dengan penjara setinggi-tingginya sepuluh tahun.Kata Kunci: Hoaks, Kajian Islam, Hukum Positif

scholarly journals Social media usage by President Donald Trump before and after the 2016 elections

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Glueckstern ◽  
Alexi Benyacar ◽  
Sacha Grigri
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Media Use ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Media

According to Gill (2017), the present era of electronic revolution is one in which social media has become a means to an end in political sphere communication. Today, political marketing and advertising for persons seeking elective posts analyze, develop, execute and manage campaigns as a way of driving public opinion (Laing & Khattab, 2016). Social media provides a platform on which one can engage with the so-called connected generation. If the November 2016 elections are anything to go by, Twitter proved to be the medium of choice for citizens to engage and consume political content (Le et al., 2017). Ideally, tweets formed the basis of facilitating user engagement through the provision of content and newsbreaks. By extension, the mentioned discussions would influence the political discourse while establishing the capacity to determine the events of mainstream media. This study seeks to establish social media usage by President Donald Trump before and after his election. An understanding of such trend is essential in inferring as to whether Social media, in this case Twitter, plays a role in the current political spheres by promoting influence of a given aspirant. This stems from various studies that have stated that there is an association between social media use and an aspirant’s influence of the connected generation who are especially the youths. For instance, a thesis by Hwang (2016) observed that President Trump’s Twitter usage contributes to his political poll success which he associates with a reflection of his personality in the media use. This was also observed by Lilleker, Jackson, Thorsen and Veneti (2016) who stated that President Trump’s media use contributed to his election. It would hence be essential to understand President Trump’s nature of usage of Twitter. Allcott and Gentzkow (2017) conducted a study in which they observed use of fake news to influence people into certain political alignments. Twitter was also observed as one of the channels through which fake news was distributed. This study might help to create a foundation under which more studies can be done to determine the association of social media with other issues facing the society such as fake news and environment issues and their role on presidential elections. It would also be worth noting that there has been high politicization of President Trump’s use of Twitter especially during his Campaigns. This study would hence help to infer whether there is a change in this factor after his election.

scholarly journals Fake News Explosion in Portugal and Brazil the Pandemic and Journalists’ Testimonies on Disinformation

2022 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-65
Author(s):  
João Canavilhas ◽  
Thaïs de Mendonça Jorge
Keyword(s):  
Media Literacy ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Media Organizations ◽  
Traditional Work ◽  
False News

Orchestrated manipulations spread lies and can create an environment of uncertainty in society, leading to concerns from politicians, scholars, educators, and journalists, among others. In this paper we explore what the emergence of fake news (understood as false news) represents for journalists, trying to answer the following question: Does false news pose a threat to the credibility of good journalism, causing a disruption of the traditional work? To answer it, we interviewed a sample of journalists from various media organizations in Portugal and Brazil. Among the main findings, journalists are aware that fake news is a problem to be faced, as the blame for the dissemination of false news erroneously lies with the profession. They are conscious that something must be done and agree that the best way to fight against fake news is to invest in media literacy. Most of the journalists of our sample think they must be also more cautious to check sources for veracity and for political motivations. The results show that there is a resolve to reinforce the role of journalism in society.

RHYNCHOLITES AND THE PROBLEM OF NARROW AND BROAD CONCEPTION OF TAXONS

2018 ◽  
pp. 12-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. R. Khuzina ◽  
V. N. Komarov
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Mass Scale ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Artificial System ◽  
Broad Understanding

The paper considers a point of view, based on the conception of the broad understanding of taxons. According to this point of view, rhyncholites of the subgenus Dentatobeccus and Microbeccus are accepted to be synonymous with the genus Rhynchoteuthis, and subgenus Romanovichella is considered to be synonymous with the genus Palaeoteuthis. The criteria, exercising influence on the different approaches to the classification of rhyncholites, have been analyzed (such as age and individual variability, sexual dimorphism, pathological and teratological features, degree of disintegration of material), underestimation of which can lead to inaccuracy. Divestment of the subgenuses Dentatobeccus, Microbeccus and Romanovichella, possessing very bright morphological characteristics, to have an independent status and denomination to their synonyms, has been noted to be unjustified. An artificial system (any suggested variant) with all its minuses is a single probable system for rhyncholites. The main criteria, minimizing its negative sides and proving the separation of the new taxon, is an available mass-scale material. The narrow understanding of the genus, used in sensible limits, has been underlined to simplify the problem of the passing the view about the genus to the other investigators and recognition of rhyncholites for the practical tasks.

