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METHODOLOGY OF CHECKING FALSE INFORMATION IN THE
CONDITIONS OF DISINFORMATION CONFLICT
Gulamov Zukhriddin Bahromjon oglu
Researcher at Fergana State University
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14921117
Annotation:
An analysis of the methodology of checking false information
in the conditions of disinformation conflicts was carried out.
Keywords:
“fake”, information society, false information, disinformation,
information policy, “fake news”, globalization.
The development of information technologies, especially the emergence of
the Internet, has, firstly, increased the speed of preparation and transmission of
information several times, and secondly, expanded the possibilities of receiving
it to an unprecedented extent. Therefore, in this process, the correctness or
incorrectness of the transmitted information is not taken into account. As a
result, the purpose and content underlying the information are becoming
abstract, and it is being used for various purposes and interests. False,
fabricated, and fake information negatively affects the audience's consciousness,
disrupting various relationships between people, existing rules, values, and
traditions in society. Moreover, today, not only news published on social
networks, but also in serious electronic media, especially news sites, often
contain false information. This leads to consumers of news content accepting
them without analyzing them and blindly believing them. Also, "in recent years,
the media has become a means of exchanging ideas rather than information
transmission channels. With the increasing activity of bloggers on social
networks, the opinions of public leaders are gradually drawing the audience
away from traditional media and Internet information resources. Materials
brought to the attention of the public on social networks, blogs, forums, photo
and video hosting are widely discussed among users. Modern means of
communication are increasingly becoming sources of information that is
disseminated unverified or based on rumors[1].
The intensification of various types of information conflicts in the world in
the 21st century has increased the interest of philosophers, sociologists, and
lawyers in this problem. Conflicts arise as a result of fundamental changes in
human society, a clash of interests, and a mismatch of goals, and unfortunately
leave many victims in their wake. If earlier there was talk of eliminating
conflicts, now there is talk of managing them. To achieve success in this regard,
it is necessary to systematize existing knowledge and enrich approaches, and
increase citizens' awareness of conflicts. The media play a significant role in
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revealing the essence of conflicts, explaining to citizens the content of social
conflicts, and, if necessary, in conducting mediation activities to reconcile people
and groups involved in conflict.
The availability and effectiveness of information are related to such basic
consumer quality indicators as its content, adequacy, relevance, timeliness,
accuracy, reliability, and stability: a) representativeness of information - is
associated with its correct selection and formation in order to adequately
express the nature of the object; b) meaningfulness of information - expresses its
semantic (content) volume; c) sufficiency (completeness) of information -
indicates that it has a minimum, but sufficient content (set of indicators) for
decision-making. Incomplete, that is, insufficient, as well as excessive
information in the process of making the right decision reduces the effectiveness
of the user's decisions; d) relevance of information - is determined by the
preservation of its value for management during the use of information and
depends on the dynamics of changes in its properties, as well as the time interval
that has elapsed since the appearance of this information; d) timeliness of
information - indicates that it is received without delay from the agreed upon
time for solving a previously defined task; e) accuracy of information - is
determined by the degree of proximity of the received information to the real
state of the object, process, event, etc.; j) reliability of information - is
determined by the property of information to represent real existing objects
with the necessary accuracy.
Speaking about the global danger of social networks, it is necessary to pay
attention to the following vices that are regularly and constantly spread
through them: calls by terrorist and extremist groups to oppose their homeland
and people; instructions on how to use drugs and military weapons; various
pornographic pictures and films; well-founded and unfounded information that
serves the interests of certain groups; elements of "popular culture" that do not
correspond to national values at all; online games that promote cruelty, etc.
As is known, in each social network there is an opportunity to make as
many friends as you want, become a member of various groups, visit shared
links, "like" distributed materials, and promote your own views. This further
increases the likelihood of danger.
