Fake news as a threat to social resilience

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the research inquiry was to find out about fake news, the manipulation of its recognition by social media users with the question formulated as follows: what might be the social resistance to fake news as a media product in the post-truth era? The hypothesis was put forward that fake news causes a lack of social resistance to fake news despite the declared knowledge of users regarding fake news. The research was conducted under a grant from the Ministry of National Defense.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The presented results of combining the analysis of secondary sources (literature, studies, reports) with the empirical part (questionnaire survey) allowed us to confirm the main thesis of the article, which is that fake news as a media product in the post-truth era causes lack of social resistance to false content.

FINDINGS: The results of the study indicate the vulnerability of social media users to fake news despite their knowledge on the subject. The conclusion points to the need for appropriate media courses, trainings, and media campaigns that will improve the knowledge of social media users making them more resistant to fake news.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The article synthetically presents the conclusions from the research, pointing out the directions of research in the field of information security in the context of national security, indicating the necessity of education and training in this area, as well as social campaigns.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The presented research results have not been previously shown in this form, they provide knowledge about the increasing risk of false content in social media. They recommend the necessity of monitoring, repeating the research, implementation of specific actions that should be taken by the government to ensure social resilience to fake news.