Online Disinformation and False News

The fight against online disinformation and deliberate false news is considered as one of the major challenges for journalism in the 21st century. Reporters Without Borders intensively works on this issue with the Information and Democracy Commission and the Journalism Trust Initiative for example. In this chapter, we concentrate on practical tips for journalists both as to how to detect deliberate false news and how to react when false information are spread about journalists.

Types of Disinformation Online

In public discussions, the entire topic is summarised with the term 'fake news'. Reporters Without Borders avoids this term for two reasons.

'False news assessment'

To assess whether a piece of news is deliberately false or true, there are several key questions that should be raised every time.

Counter strategies

One of the biggest assets of journalists is their reputations. What if the adversaries try to harm a journalist’s reputation with spread of deliberate false information on the internet?

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