Propaganda in traditional and social media

Diplomsko delo raziskuje lažne novice, njihove vplive na družbo in posameznika ter njihovo vlogo v moderni propagandi. V teoretičnem delu sta opisani potrditvena pristranskost in motivirano razumevanje, psihološka procesa, ki pojasnjujeta, zakaj ljudje nasedajo lažnim novicam. Opisani so delovanje socialnih omrežij, njihova vloga pri hitrem širjenju lažnih novic v javnosti, viri lažnih novic in nekatere njihove posledice. Predstavljeni so razlogi za zavračanje tradicionalnih medijev in novinarstva v zameno za alternativne vire informacij. V eksperimentalnem delu je izvedena anketa o zaupanju ljudi v medije. Analizirana sta dva primera objav tradicionalnih medijev, ter trije primeri tujih in primer slovenskega portala lažnih novic glede na videz strani, jezik, vire, povezave ter splošno delovanje. Rezultati izvedene ankete odražajo večje zaupanje ljudi v tradicionalne, kot pa v socialne medije, vendar je to zaupanje odvisno od medijske organizacije. Analiza tradicionalnih medijev je prikazala subtilne manipulacijske metode, s katerimi vplivajo na javno mnenje, hkrati pa ohranjajo videz nevtralnosti. Analiza portalov z lažnimi novicami nakazuje na majhno povezavo med kakovostjo in dejansko razširjenostjo portala. Na hitro širjenje in prepoznavnost portalov imata velik vpliv optimizacija iskalnih algoritmov in položaj portala v mreži drugih portalov lažnih novic. Mreža ni organiziran sistem, ampak le skupek številnih portalov in robotov s podobnim namenom in ciljem, da promovirajo drug drugega. Ob odstranitvi ali blokiranju nekega portala lahko njegovo mesto takoj zavzamejo drugi, zato je omejevanje in preprečevanje širjenja lažnih novic še težje. Z uporabo pridobljenih rezultatov in že obstoječih predlogov za rešitve je v zaključku oblikovan večdelni pristop do omejevanja lažnih novic, ki vključuje možnosti tehnološke avtomatizacije z uporabo metod umetne inteligenceuvajanje boljše zakonodaje in standardizacijeizobraževanje za dvig informacijske pismenosti celotne populacije do te mere, da je vsak posameznik sposoben ovrednoti verodostojnost in zanesljivost informacij ter prepoznati potencialne laži in propagando.The thesis explores fake news, its impact on society and the individual, and their use in modern propaganda. The theoretical part describes confirmation bias and motivated reasoning, two psychological processes that explain why people fall for fake news. The operation of social networks, their role in the rapid spread of fake news in the public, sources of fake news and some of their consequences are described. Also presented are reasons for rejecting traditional media and journalism in exchange for alternative sources of information. In the experimental part a survey of people\u27s trust in the media was conducted. Two examples of traditional media publications are analyzed and three examples of foreign and one case of a Slovenian portal of fake news are analyzed regarding the appearance of the page, linguistics, sources, links and general operation. The results of the survey show that people have greater trust in traditional than in social media, but this trust depends on the media organization. Analysis of traditional media has shown subtle manipulative methods by which they influence public opinion while maintaining the appearance of neutrality. Analysis of portals with fake news suggest a small link between the quality and the actual prevalence of the portal. The rapid spread and visibility of portals are greatly influenced by the optimization of search algorithms and the position of the portal in the network of other fake news portals. The network is not an organized system, but only a set of numerous portals and robots with a similar purpose to promote each other. In the event of the removal or blocking of one portal, its place can be immediately taken by others, making it even more difficult to restrict and prevent the spread of fake news. Using the obtained results and already existing proposals for solutions, a multi-part approach to limiting fake news is designed, which includes the possibilities of technological automation using the method of artificial intelligenceintroduction of better legislation and standardizationand education to raise the information literacy of the entire population to a point where each individual can evaluate the credibility and reliability of the information and identify potential lies and propaganda