Fake News

Utah Law Review. 2020, Issue 4, p1009-1028. 20p. "While the circulation of disinformation and misinformation online can pose a variety of risks to societies around the world, it should also be of concern that overreacting to such false information can undermine human rights, including freedom of expression. The business operations of global social media platforms frequently intersect with this latter concern because of a spike in the adoption of national laws that ban "fake news" as well as their own platform policies to tackle false information. This Essay assesses the corporate responsibility standards afforded by the United Nations' Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and explains several key ways in which the guidance that these instruments provide is relevant to social media companies in tackling false information on their platforms." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Democratic Communiqué. 2020, Vol. 29 Issue 1, p1-18. 18p. "Since the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, policy makers, scholars, and critics have increasingly warned about the dangers associated with fake news. In response, they have proposed numerous solutions to fake news, media literacy being one frequently mentioned. However, there is currently no agreed upon definition of fake news or its origins and practices. Scholars cannot develop effective pedagogy to address fake news without a deep understanding and firm definition of fake news. As a result, this study employs a criticalhistorical lens of a media ecosystem framework to define fake news. The data for this study came from three areas; an extensive review of scholarship in the Communication, History, Media Studies, and Media Education disciplines; newspaper and congressional archives; and news stories. My methodology identified the producers of fake news; the purpose behind the production of false or misleading content; the themes found in fake news content; and the consequences associated with the consumption of false and misleading information. The findings of this study serve as a foundational basis for the development of a critical news literacy program." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media and Communication(Vol. 8, Issue 2S3). Digital media, while openinga vast array of avenues for lay people to effectively engage with news, information and debates about important science and health issues, have become a fertile land for various stakeholders to spread misinformation and disinformation, stimulate uncivil discussions and engender ill-informed, dangerous public decisions. Recent developments of the Covid-19 infodemic might just be the tipping point of a process that has been long simmering in controversial areas of health and science (e.g., climate-change denial, anti-vaccination, anti-5G, Flat Earth doctrines). We bring together a wide range of fresh data and perspectives from four continents to help media scholars, journalists, science communicators, scientists, health professionals and policy-makers to better undersand these developments and what can be done to mitigate their impacts on public engagement with health and science controversies.