Exposing and Explaining Fake News On-the-Fly

The negative consequence of this openness of social media platforms is the spread of false information disguised as truth, i.e., fake news. Fake news can be defined as deceptive posts with an intention to mislead consumers in their purchase or approaching the context of misinformation and disinformation (Xiao et al, 2020). Specifically, while misinformation is an inadvertent action, disinformation is a deliberate creation/sharing of false information. The authenticity and intention can be distinguished as: (i) non-factual and mislead, i.e., deceptive news and disinformation; (ii) factual and mislead (cherry-picking); (iii) undefined and mislead (click-bait); and (iv) non-factual and undefined, i.e., misinformation. Misinformation and fake news are characterized by their big volume, uncertainty, and short-lived nature. Furthermore, they disseminate faster and further on social media sites causing serious impact on politics and economics (Tandoc, 2019). Accordingly, the report on digital transformation of media and the rise of disinformation/fake news of the European Union (EU) (Martens et al, 2018) reinforces the need to strengthen trust in digital media.