scholarly journals Of Monsters and Men: The Aesthetics of the Alt-Right

Stan Rzeczy ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 99-121
Author(s):  
Thari Jungen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
The Political ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Definition Of

In February 2016, the Institute for Falsification researched the production of fake news in Veles, North Macedonia. Focusing on a specific hoax distributed from Veles via social media, this article analyses the political and aesthetic effects of fake news. It argues that fakes and hoaxes (mis)use established references to renew pre-existing discourses, media techniques, and symbols. The present definition of fakes is therefore insufficient for these practices.

Governing Fake News: The Regulation of Social Media and the Right to Freedom of Expression in the Era of Emergency

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-41
Author(s):  
Donato VESE
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Public Law ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right ◽  
Media Censorship

Governments around the world are strictly regulating information on social media in the interests of addressing fake news. There is, however, a risk that the uncontrolled spread of information could increase the adverse effects of the COVID-19 health emergency through the influence of false and misleading news. Yet governments may well use health emergency regulation as a pretext for implementing draconian restrictions on the right to freedom of expression, as well as increasing social media censorship (ie chilling effects). This article seeks to challenge the stringent legislative and administrative measures governments have recently put in place in order to analyse their negative implications for the right to freedom of expression and to suggest different regulatory approaches in the context of public law. These controversial government policies are discussed in order to clarify why freedom of expression cannot be allowed to be jeopardised in the process of trying to manage fake news. Firstly, an analysis of the legal definition of fake news in academia is presented in order to establish the essential characteristics of the phenomenon (Section II). Secondly, the legislative and administrative measures implemented by governments at both international (Section III) and European Union (EU) levels (Section IV) are assessed, showing how they may undermine a core human right by curtailing freedom of expression. Then, starting from the premise of social media as a “watchdog” of democracy and moving on to the contention that fake news is a phenomenon of “mature” democracy, the article argues that public law already protects freedom of expression and ensures its effectiveness at the international and EU levels through some fundamental rules (Section V). There follows a discussion of the key regulatory approaches, and, as alternatives to government intervention, self-regulation and especially empowering users are proposed as strategies to effectively manage fake news by mitigating the risks of undue interference by regulators in the right to freedom of expression (Section VI). The article concludes by offering some remarks on the proposed solution and in particular by recommending the implementation of reliability ratings on social media platforms (Section VII).

scholarly journals Simulacra in the Age of Social Media: Baudrillard as the Prophet of Fake News

2020 ◽  
pp. 019685992097715
Author(s):  
James Morris
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
General Trend ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Online Technology ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Mass Reproduction

“Fake News” has been a frequent topic in the last couple of years. The phenomenon has particularly been cited with regards to the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States. The creation of “post truth” reports that are disseminated via the Web and social media has been treated as something new, a product of the digital age, and a reason to be concerned about the effects of online technology. However, this paper argues that fake news should be considered as part of a continuum with forms of media that went before in the 20th Century, and the general trend of postmodernity detailed by Baudrillard. The simulation of communications media and mass reproduction was already evident and has merely progressed in the digital age rather than the latter providing a wholly new context. The paper concludes by asking whether the political havoc caused by fake news has an antidote, when it appears to be a by-product of media simulacra’s inherent lack of connection to the real. In a communications landscape where the misrepresentations of the so-called “Mainstream Media” are decried using even more questionable “memes” on social media, is there any possibility for truth?

scholarly journals Sincerely Fake: Exploring User-Generated Political Fakes and Networked Publics

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 205630512096382
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Ferrari
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Network Sites ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Political Satire ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Networked Publics

This article investigates user-generated political satire, focusing in particular on one genre: fake political accounts. Such fakes, created as social media profiles, satirize politicians or political organizations by impersonating them. Through interviews with a sample of Italian fake accounts creators, I explore how the fakes navigate their fakeness vis-à-vis the affordances of social network sites and their publics. First, I map how the publics of the fake accounts react to the satire along two axes: one referring to the public’s understanding of the satire and the other to the uses that the public makes of the satire. Second, I show how fakeness is part of everyday interactions in networked publics. Third, I argue for fakeness as a playful, powerful, and sincere critique of the political and its pretense to authenticity. By focusing on fake political accounts, this article provides insights on the place of fakeness in online communication beyond the debate around “fake news.”

