Features of fake news in Chinese social networks

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Abstract

Fake news is a global media security challenge. In China, the scale of this problem is growing with the development of social networks as an element of information resources – fake materials are actively distributed in parallel with the introduction and popularization of digital technologies in the public Internet infrastructure. The competitiveness of the People's Republic of China in the international market and its political power force hostile organizations and countries to destabilize the harmonious development of the country through such information warfare tools as fake news and psychological pressure on the audience by exaggerating the danger of certain incidents or suppressing their positive correlates, as well as hoaxes of events. The result of the publication of false data on healthcare, politics, history, economics, international relations and other important areas of human activity is mass riots, popular unrest, sabotage and intimidation of users. The fake news phenomenon is complicated by the fact that artificial intelligence makes it possible to create and distribute fake content, including deepfakes, among thousands of users. Moreover, the material generated by the neural network disorients the audience – most people are unable to determine the reliability and relevance of the news. The results of this study suggest that the specificity of fake news representation lies in the generation of textual and audiovisual false material through artificial intelligence, the product of which is almost similar in all its characteristics and parameters to a reliable source (the website of a reputable professional publishing house) and a person (a renowned journalist or expert) covering media content. The article used such methods as theoretical analysis of scientific literature on the identified issues, descriptive method, data aggregation (tabular method), component analysis, as well as systematization and interpretation of the obtained material.

About the authors

Yihua Yang

Email: woshiyana120@gmail.com

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