Identity concerns drive belief: The impact of partisan identity on the belief and dissemination of true and false news

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Pereira ◽  
Jay Joseph Van Bavel ◽  
Elizabeth Ann Harris
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Social Goals ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Political Beliefs ◽  
System P ◽  
False News ◽  
Democrats And Republicans ◽  
The Impact

Political misinformation, often called “fake news”, represents a threat to our democracies because it impedes citizens from being appropriately informed. Evidence suggests that fake news spreads more rapidly than real news—especially when it contains political content. The present article tests three competing theoretical accounts that have been proposed to explain the rise and spread of political (fake) news: (1) the ideology hypothesis— people prefer news that bolsters their values and worldviews; (2) the confirmation bias hypothesis—people prefer news that fits their pre-existing stereotypical knowledge; and (3) the political identity hypothesis—people prefer news that allows their political in-group to fulfill certain social goals. We conducted three experiments in which American participants read news that concerned behaviors perpetrated by their political in-group or out-group and measured the extent to which they believed the news (Exp. 1, Exp. 2, Exp. 3), and were willing to share the news on social media (Exp. 2 and 3). Results revealed that Democrats and Republicans were both more likely to believe news about the value-upholding behavior of their in-group or the value-undermining behavior of their out-group, supporting a political identity hypothesis. However, although belief was positively correlated with willingness to share on social media in all conditions, we also found that Republicans were more likely to believe and want to share apolitical fake new. We discuss the implications for theoretical explanations of political beliefs and application of these concepts in in polarized political system.

scholarly journals Automated Classification of Fake News Spreaders to Break the Misinformation Chain

Information ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 248
Author(s):  
Simone Leonardi ◽  
Giuseppe Rizzo ◽  
Maurizio Morisio
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Network Architecture ◽  
Diffusion Mechanism ◽  
Automated Classification ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Neural Network Architecture ◽  
User Classification ◽  
The Social ◽  
Network Topologies

In social media, users are spreading misinformation easily and without fact checking. In principle, they do not have a malicious intent, but their sharing leads to a socially dangerous diffusion mechanism. The motivations behind this behavior have been linked to a wide variety of social and personal outcomes, but these users are not easily identified. The existing solutions show how the analysis of linguistic signals in social media posts combined with the exploration of network topologies are effective in this field. These applications have some limitations such as focusing solely on the fake news shared and not understanding the typology of the user spreading them. In this paper, we propose a computational approach to extract features from the social media posts of these users to recognize who is a fake news spreader for a given topic. Thanks to the CoAID dataset, we start the analysis with 300 K users engaged on an online micro-blogging platform; then, we enriched the dataset by extending it to a collection of more than 1 M share actions and their associated posts on the platform. The proposed approach processes a batch of Twitter posts authored by users of the CoAID dataset and turns them into a high-dimensional matrix of features, which are then exploited by a deep neural network architecture based on transformers to perform user classification. We prove the effectiveness of our work by comparing the precision, recall, and f1 score of our model with different configurations and with a baseline classifier. We obtained an f1 score of 0.8076, obtaining an improvement from the state-of-the-art by 4%.

New Evidence of the Effect of Literacies in Reducing Disinformation and Fake News

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 300-333
Author(s):  
José Ricardo Ledur ◽  
Renato P. dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Information Age ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Fake News ◽  
9Th Grade ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
Information Literacy Skills ◽  
The Media ◽  
False News ◽  
New Evidence

Context: The production of scientific knowledge is not clearly understood by most individuals. In the information age, society faces challenges generated by discrediting institutions, including science, the proliferation of false news, disinformation and the relativisation of truth. These are significant issues that the school cannot refrain from discussing if it wants to educate for citizenship. Objectives: To investigate how conceptions about science influence and are influenced by fake news conveyed by the media and the contribution of literacy to minimise the effects of misinformation. Design: The methodology used in this research used a mixed-methods approach through content analysis of students’ responses combined with descriptive statistical techniques. Environment and participants: The research was carried out with 32 students, divided into two groups, attending the 9th grade of an elementary public school in Bom Princípio/RS. Data collection and analysis: Two questionnaires were applied: one for the conceptions about science and another to identify fake news. Results: Most students have a limited view of science and find it difficult to identify fake news through verification criteria. A correlation between student perceptions and the identification of false news was observed. Conclusions: Knowledge about science possibly enhances students’ perception of doubtful information. It is crucial to develop mediatic and information literacy skills as they can positively impact the identification of fake news and reduce its shares.

scholarly journals Fake news, fast and slow: Deliberation reduces belief in false (but not true) news headlines

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bence Bago ◽  
David Gertler Rand ◽  
Gordon Pennycook
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Fake News ◽  
System 2 ◽  
False News ◽  
News Headlines ◽  
Classical Account

What role does deliberation play in susceptibility to political misinformation and “fake news”? The “Motivated System 2 Reasoning” account posits that deliberation causes people to fall for fake news because reasoning facilitates identity-protective cognition and is therefore used to rationalize content that is consistent with one’s political ideology. The classical account of reasoning instead posits that people ineffectively discern between true and false news headlines when they fail to deliberate (and instead rely on intuition). To distinguish between these competing accounts, we investigated the causal effect of reasoning on media truth discernment using a two-response paradigm. Participants (N= 1635 MTurkers) were presented with a series of headlines. For each, they were first asked to give an initial, intuitive response under time pressure and concurrent working memory load. They were then given an opportunity to re-think their response with no constraints, thereby permitting more deliberation. We also compared these responses to a (deliberative) one-response baseline condition where participants made a single choice with no constraints. Consistent with the classical account, we found that deliberation corrected intuitive mistakes: subjects believed false headlines (but not true headlines) more in initial responses than in either final responses or the unconstrained 1-response baseline. In contrast – and inconsistent with the Motivated System 2 Reasoning account – we found that political polarization was equivalent across responses. Our data suggest that, in the context of fake news, deliberation facilitates accurate belief formation and not partisan bias.

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