Epilogue

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Rogers ◽  
Sal Hagen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
The Political ◽  
Junk Food ◽  
Fake News ◽  
The Us ◽  
Political Spectrum

The publication of the study elicited reactions, especially on Twitter, where questions arose about the use of the notion of junk news, rather than ‘pulp news’, among other points. The analogy to junk food is emphasised. There was also the question of symmetry, and the treatment of both ends of the political spectrum. Why is the new populist right identified as the purveyors of extreme content? We found a polarised Dutch media landscape where hyperpartisan (and to a lesser extent conspiracy) content from new populist right (rather than the left or other orientations) circulates well on social media. Unlike in the US during the initial Trump insurgency, mainstream news in the Netherlands still outperforms what was hitherto known as ‘fake news’, across all platforms.

God and COVID-19 in Burundian social media: The political fight for the control of the narrative

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antea Paviotti
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Context Analysis ◽  
Religious Narrative ◽  
Sociopolitical Context ◽  
Three Phases

While an incredible series of twists characterized the fight against COVID-19 in Burundi and its narration, references to God have never been missing in the narratives around the disease. Trust in God represented one of the pillars of the government’s narrative, next to an attitude of ‘denialism’, and the fight against ‘fake news’. This article analyses the evolution of the narration of COVID-19 on Twitter during the first three phases of the fight against the disease, focusing on the use of the religious narrative. Within Burundi’s contemporary sociopolitical context, analysis of these narratives on social media best demonstrates how the fight against COVID-19 in Burundi was a fight for the control of the narrative, and by extension for political legitimacy.

Reactions to China-linked Fake News: Experimental Evidence from Taiwan

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Fin Bauer ◽  
Kimberly L. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Real Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Partisan Polarization ◽  
Competing Hypotheses ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
False News

Abstract China is accused of conducting disinformation campaigns on Taiwan's social media. Existing studies on foreign interventions in democratic societies predict that such disinformation campaigns should lead to increasing partisan polarization within Taiwan. We argue that a backlash effect, making Taiwan's citizens more united against China, is equally plausible. We conduct a survey experiment exposing participants to a real-life rumour and rebuttal to test these competing hypotheses. We find, at best, mixed evidence for polarization. Although neither rumour nor rebuttal mention China, there is consistent evidence of backlash against China. Most notably, participants across the political spectrum are more inclined to support Taiwanese independence after viewing the rumour rebuttal. These findings indicate that citizens may put aside partisanship when confronted with false news that is plausibly linked to an external actor. We conclude by discussing the broader applicability of our theory and implications for cross-Strait relations.

Alternative truths and delegitimization pragmatic strategies around the 2018 Italian elections

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-320
Author(s):  
Benedetta Baldi ◽  
Ludovico Franco ◽  
Leonardo M. Savoia
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
The Political ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Communicative Context ◽  
Pragmatic Strategies ◽  
Alternative Reading ◽  
Rhetorical Tools

Abstract In this paper we aim at analysing, from a pragmatic viewpoint, the rhetoric of delegitimization of the opponent in new media insofar as it triggers individual, uncontrolled and deep-rooted forms of communications. The communicative context is that of the political controversies and the propaganda around the Italian elections of March 2018. Accusations of fake news, hate speech and other delegitimizing rhetorical tools occur within the messages distributed on social media by politicians. We are specifically interested in illustrating and examining the disposition/standpoint of public social actors, of politicians in particular, toward the (delegitimizing) effects of the spreading of foul language, hate speech and fake news as instruments for re-shaping reality and introducing an alternative reading of facts.

Social Media as Disruptive Technologies in an Era of Fake News

2020 ◽  
pp. 250-274
Author(s):  
Osée Kamga
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
The Political ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Transformative Power ◽  
Silent Majority ◽  
Disruptive Technologies ◽  
The People ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Arab Spring

Since the Arab Spring (2010-2012), there has been a growing interest in the transformative power of social media, with a number of studies looking at its power to mobilize hitherto silent majority of the people, its ability to spread information at a lightning speed or to shape government-citizen relationship. This chapter is part of that trend, and it focuses specifically on Sub-Saharan Africa. It borrows Christensen's concept of “disruptive technologies” and uses it as a framework to analyze the processes of social media appropriation in the political field in that part of the continent. The chapter articulates ways in which social media are transforming the political landscape in the region and wonders about the outcome of these processes in the backdrop of the emerging and spreading of fake news.

scholarly journals Entrepreneurial marketing and digital political communication – a citizen-led perspective on the role of social media in political discourse

