Digital literacy, fake news and education / Alfabetización digital, fake news y educación

Abstract

The role of digital literacy in strengthening citizens' resilience to misinformation and 'fake news' has been the subject of research projects and networking and academic and policy discourses in recent years, given prominence by an escalation of the perceived crisis following election and referendum results in the US and UK respectively. This special issue sets out to take forward critical dialogue in the field of media and digital literacy education by publishing rigorous research on the subject. The research disseminated in this collection speaks to the political and economic contexts for 'fake news', the complex issue of trust and the risks of educational solutionism; questions of definition and policy implementation; teaching about specific subgenres such as YouTube and clickbait; international comparisons of pedagogic approaches and challenges for teachers in this changing ecosystem.

Teens’ Motivations to Spread Fake News on WhatsApp

“…The best “antidote” to the threats posed by false news is education (Larkin, 2017; McDougall et al, 2019). Despite the fact that the public has different characteristics and is not completely naive, nor are these news items as powerful, as Badillo (2019, p. 31) explains, it is evident that “the lack of formal or informal education processes in the use of new media” is affecting our perception of their effects: “Schools are vital in helping children and young people effectively discern the truth when they seek information and news online” (Goldberg, 2017, p. 436).…”

Desinformación y Covid-19: Análisis cuantitativo a través de los bulos desmentidos en Latinoamérica y España

“…actuación fundamentales: el refuerzo de las competencias mediáticas de los usuarios (McDougall, et al, 2019;Lotero-Echeverri, Romero-Rodríguez y Pérez-Rodríguez, 2018; Unesco 2018) y la capacidad de las organizaciones de verificación de datos a la hora de contrarrestar el impacto de los bulos. Estas organizaciones conocidas como "plataformas de comprobación", "de verificación de contenidos", "de chequeo" o, por su nombre en inglés, "fact-checking platforms" constituyen una mezcla diversa de prácticas, misiones y formas organizativas que comparten una misma preocupación: "promover el discurso democrático y la rendición de cuentas de los gobiernos" (Graves, 2018, p.14).…”

Identifying Fake News: A Lesson from Library Science Students

“…Hoaxes are a challenge for the technological society of the current era. Hoaxes can be in the form of fake news and/or disinformation (McDougall et al, 2019). The spread of hoaxes is increasingly being driven by the widespread use of the internet as a means of communication, called social media.…”