Morphology of publishing fake news in Iran's media ecosystem

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Hajar Noormosharrafi 1
Ali Ahmadi 2
1 M.A of Journalism, Communication Sciences Faculty, Allameh Taba Tabai University
2 university of Tours, PRIM
10.22034/jcsc.2024.546603.2523
Abstract
With the growth of social networks, we are witnessing a wide wave of spreading fake news that has a significant impact on public opinion and its attitude towards important personalities and events in society. Twitter, as one of the reference media platforms where many elites work, plays an important role in producing content on other social networks. In this research, an attempt has been made to study the morphology of fake news that is produced and republished in this network. In this research, quantitative content analysis method has been used. The statistical population of the study is fake news published in Persian by Iranian users active in Twitter, From September 2019 to March 2020. According to the findings of this study, many unsourced news items are deceptive and misleading and have not been responded to by relevant authorities. Among Iranian users active on Twitter, there is the greatest tendency towards political issues. The techniques of lying and gossiping, labeling and resorting to fear have the highest frequency for distorting reality. The research also shows that about half of the users who publish fake news on Twitter have unrealistic identities and use pseudonyms, and a high percentage of news items contain all kinds of typographical and grammatical errors.

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Cultural Studies & Communication
Volume 20, Issue 74
Spring 2024
Pages 45-64