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-159
Author(s):  
Nihar Amoncar
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
The Political ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Entrepreneurial Marketing ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Purpose The paper intends to explore the role and function of citizen-led social media forums in the marketing of political discourse. Using the entrepreneurial marketing (EM) perspective of “co-creation of value”, this paper aims to explore the manner in which consumers of political communications in a specific region have created user generated value via setting up Facebook forums to manage the risk created by fake news and the trust deficit between citizens and mainstream media (MSM). Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a “netnographic” approach to investigation and the data is analysed manual coding (Kozinets, 2015). Facebook groups form the virtual research field in in the context of this study. This approach is adopted because in a social media environment, netnography capitalises over a growing virtual and online communities and allows researchers to study the richness of these online communities (Mkono and Markwell, 2014). Findings The study provides insights on how administrators and moderators of Facebook groups create value for other users by identifying and communicating the risks emerging from social media-based political communication. The study finds that such citizen-led initiatives act as online social aggregators. The value that such groups offer its users/members resides within a well-bound, controlled and moderated online medium that encourages users to counter fake news and misinformation – thereby solving a key problem within the user market i.e. citizen-media trust deficit. Research limitations/implications The study uses a qualitative, netnographic approach and the emerging insights cannot be generalised. The emergent findings are specific to the context of this study and researchers are encouraged to further test the propositions emerging from this research in varied contexts. Practical implications The study extends the application of EM in political contexts using the seven dimensions of EM, which will provide impetus for future political campaigns in terms of unique value creation for publics. The paper also emerges with the role citizen-initiated forums can play in the effective dissemination of digital political communication as user generated content is aiding political debate. Social implications The study helps highlight the role Facebook forums can play in informing the political discourse within a region. The general distrust amongst the citizens over information produced by MSM has meant vocal critics have taken to Facebook to provide their subjective opinions. Although the findings of this study show that such forums can help identify “fake news” and help citizens discuss and debate the truth, it can also become an avenue to manage propaganda amongst the “unaware” citizens. This paper flags up the issues and benefits of using Facebook forums and in conclusion relates them to similar occurrences of the past to make society aware of the pitfalls of managed propaganda. Originality/value The paper takes initiative in investigating the use of social media in politics from the citizens’ perspective, which is comparatively marginalised against the number of studies taking place, which investigate the political party end use of social media for political marketing.

scholarly journals O Fenômeno das Fake News: Implicações para a Política Externa do Governo Bolsonaro durante a Pandemia do COVID-19 | The Fake News Phenomenon: Implications for the Foreign Policy of the Bolsonaro Government during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. e59141
Author(s):  
Renata Moraes Simões ◽  
Andressa Gabrielly De Lacerda Mendes ◽  
Pablo Ávila Militão
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
The Political ◽  
Direct Influence ◽  
Fake News ◽  
International Guidelines ◽  
Favorable Environment ◽  
Initial Hypothesis

O uso de plataformas como o Twitter por políticos, como Bolsonaro, tem mudado a comunicação política. Associado a isso, a rapidez com que a informação circula por tais ambientes proporciona a disseminação de desinformação e fake news, especialmente durante a pandemia do COVID-19 a partir de 2020. Diante disso, o artigo busca entender como o presidente Jair Bolsonaro utilizou o fenômeno das fake news como base da sua comunicação política durante a pandemia do COVID-19 e qual a influência desse fenômeno para a política externa brasileira. A hipótese inicial é de que a propagação de informações sem conteúdo confiáveis é utilizada como ferramenta política por Jair Bolsonaro. Nesse cenário, a política externa brasileira sofre influências diretas devido a ocorrência de tal fenômeno, com novas diretrizes internacionais e posicionamentos, acarretando a perda de credibilidade internacional brasileira e, ainda, colocando em risco a aquisição de vacinas pelo país.Palavras-chave: Fake News; Jair Bolsonaro; Política ExternaABSTRACTThe usage of social media, like Twitter, by politicians, such as Jair Bolsonaro, have changed the political communication. That said, the information has circulated quickly and provides a favorable environment for disinformation and fake news, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020. Based on that, the article aims to understand how the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, has used fake News as the ground for your political communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also aims to understand which is the influence of this phenomena to the Brazilian foreign policy. The initial hypothesis is that the dissemination of information without reliable content is used as political tool by Bolsonaro. In this scenario, the Brazilian foreign policy is under direct influence of this phenomena, with new international guidelines and positioning, resulting in the loss of the Brazilian international credibility and risking the vaccines acquisition by the country.Keywords: Fake News; Jair Bolsonaro; Foreign Policy. Recebido em: 14/04/2021 | Aceito em: 29/10/2021. 

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