Fake news diffusion on digital channels: An analysis of attack strategies, responsibilities, and corporate responses

In recent years, the phenomenon of fake news has aroused a growing interest in the academic debate because of its capability to easily spread among digital channels, such as social media platforms, and reach and deceive an increasingly large target of digital users. In this scenario, fake news threatens the credibility of organizations, their products and services, the trust relationship between organizations and consumers, as well as the organizations internal community. Nowadays, organizations are subject to the risk of losing the control of their corporate communication strategies due to phenomena such as the spread of fake news. Hence, although in academic literature there is a growing interest about the impact of fake news, scholars agree that more research is needed to provide a better understanding of the fake news phenomenon. Indeed, hereto no study has focused on how fake news attacks the corporate reputation with reference to the different phases of the fake news life cycle. The aim of this PhD thesis is threefold: (1) to investigate how fake news, during its life cycle, attacks corporate reputation; (2) to identify the key actors involved in the stemming process of fake news and their role; (3) to identify the more effective response strategies of organizations threatened by fake news. To achieve the aim of this exploratory research, a mixed-method approach was adopted. In particular, a qualitative content analysis was conducted on a database of 454 fake news headlines; four longitudinal case studies were analyzed; a survey on a sample of Italian citizens was conducted to investigate their perception and the more effective response strategies of the organizations attacked by fake news. Findings of this research identify two types of borrowed credibility on which fake news leverages and two thematic clusters that characterize them. By crossing these dimensions, four different ideal types of fake news attack strategies emerged. Moreover, the results of this research highlight the weakness of the role of fact checkers, which are unable to access the filter bubbles in which fake news rapidly spreads – fact checkers and fake news branch out on two parallel channels, without crossing each other, and reaching different targets, by representing an ethical challenge for digital platforms such as social media. Finally, the findings of the survey show that it is a widespread and prevailing opinion between Italians that openness and transparency should be the key values of the response strategies. As a matter of fact, the clear answer from the survey respondents is that the best response strategy for the organization attacked by fake news is to be available in providing timely information

Fake News: Finding Truth in Strategic Communication

Fake news is an old phenomenon that has become a new obsession and a menace to society due to technological advancement and the proliferation of social media, which has changed traditional journalism norms. As the spread of false information has increased these past few years, it has become increasingly difficult for information consumers to distinguish between facts and fakes. A comprehensive systematic literature review to extract themes revealed the major factors responsible for spreading fake news. This qualitative interpretative meta-synthesis (QIMS) aims to better understand and offer solutions to combat fake news. This Ph.D. dissertation will serve as a guide for ethical communication practice and a reference for future research studies

Quem consome Fake News? Uma análise comparativa do efeito da ideologia política Esquerda-Direita na crença, interpretação e divulgação

A criação e a disseminação de conteúdos falsos, como ações de instrumentalização política, sempre fez parte dos jogos de manipulação e das manobras políticas inerentes à sociedade humana. No entanto, atualmente, com um mundo cada vez mais digital, sem limitações geográficas que impeçam as pessoas de estar constantemente interligadas e conectadas, a desinformação pode ser disseminada de forma massiva e a uma velocidade sem precedentes, ameaçando os fundamentos basilares do jornalismo e as demais instituições democráticas. Numa época em que existe um profundo desprezo pela verdade e pela evidência científica, na qual a credibilidade e a confiança nas principais instituições públicas e políticas, estão em crise, a mentira, sob o disfarce de notícias legítimas, compete, no mesmo ambiente digital, com os meios de comunicação pela atenção de uma audiência cada vez mais fragmentada, polarizada e seletiva. Depois das eleições presidenciais americanas de 2016, a criação de fake news passou a ser uma arma política frequentemente utilizada por agentes estatais e/ou independentes, com o objetivo de obterem, essencialmente, ganhos políticos, desacreditando adversários e manipulando eleitores em períodos de campanha eleitoral. À semelhança de outros países ocidentais, também em Portugal a disseminação de fake news políticas através das redes sociais, procura destabilizar a vida pública e política da sociedade. Considerando este contexto, este trabalho visa analisar a suscetibilidade dos eleitores portugueses a fake news contemporâneas, politicamente enviesadas. A nossa investigação procura, deste modo, compreender a influência das identidades ideológicas e partidárias na crença e divulgação de fake news e notícias politicamente comprometedoras, em conformidade com diferentes estilos cognitivos de processar informação e diferentes práticas de consumir informação online. Interessa, desta forma, identificar possíveis assimetrias ideológicas (esquerda vs direita), cognitivas e partidárias no que diz respeito ao consumo e disseminação de fake news políticas, ao mesmo tempo que se realiza uma auscultação geral da vulnerabilidade do eleitorado português, quando exposto a este tipo de conteúdos. Desta forma, propondo a apresentação de um inquérito por questionário, foi desenvolvida uma metodologia capaz de conciliar diferentes instrumentos e procedimentos para identificar ideológica e partidariamente os participantes, avaliando a sua habilidade cognitiva e as suas práticas de consumir informação online. A par destes métodos, os participantes foram convidados a avaliar a credibilidade e a manifestar a intenção de partilhar um conjunto de títulos de fake news e notícias. Este estudo pretende ser um contributo relevante para a investigação nesta área, sobretudo em Portugal. Acreditamos que este trabalho possa ser enriquecedor para a literatura, nomeadamente no que diz respeito à conceção de uma estrutura validada para a medição da suscetibilidade à desinformação.The creation and dissemination of false content, such as political instrumentalization actions, has always been part of the manipulation games and political maneuvers inherent to human society. However, currently, with an increasingly digital world, without geographic limitations that prevent people from being constantly connected, disinformation can be disseminated massively and at breakneck speed, threatening the basic pillars of journalism and other democratic institutions. At a time when there is a profound contempt for truth and scientific evidence, in which the credibility and trust of the main public and political institutions is in crisis, the lie, under the guise of legitimate news, competes, in the same digital environment, with the media for the attention of an increasingly fragmented, polarized and selective audience. After the 2016 US presidential elections, the creation of fake news became a political weapon frequently used by the state and/or independent agents, with the objective of essentially obtaining political gains, discrediting political opponents and manipulating voters in electoral campaign periods. As in other western countries, in Portugal, the dissemination of political fake news, through digital social networks, seeks to destabilize society's public and political life. Considering this context, this work aims to analyze the susceptibility to contemporary, politically biased fake news. In this way, our research seeks to understand the influence of ideological and party identities on the belief and dissemination of fake news and politically compromising news, in accordance with different cognitive styles of processing information and different practices of consuming information online. It is therefore interesting to identify possible ideological (left vs. right), cognitive and partisan asymmetries with regard to the consumption and dissemination of political fake news, while at the same time conducting a general survey of the vulnerability of the Portuguese electorate, when exposed to this kind of content. Thus, proposing the presentation of an inquiry by questionnaire, we developed a methodology capable of reconciling different instruments and procedures to identify participants ideologically and in a party way, evaluating their cognitive ability and their practices when consuming information online. Alongside these methods, participants were invited to assess the credibility and express their intention to share a set of fake news and news headlines. This study intends to be a relevant contribution to research in this area, especially in Portugal. We believe that this work can be enriching for the literature, namely with regard to the design of a validated structure for measuring the susceptibility to disinformation