scholarly journals Disinformation as a Tool Aimed at Weakening Consolidated Democracies

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-85
Author(s):  
Artur Kozłowski ◽  
Klaudia Skelnik
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Individual

This scholarly article indicates threats to the stability of political systems of consolidated democracies resulting from disinformation. The article presents threats resulting from the effects of disinformation in four areas: state, society, politics and law. The authors demonstrate the exposure of society to manipulative effects of fake news, which affects  human emotions, reasoning and behaviour due to the use of created images of reality. It has been pointed out that fake news as a targeted manipulation tool, while aiming to achieve its goals, exploits the imperfections of the human mind. For this reason, the individual and thus the society need support to protect themselves from the manipulative threat coming from this phenomenon. Protection from fake news must be provided with the respect of freedom of expression, the values of society, the individuals’ liberties as well as legal rights. Disinformation is not a new phenomenon in itself, but the development of the Internet and social media allows for an unprecedented scale of social manipulation. The article also indicates that disinformation is often directed at civil liberties and destabilises the principles of social life and citizens’ trust in public institutions, authorities or the media, regardless of whether its source is third countries or it is “produced” internally. In a democratic state a citizen should be able to make informed decisions and independently assess whether the information encountered in the social media is true or false.

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 Fakebook: why Facebook makes the fake news problem inevitable

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-530
Author(s):  
Paul Bernal
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Mass Data ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Internet And Social Media

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.

scholarly journals Culture and education as a binding condition for harmonious personal development

2021 ◽  
Vol 291 ◽  
pp. 05008
Author(s):  
Viacheslav Sukhorukov ◽  
Yuriy Gladkiy
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Binding Condition ◽  
Education Today ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Training

The exclusive role of culture and education in the modern strategy of sustainable development is emphasized. For so many centuries, culture and education had a distinct flavor of luxury and were available, as a rule, to a select few. Currently, there is a widespread expansion of culture and education, and indicators of upbringing and training have become the primary condition for the sustainable existence of society and the individual. The question arises: what is the hidden primacy of culture and education today? The authors call the answer to it moral postulates and enlightenment, which affect not only the human mind, but feelings and soul, giving rise to desires and actions that obey the will. It is concluded that ideals, beliefs and other qualitative characteristics of a person are the main regulators of sustainable social life. Thus, the role of culture and education is to implement social harmony and ensure the quality of life of people.

scholarly journals The faces of freedom in the concepts of a liberal and non-liberal state

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-172
Author(s):  
Justyna Przedańska
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Slight Improvement ◽  
Liberal State ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The World ◽  
The Individual

The last decade has exposed the recession of freedom throughout the world. It arises from the latest Freedom in the World 2020 report that civil liberties and political rights have deteriorated in 64 countries, while only 37 have seen a slight improvement in these areas. The principles of liberal democracy (the rule of law, free elections, minority rights and freedom of expression) in Europe, historically the best-performing region in terms of freedom in the world, have come under serious pressure in recent years. In the article, starting from an analysis of the categories of freedom presented in many aspects, followed by a discussion of the assumptions and concepts of liberalism, as well as the political project referred to as non-liberal democracy, which has grown out of their criticism, the author identifies the problem of instrumentalization and relativization of freedom, which leads to the restriction of freedom of speech, freedom of minorities, religious freedom and sexual freedom, replacing the individual freedoms of the citizens with the so-called collective freedom.

scholarly journals Hoax Digital Literacy on Instagram

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-186
Author(s):  
Dedeh Fardiah ◽  
Ferry Darmawan ◽  
Rini Rinawati
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
New Media ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Literacy Education ◽  
Media Content ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Specific Content ◽  
Media Messages

The development of communication technology brings forth new media with various multiplatforms. Information spreads instantaneously to all corners of the world through abundant media devices. In social media spaces, every individual can produce informational content and disseminate it, so it appears as a new phenomenon of citizen journalism. Individuals act as both producers and targets of social media content simultaneously. Ironically, due to freedom of expression on social media, various hoaxes appear intentionally or unintentionally and are widely distributed. This study aims to explore the official Instagram account that handles hoaxes in West Java Province and provide a digital literacy education in their post. This study uses the content analysis method, which efficiently investigates media content on both printed form and digital posts. In addition, it also uses descriptive content analysis to describe in detail a message or a specific content. The study object is Instagram @jabarsaberhoaks with an analysis unit of information items about hoaxes and various digital literacy on Instagram @jabarsaberhoaks in 2020.  In total, their number reaches 900 posts. The result of this study shows that the most common hoax is fake news, such as manipulated content, misleading content, fake news, and fabricated content with health, political, and economic themes. Explicitly or implicitly, digital literacy education about hoaxes can be obtained by accessing the information contained in Instagram accounts. The implication is that it is necessary to study the extent of this educational content responded by the public, so media messages can effectively and efficiently be in the form of educational media about interactive hoaxes.

