In this module participants will learn why that term is:

a) inadequate for explaining the scale of information pollution, and

b) why the term has become so problematic that we should avoid using it.

Fake News

The issue of “fake news” has been a dominant theme in the headlines for several years.
How do we define a term that has come to mean so many different things to different people?

 At its core, we are defining “fake news” as those news stories that are false: the story itself
is fabricated, with no verifiable facts, sources or quotes. Sometimes these stories may be
propaganda that is intentionally designed to mislead the reader, or may be designed as
“clickbait” written for economic incentives (the writer profits on the number of people who
click on the story).
 Fake news is a term that refers to news outlets that pretend to be real but are actually fake.
Fake news includes false stories about all sorts of topics that are crafted in order to appear
real and get traffic and social shares on Facebook and Twitter or any social media outlets.
 Fake News is information that is clearly and demonstrably fabricated and that has been
packaged and distributed to appear as legitimate news. This narrow definition seeks to
distinguish fake news from other types of misleading information by clarifying that the
former is patently false and was created and presented in a way meant to deceive
consumers into thinking it is real.
 Fake news refers to a specific piece of information; it does not refer to any particular type of
news outlet, individual, or other actor.

Examples Of Viral Fake News

"Donald Trump sent his own plane to transport 200 stranded marines"
 A fake news story is picked up by a major media talk show host.

"Pope Francis shocks world, endorses Donald Trump for president"

 Fake news site fools world media and generates 960,000 Facebook engagements.
 Fake News Purveyor
 Fake news purveyors are websites, social media pages and accounts, or individuals who share or
aggregate fake news stories. Purveyors may attempt to spread fake news stories on purpose,
and unknowing purveyors may share fake news without realizing it’s fake. The vast majority of
purveyors do not exclusively share fake news, but instead push some combination of fake news
and other types of content, including real news or misleading information.

Fake News Creator

 Fake news creators are entities responsible for conceiving of, writing, and disseminating
fake news. This can include the owners and operators of sites that publish fake news
stories and affiliated social media accounts, as well as the manufacturers of the fake news
stories -- whether they are publicly identified or remain anonymous.

Hyperpartisan Websites, Facebook Pages, and Social Media Accounts

 These are websites, social media pages, or accounts designed to spread information
presented through a highly partisan, biased lens. Hyperpartisan websites or Facebook
pages may share a combination of fake news and partisan content (misleading stories,
partisan memes and videos, et cetera) that is not considered fake news, but could still
contain misleading or out-of-context information designed to confirm a particular ideological
view. Hyperpartisan pages and accounts are often fake news purveyors that generate
shares and clicks in order to either push a particular political view or profit from user
engagement on social media platforms.

What is disinformation?

Disinformation means “false information, as about a country’s military strength or plans,

disseminated by a government or intelligence agency in a hostile act of tactical political
subversion.” It is also used more generally to mean “deliberately misleading or biased
information; manipulated narrative or facts; propaganda.”
So, disinformation is misinformation that is knowingly (intentionally) spread. Our first
definition of this word gives one major reason why a person or group might want to spread wrong
information, but there are many other nefarious motivations lurking behind the creation of
disinformation.

Where does disinformation come from?

Compared to misinformation, disinformation is a relatively new word, first recorded in 1965–70.

It’s a translation of the Russian word dezinformátsiya, in turn based on the
French désinformer (“to misinform”).

Disinformation, then, can be understood as “reverse information” or “anti-information” specifically

created to deceive and misguide other people.
EXAMPLES OF DISINFORMATION:
 Leni Robredo is part of NPA or New People’s Army
 Bongbong Marcos wants to get the money of Filipino People.

What is Misinformation?

Misinformation is “false information that is spread, regardless of intent to mislead.” Put a

flag in the second half of this definition; it will be important later.

The spread of misinformation happens often in our everyday lives. We human beings—
news flash—are not perfect. We can all make mistakes. We all forget things. We mishear or
misremember details. We tell our friends something we heard on TV or saw on social media that
wasn’t really true. If you are spreading around information that is wrong but you don’t know it is
wrong, then you are, well, technically, spreading misinformation.

But don’t fear: we’re not calling the fact police on you! The key, here, is that you unwittingly
spread false information around; you didn’t mean to, or even might have thought the information
was true.

Misinformation doesn’t care about intent, and so is simply a term for any kind of wrong or
false information

Where does misinformation come from?

Misinformation is first recorded in the late 1500s, and combines information with the prefix
mis–, meaning “wrong” or “mistaken.” Mistake, misspelling, and misunderstanding are some
examples of other common words besides misinformation that use mis– to mean “wrong.”
Misinformation is, of course, related to the verb misinform, which means “to give wrong or
misleading information to” and is first recorded around 1350–1400. You’ll notice that misinform,
like misinformation, also makes no mention of why this wrong information is being spread around,
only that it is.

Examples of Misinformation:
 The STUDENT NIGHT will happen on December 15 after the midterm exam.
 Marcos Jr. wants to update historical accounts to reflect his family's version of events. He
can continue his historical revisionism by intimidating anyone who disagree with him.

MISINFORMATION VS. DISINFORMATION

 You think it’s true but it’s not You know it’s not true but you said it
anyway

When people share an disinformation but When people intentionally create false or
they don’t realize that it’s false or misleading information to make money ,
misleading, often because they are trying to have political influence or maliciously
help or want to feel part of the community. cause trouble or harm.

Out of wanting to protect people they care Money, political gain, to cause confusion to
about or connect with others who are sow mistrust
sharing similar information.

TYPES OF MIS AND DIS- INFORMATION

1. Satire and Parody

Including satire in a typology about disinformation and misinformation, is perhaps

surprising. Satire and parody could be considered as a form of art. However, in a world where
people increasingly receive information via their social feeds, there has been confusion when it is
not understood a site is satirical.

2. False Connection

When headlines, visuals or captions do not support the content, this is an example of false
connection. The most common example of this type of content is clickbait headlines. With the
increased competition for audience attention, editors increasingly have to write headlines to attract
clicks, even if when people read the article they feel that they have been deceived.

3. Misleading Content

This type of content is when there is a misleading use of information to frame issues or
individuals in certain ways by cropping photos, or choosing quotes or statistics selectively. This is
called Framing Theory.

4. False Context

One of the reasons the term ‘fake news’ is so unhelpful, is because genuine content is often
seen being re-circulated out of its original context.

5. Imposter Content

There are real issues with journalists having their bylines used alongside articles they did
not write, or organisations’ logos used in videos or images that they did not create.

6. Manipulated Content

Manipulated content is when genuine content is manipulated to deceive.

7. Fabricated Content

It’s a completely false content

Use Fact-Checking Sites

• FactCheck.org

• Politifact

• Snopes

Where does it come from and why?

Misinformation and disinformation is produced for a variety of complex reasons:

• Partisan actors want to influence voters and policy makers for political gain, or to influence
public discourse (for example, intentionally spreading misinformation about election fraud)

• More clicks means more money. Some news stories are created by people wanting to
generate clicks for financial gain, regardless of the content (for example, Macedonian teenagers)

• Political regimes want to advance their own propaganda (for example, Russia’s
weaponization of “fake news” in order to control the narrative around its invasion of Ukraine)

• Satirists want to either make a point or entertain you, or both

• The blurry lines between news and entertainment and the explosion of news sites, as well
as the pressure of the 24 hour news cycle, may contribute to shoddy writing that doesn't follow
professional journalistic standards or ethics