Institutional strategies for fact-checking and criticism responses in the fight against fake news

• Grant number: 20/15055-9
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: June 01, 2021
• End date: May 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Communications - Journalism and Publishing
• Principal Investigator: Ivan Paganotti
• Grantee: Ivan Paganotti
• Host Institution: Diretoria de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa. Universidade Metodista de São Paulo (UMESP). Instituto Metodista de Ensino Superior (IMS). São Bernardo do Campo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 21/11610-0 - Institutional fact-checking and criticism-response strategies in combating false news: analysis of user pressure on social media to remove ads on disinformation sites, BP.TT; 21/12411-1 - Institutional fact-checking and criticism-response strategies in combating false news: survey of social media positions on journalistic checking, BP.TT

Abstract

In a scenario of social concern with fake news proliferating in different social networks, this research questions how different institutions (companies, non-governmental organizations, communication agencies, candidates and political parties in electoral campaigns) appropriate strategies that involve fact-checking, media literacy campaigns, boycott pressure or legal propositions to combat what is seen as "fake news". In order to do so, this research compares different intervention strategies (institutional corrections, fact-checking alerts, media literacy initiatives, pressure against advertisers and legal proposals for media regulation) so that the main public can be equipped with skills and knowledge to avoid misinformation. This research aims to identify and classify different agents, including public relation and press offices, news agencies specialized in fact-checking, media literacy initiatives and social media users demands published on social networks. These agents try to distinguish themselves in the public sphere, and present themselves as authority speeches (in the fields of law, journalism, education and institutional communication). This research also evaluates the public's reaction to these contents through different channels. The corpus of analysis will include messages exchanged on social networks in institutional accounts from fact-checking agencies, media education initiatives, activists who denounce advertisers on fake news sites and defenders or critics of legal proposals that aim to combat disinformation. By analyzing the reception of these strategies to combat disinformation, this research can compare advantages and difficulties concerning each approach, pointing out opportunities to replicate these tactics to ensure that information with better quality circulates through social networks. (AU)