• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.25-47
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• 2021

This study analyzes 419 fake news items published in India, a fake-news-prone country, to identify the major themes, content types, and sources of social media fake news. The results show that fake news shared on social media has six major themes: health, religion, politics, crime, entertainment, and miscellaneous; eight types of content: text, photo, audio, and video, text & photo, text & video, photo & video, and text & photo & video; and two main sources: online sources and the mainstream media. Health-related fake news is more common only during a health crisis, whereas fake news related to religion and politics seems more prevalent, emerging from online media. Text & photo and text & video have three-fourths of the total share of fake news, and most of them are from online media: online media is the main source of fake news on social media as well. On the other hand, mainstream media mostly produces political fake news. This study, presenting some novel findings that may help researchers to understand and policymakers to control fake news on social media, invites more academic investigations of religious and political fake news in India. Two important limitations of this study are related to the data source and data collection period, which may have an impact on the results.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.337-351
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• 2022

With the full spread and rapid development of social media, the trend of decentralization of social media information propagation is becoming clearer day by day, and the segmentation of time by audiences using social media information is clearly progressing. Therefore, this study aims to study the influence relationship between social media attitudes toward fake news, social capital, risk perception, and discriminant intentions based on existing studies. Accordingly, the research model presented related research questions and organized a questionnaire to collect a total of 500 valid surveys. The SPSS 26.0 program and the AMOS 24.0 program were used to analyze the data. The research results are as follows. First, the more positive the user's attitude towards the fake news identification intention of social media, the more they want to use various methods or tools to identify the authenticity of online information. Second, the more positive the user's attitude towards social media fake news, the more aware of the potential threats social media fake news poses to their own physical, psychological, financial and so on. At the same time, by raising one's own awareness of the dangers, counterintelligence intentions against fake news on social media will also increase. Third, the richer the social capital the user has, the stronger the information literacy, and therefore the stronger the identification intention of social media fake news. Fourth, the higher the value of social capital Chinese users have, the greater the damage they have suffered from fake news, and the higher the risk awareness of fake news to protect their interests. Fifth, it means that Chinese users recognized information suspected of social media and took corresponding measures.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.48-82
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• 2021

This research article attempts to understand the current situation of fake news on social media in India. The study focused on four characteristics of fake news based on four research questions: subject matter, presentation elements of fake news, debunking tool(s) or technique(s) used, and the social media site on which the fake news story was shared. A systematic sampling method was used to select a sample of 90 debunked fake news stories from two Indian fact-checking websites, Alt News and Factly, from December 2019 to February 2020. A content analysis of the four characteristics of fake news stories was carefully analyzed, classified, coded, and presented. The results show that most of the fake news stories were related to politics in India. The majority of the fake news was shared via a video with text in which narrative was changed to mislead users. For the largest number of debunked fake news stories, information from official or primary sources, such as reports, data, statements, announcements, or updates were used to debunk false claims.

• International Journal of Knowledge Content Development & Technology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.65-82
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• 2020

This study examined information sharing and evaluation as determinants of the spread of fake news among Nigerian youths on social media using experience from COVID-19 pandemic. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study and a Web-based questionnaire (Google Forms) was used to collect data for the study. The total responses of 278 were collected from the participants, which represents the unit of analysis. The finding of the study revealed that most Nigerian youths used Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram to share information on COVID-19. However, only a few Nigerians used Linkedln and other types of social media to share information on COVID-19. It was also found that building a relationship with social media communities, enjoyment and risk taking, and political inclination influence the sharing behavior of Nigerian youths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results show that social media handle/page found sharing of fake news on COVID-19 especially on the treatment, vaccines numbers of cases and symptoms. The study concludes that there is a positive relationship between information evaluation and the spreading of fake news on COVID-19 among Nigerians. Information sharing and evaluation should be done with the utmost level of objectivity and sincerity.

• Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.1-16
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• 2022

This study aimed to understand young adults' attitudes concerning news and news resources they consumed, and how they encounter the fake news phenomenon. A qualitative approach was used with semi-structured interviews with 41 young adults (aged 20-30) in Tehran, Iran. Findings revealed that about half of the participants favored social media, and a smaller group used traditional media and only a few maintained that traditional and modern media should be used together. News quality was considered to be lower on social media than in traditional news sources. Furthermore, young adults usually followed the news related to the issues which had impact on their daily life, and they typically tended to share news. To detect fake news, they checked several media to compare the information; and profiteering and attracting audiences' attention were the most important reasons for the existence of fake news. This is the first qualitative study for understanding news consumption behavior of young adults in a politicized society.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.40-62
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• 2021

Are intentions important in deciding the outcome of an action such as sharing misinformation among social media users during the pandemic? What is their role and how far they are important for the very act of fake sharing news? The social media users' actions on the social platform are determined by what they plan to do themselves; however, their motivation has an immense role to play in the dissemination of fake news on social media. The study proposes a conceptual model for understanding how select factors affect fake news sharing motivation and intentions of social media users. The study scrutinizes the relationship between content and context, fear of missing out (FoMO), news verification and news sharing gratification on the motivation and intention of social media users of networked Asian society. Empirical Data were drawn from social media users (N = 243) from India, using an online questionnaire based on prior studies and structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used to analyze the data collected. Results indicate that news content, news verification, and news sharing gratification have a direct and positive relationship with sharing motivation. On the other hand, news context and content, FoMO and news sharing gratification have a positive significant relationship with sharing intention. Likewise, it was discovered that news verification will decrease sharing intention of the social media users. However, news context, that is the pandemic in the case of the present study and FoMO were not identified as determinant variables for sharing motivation among social media users. The research limitations and further scope were discussed.

• Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.40-53
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• 2019

Although fake news has been present in human history at any time, nowadays, with social media, deceptive information has a stronger effect on society than before. This article answers two research questions, namely (1) Is the dissemination of fake news supported by machines through the automatic construction of filter bubbles, and (2) Are echo chambers of fake news manmade, and if yes, what are the information behavior patterns of those individuals reacting to fake news? We discuss the role of filter bubbles by analyzing social media's ranking and results' presentation algorithms. To understand the roles of individuals in the process of making and cultivating echo chambers, we empirically study the effects of fake news on the information behavior of the audience, while working with a case study, applying quantitative and qualitative content analysis of online comments and replies (on a blog and on Reddit). Indeed, we found hints on filter bubbles; however, they are fed by the users' information behavior and only amplify users' behavioral patterns. Reading fake news and eventually drafting a comment or a reply may be the result of users' selective exposure to information leading to a confirmation bias; i.e. users prefer news (including fake news) fitting their pre-existing opinions. However, it is not possible to explain all information behavior patterns following fake news with the theory of selective exposure, but with a variety of further individual cognitive structures, such as non-argumentative or off-topic behavior, denial, moral outrage, meta-comments, insults, satire, and creation of a new rumor.

• International Journal of Knowledge Content Development & Technology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.35-51
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• 2021

This study measured the effects of fake news and propaganda on managing information on COVID-19 among the Nigerian citizenry. This study examined sources of information on COVID-19 available to the people, evaluated reasons behind spreading fake news, examined how fake news has affected the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, established the consequences of fake news on managing COVID-19 pandemic and as well identified ways to contain fake news at a time like this in Nigeria.It is a survey with a sample size of 375 participants selected using simple random technique. Instrument of data gathering was questionnaire widely distributed in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria using Survey monkey. Data was analysed using frequencies, counts and percentages, tables and charts. Findings revealed that people rely more on radio, television, and social media for information on COVID-19. Fake news is spread by people mostly for political reasons and intention to cause panic. In Nigeria, fake news has led to disbelief of the existence of the virus thereby leading to violation of precautionary measures among the citizenry and lack of trust in the government. Concerted effort on the part of the government is required to give public enlightenment on the danger of fake news. Also, directorate of anti-fake news should be established to censor and reprimand sources of fake news. People should always check source of information to confirm its credibility and be weary of sharing unconfirmed information especially on the social media.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.87-103
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors influencing acceptance (e.g., comprehension,) and diffusion of information recipients' by depending on the authenticity of news. Specifically, this study has examined the effects of the news contents(political vs. general), need for cognition(high vs. low) and authenticity of the News(real news vs. fake news) on both acceptance and diffusion of news. Based on previous work, this study has developed a conceptual model to present each research hypothesis and tested it by conducting experiments as the follows. As a result, according to the authenticity of the news and the contents of the news (political and general), the acceptance of political contents was high regardless of the authenticity of the news, and the acceptance of real news was higher than that of fake news. However, in the proliferation (comment), both the political contents and the general contents showed the characteristic of spreading (commenting) fake news rather than real news. contrary to this, the cognitive level did not show any significant difference in acceptance (understanding) and proliferation (comment, sharing, recommendation). This study provides academic implications in that it examines the influences of accepting (comprehension) and diffusion (comment, sharing, recommendation) of real news and fake news. It also provides practical implications for responding to fake news and new marketing strategies in an environment where contents are delivered through diverse social media.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.105-125
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• 2020

The purpose of this paper is to analyze 1) who created and distributed fake news, 2) the distribution channels of fake news, 3) who fake news has targeted, and 4) the effects on voting and the impact of fake news on Korean politics. In South Korea, fake news was mainly created by candidates or election campaigns. The reason is that in the wake of the impeachment of President Park Guen Hye, all the political parties in Korea used fake news as a means of mobilizing supporters for each of their candidates or parties to gain an advantage in situations involving political divisions and confrontations between the pro-impeachment, progressive young generation and anti-impeachment, conservative senior generation. Voters' media usage patterns were polarized through social network services (SNS) media and television. Fake news was mostly received through these two media outlets. According to the spreading structure of fake news in Korea, the younger generation generally uses SNS posts intended for unspecified individuals, and the older generation uses closed SNS like KakaoTalk or Naver's BAND. In the end, it is typically characteristic of the older generation to spread fake news through existing offline human networks. In the 2017 presidential election, fake news has been confirmed to have the effect of mobilizing supporters for each political party. In the presidential election, an increase in voter turnout was confirmed among those in their 20s and those in their 60s or older. Evidently, fake news influenced the election of Moon Jae-In. The influence of fake news is expected to grow further as ideological polarization and consequent political polarization continues to intensify in South Korea.