Glossary

In 2017, "Fake News" was chosen expression of the year by the Collins dictionary, which defined it as false information that is disseminated in the form of news, often in a sensationalist manner. In the last six years, this and other words related to it continue to be current. Whether intentional lies or unverified content, they mix with the news and call into question the information itself.

 

  • Fake news: Deliberate distribution of false or manipulated information or disinformation. The problem is identifying and distinguishing the last two
     
  • Clickbait: Sensationalist title, which leads the reader to click on a hyperlink to open a news item, video or image.
     
  • Deep fake: Putting people on video saying words they never said, or even replacing faces, creating false situations. Through artificial intelligence techniques, it can be done so well that, with the naked eye, it is often impossible to notice that it is a lie.
     
  • Bots: Short for Robot, ‘bot’ is a computer program that performs tasks autonomously, repetitively and pre-defined. Bots imitate human behaviour, but as they are automatic, they are much faster than human users. These can perform useful tasks, but they can also be used as malware, that is, to completely control a computer.
     
  • Disinformation: Misinformation aims to purposefully mislead. Through social networks, anyone can misinform, sharing or just “liking” an image or message that is not true. In politics and advertising, disinformation is widely used. For example, through messages where what is not interesting is hidden or some aspect is exaggeratedly highlighted in order to induce public opinion towards certain interests.
     
  • Manipulation: According to the dictionary, manipulation is the undue or illegitimate influence, control or action in the course of a process. Media manipulation can mean intentionally deceiving the public through altered or false information, but it can also mean manipulating the media itself with individual, economic, political, etc. objectives. In these cases, it is common for published information to go 'viral' very quickly, meaning it can be shared by the media without first evaluating its authenticity.