Combating Fake News Online

In today's post-truth environment, besides the increase in political polarization, the rapid spread of fake news infringes on society. In the struggle with fake news, fact-checking services have begun to play an important role. The aim of this chapter is to highlight how fact-checking services work, what their strategies and limitations are, their interaction with users, and the digital tools they use in such interactions. Thus, the platforms Teyit.org (Confirmation) and Doğruluk Payı (Share of Truth) that operate in Turkey have been chosen as exemplary cases. In the study, the content analysis and the in-depth interview methodological approaches have been used together. As a conclusion, it has been revealed that these aforementioned fact-checking services increase their activities during election times, adopt the principles of political impartiality and economic transparency, use the practices of data journalism, interact with users, and try to create a digital literacy ecosystem as an ultimate goal.

Spiritualism and the Resurgence of Fake News

This chapter explores the Spiritualist movement and its rapid growth due to the formation of mass media and compares these events with the current rise of fake news in the mass media. The technology of cheaper publications created a media platform that featured stories about Spiritualist mediums and communications with the spirit world. These articles were published in newspapers next to regular news creating a blurred line between real and hoax news stories. Laws were later created to address instances of fraud that occurred in the medium industry. Today, social media platforms provide a similar vessel for the spread of fake news. Online fake news is published alongside legitimate news reports leaving readers unable to differentiate between real and fake articles. Around the world countries are actioning initiatives to address the proliferation of false news to prevent the spread of misinformation. This chapter compares the parallels between these events, how hoaxes and fake news begin and spread, and examines the measures governments are taking to curb the growth of misinformation.

‘Fake News' in the Context of Information Literacy

This chapter describes a study that interviewed 18 participants (8 professors, 6 librarians, and 4 department chairs) about their perceptions of ‘fake news' in the context of their educational roles in information literacy (IL) within a large Canadian university. Qualitative analysis of the interviews reveals a substantial overlap in these educators' perceptions of skills associated with IL and ‘fake news' detection. Librarians' IL role seems to be undervalued. Better communication among integral IL educator groups is recommended. Most study participants emphasized the need for incorporating segments dedicated to detecting ‘fake news' in IL curricula. Pro-active IL campaigns to prevent, detect, and deter the spread of various ‘fakes' in digital media and specialized mis-/disinformation awareness courses are among best practices that support critical thinking and information evaluation within the societal context. Two other interventions, complementary to IL as per Rubin's Disinformation and Misinformation Triangle, are suggested – detection automation technology and media regulation.

Information Literacy and Science Misinformation

Science and health misinformation is endemic; there can be profound consequences both for individuals and society when people make decisions based on such information. Information literacy skills provide one tool to help mitigate against misinformation. These skills include the recognition of a need for information, the ability to locate and retrieve information, and the ability to effectively use the information. Underpinning these processes are the concept of effectiveness and the ability to evaluate all steps of the process. These skills are essential if people are to be able to evaluate the sources of information, the process by which it was retrieved, and the biases inherent in its creation and dissemination. Thus, information literacy is one of tools that can be used to mitigate against misinformation.

Cognitive Authority, Accountability, and the Anatomy of Lies

This chapter proposes an environment for the discovery of fake news and the orientation of information users in digital environments that correlates the cognitive authorities and the digital structures left as a trace. Such traces can promote the construction of a symbolic index that materializes the anatomy of lies. The model reached in this methodological process may function as a support for informational literacy in the post truth scene, as a space for fostering the informational culture in a network.

Ten Lessons for the Age of Disinformation

This chapter outlines the structure and content of a course devoted to developing strategies to cope with the massive assault of disinformation on American democracy. Ten lessons for the age of disinformation will provide pedagogical techniques to teach high school, college students, or adult learners how to cope with our current environment, which the author calls the “Age of Disinformation.” It provides a multifaceted approach in which each facet reinforces the others. The 10 lessons are (1) characteristics of the age of disinformation; (2) the varieties of false information; (3) knowledge, opinion, and second-hand knowledge; (4) deception and self-deception; (5) psychological factors; (6) cognitive authorities; (7) social media, intellectual freedom, and libraries; (8) logical fallacies; (9) ethical principles; and (10) information, media, and digital literacies and personal, political, and professional commitments. Each lesson outlines the key ideas for each lesson and provides exercises that reinforce the key ideas of each lesson.

Understanding the Landscape of Online Deception

While fake and distorted information has been part of our history, new information and communication technologies tremendously increased its reach and proliferation speed. Indeed, in current days, fake news has become a global issue, prompting reactions from both researchers and legislators in an attempt to solve this problem. However, fake news and misinformation are part of the larger landscape of online deception. Specifically, the purpose of this chapter is to present an overview of online deception to better frame and understand the problem of fake news. In detail, this chapter offers a brief introduction to social networking sites, highlights the major factors that render individuals more susceptible to manipulation and deception, detail common manipulation and deception techniques and how they are actively used in online attacks as well as their common countermeasures. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the double role or artificial intelligence in countering as well as creating fake news.

Populism, Fake News, and the Flight From Democracy

Fake news and populist movements that appear to hold the fate of democracy hostage are urgent concerns around the world. The flight from liberal democracy toward oligarchy has spread out from the unexpected results of the 2016 American presidential elections bringing in a wave of reactionary populism and the beginning of a left populist counter movement. The phenomenon of fake news is often explained in terms of opposition public relations strategies and geopolitics that shift audiences toward a regime of post-truth where emotion is said to triumphs over reason, computational propaganda over common sense, or sheer power over knowledge. In this chapter, the authors propose something different in order to theorize the imaginary audience(s) and conditions of reception for fake news treated as both a symptom (often of injury) and a cause (at times a danger to democracy). This leads them to evaluate the role it plays in defining what the fields of journalism, politics, and social science are becoming and what it means for democracy to come.

An Empirically Supported Taxonomy of Misinformation

Fake news, which includes both disinformation and misinformation, has been a challenge for many countries in the last few years. Disinformation has been present in modern history as part of the tool kit of PSYOPS for the military. Likewise, misinformation has been part of human history for a long time. Hoaxes, rumors, and urban legends—all of which can be classified as differing types of misinformation, although they are not commonly addressed as such—have been exploited by adversarial organizations for their own benefit. This study will propose a comprehensive taxonomy to tackle fake news, disinformation, and misinformation and assess the level of threat they pose to society. A comprehensive comparison with existing typologies will also be included.

The Needle in the Haystack

Since the invention of the printing press, individuals have created and shared more information at increasing rates, and this has further accelerated with the proliferation of information technology and the increase in Internet accessibility. Humans' ability to absorb and process information has not evolved alongside the speed at which information can be created and shared. This chapter examines what impact this abundance of information has had on society and its ability to process, examine, and retain information. The relationship between information overload and society's ability to discern the veracity of information is discussed. The author makes recommendations for how individuals and organizations can harness their information overload and continue to discern fact from fiction and create a more truthful world.