Fake News and Social Media Censorship

2021 ◽  
pp. 69-92
Author(s):  
Adebowale Jeremy Adetayo
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Ripple Effect ◽  
Fake News ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media Censorship

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a surge of fake news on social media. This dilemma has caused a ripple effect in society with increasing censorship on social media, which threatens the freedom of expression. The populace cannot effectively progress until they understand the threat posed by fake news and censorship. To protect our fundamental rights of expression, society must learn from librarians. The chapter explores the role of librarians in mitigating fake news. The chapter also identifies possible societal consequences of fake news. The chapter concludes that librarians should inoculate the public to pre-empt them from accepting fake news.

An empirical approach to understanding users' fake news identification on social media

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karine Aoun Barakat ◽  
Amal Dabbous ◽  
Abbas Tarhini
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Behavioral Model ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
The Individual

PurposeDuring the past few years, the rise in social media use for information purposes in the absence of adequate control mechanisms has led to growing concerns about the reliability of the information in circulation and increased the presence of fake news. While this topic has recently gained researchers' attention, very little is known about users' fake news identification behavior. Hence, the purpose of this study is to understand the factors that contribute to individuals' identification of fake news on social media.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a quantitative approach and proposes a behavioral model that explores the factors influencing users' identification of fake news on social media. It relies on data collected from a sample of 211 social media users which is tested using SEM.FindingsThe findings show that expertise in social media use and verification behavior have a positive impact on fake news identification, while trust in social media as an information channel decreases this identification behavior. Furthermore, results establish the mediating role of social media information trust and verification behavior.Originality/valueThe present study enhances our understanding of social media users' fake news identification by presenting a behavioral model. It is one of the few that focuses on the individual and argues that by identifying the factors that reinforce users' fake news identification behavior on social media, this type of misinformation can be reduced. It offers several theoretical and practical contributions.

scholarly journals The Evaluation of Characteristics of Turkish Z Generation Living Abroad Through Graphology

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 363
Author(s):  
Neriman KARA
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Real Life ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Turkish People ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual

The characteristics of Z generation individuals constituting the majority of today’s youth are quite different from those of previous generations’ individuals. The individuals of this generation who spend their each and every moment on the internet and live their social life on this environment can shape their real life with this virtual life as well. While the fact that they can reach any information they want at any time enables them to be more brilliant on the one hand, this also prevents their emotional intelligence from improving. These individuals have some features like being rather self-confident, independent, introvert, dissatisfied, communicating only via social media, knowing what they want, expressing themselves quite well and desire to have all the control on their hand. Besides observations and empirical studies, it’s also possible to evaluate the characteristics of the individuals and their lives by means of Graphology, whose validity and reliability have already been proved to be true and which has well-established in literature today. Graphology elicits the characteristics of the individual under the umbrella of the information based on his writing and signature. The aim of this study is to evaluate by means of Graphology whether the characteristics of Z generation living in Turkey and those of living in abroad are similar to each other or not. In this study, a group of 15 Turkish people living in England, who are Z generation individuals, will be investigated with the help of Graphology. Thanks to this study, Z generation individuals’ features already available in the literature in Turkey will be compared with the findings that will be available at the end of our study.

scholarly journals Perancangan Komunikasi Visual Guna Memberi Edukasi bagi Remaja Pecandu Mobile Online Games

DeKaVe ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
LAMBANG HERNANDA
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Online Games ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Surrounding Environment ◽  
New Findings ◽  
The Social ◽  
Human Creativity ◽  
The Individual

The rapid development of science and technology brings changes in all walks of life. Human creativity is growing so as to encourage the acquisition of new findings in the field of technology that is used as a means of improving the welfare of humanity. One product of human creativity is an online game. As a media, internet games are very influential on the human mind which is absorbed through the two senses, namely seeing and hearing.Online gaming is a new lifestyle for some people in every age group. In the perspective of sociology, people who make online games opium, tend to be egocentric and put forward individualism. This is dangerous for the social life of the individual, they naturally move away from the surrounding environment and it is possible to marginalize themselves so that they assume that their life is in cyberspace and their social environment is only where they play the game. From the problems above, we need a solution that is expected to reduce, manage the level of addiction to mobile online games for adolescent behavior. This design is expected to be able to contribute to the prevention and management of mobile online games addiction for teenagers so that the future of the nation's next generation is more qualified.

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