Any scientific discovery has more or less negative consequences, and
humanity is always trying to reduce these consequences. The invention of the
airplane later led to the invention of the parachute, and the creation of cars led
to the emergence of traffic rules and traffic safety measures. At a time when
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social networks are becoming a powerful weapon in the hands of various evil
forces, it is advisable to jointly develop and popularize modern, reliable
methods of protection against them.
According to journalist Rustam Jabbarov[2], the most correct way to
prevent such dangers is not to restrict social networks or the Internet, as in
some countries. In order to reduce the risks without giving up their useful
aspects, it is necessary to use the following methods.
Virtual method. The leaders of the world's largest international and
national social networks, together with mature experts and influential
international organizations, should come to a unanimous conclusion on finding
and deleting the accounts of organizations that threaten global security and
stability, and preventing the spread of their ideas on these networks.
Legal method. In order to ensure the correct flow of information and
protect against its harmful consequences, each country should create a solid
legal framework for the use of the Internet, in particular social networks. It is
necessary to increase administrative and criminal liability for the dissemination
of such terrible ideas as aggression, racism, chauvinism, organized crime,
overthrow of the constitutional order, terrorism, religious fanaticism, violence,
cruelty, obscenity, elements of "popular culture", drug trafficking, illegal arms
trade, human trafficking, and incitement to suicide through Internet publications
and social networks, and to strengthen the existing legislative framework in this
regard.
Educational method. That is, it is necessary to form the etiquette of using the
Internet and social networks in every young man and woman. To do this, parents
should monitor which network their child is on, what he is doing, who he is
meeting, what groups he is a member of. This can probably be assessed as an
infringement on the rights of young people from a Western point of view. However,
from the point of view of Eastern values, it does not hurt to limit the rights and
opportunities of young people in a good way. At the same time, we think that it is
time to introduce training courses on the culture of using the Internet and social
networks in schools and educational institutions. In this regard, textbooks and
manuals should be created by experts in the field. Propaganda method. In order for
young people not to fall under the influence of various harmful trends and
information attacks, it is necessary to create and popularize social networks in
each country that express their political, social and cultural views and national
interests. It is necessary to organize groups on Facebook, Twitter, Odnoklassniki,
Vkontakte, LinkedIn and other social networks to combat the above-mentioned
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global problems and to gather more young people in them. Perhaps, regulating the
activities of users on social networks, introducing certain restrictions, and
amending laws in this regard may seem to today's Western analysts to be contrary
to democratic principles and a threat to human rights and personal integrity.
However, any democratic values, the rights and freedoms of people in a certain
group should not threaten the lives and security of others. In other words, it is
necessary to form an internal immunity of social network users against
information attacks that can be spread through these networks. We should not
isolate our youth from social media, but rather turn them into intellectual
representatives of society who can use it correctly and distinguish right from
wrong. The forbidden fruit is sweet. However, it would not be right to completely
abandon this fruit, but rather to separate the useful part for ourselves and throw
away the harmful part, and teach others to do the same.
The interrelationship between human nature and the phenomenon of
information has acquired special significance in the context of the beginning of the
technological revolution and the rapid development of the Internet. Due to the
emergence of the unlimited possibilities of the Internet, the authenticity of
information has been seriously damaged. “Fake news” has spread everywhere.
Two main factors are responsible for the widespread spread of “fake news”: 1)
quantitative - there is a huge amount of information on the Internet that cannot be
verified; 2) qualitative - technological: thanks to new technologies, the means of
collecting and storing information, as well as the entities producing it and the
channels for transmitting it, have increased.
If we focus on the first case, the difference between the older generation
and today's youth in terms of information use is that their main sources of
learning were books, documents, periodicals (newspapers, magazines, bulletins,
etc.), audio media and other traditional means. In the conditions of the
information society, the most important source of knowledge is the Internet.
Moreover, accessing this huge "repository" does not require any effort. Today,
approximately 97 percent of users consider the Internet as a source of
information. For 47 percent, social media has become the main source of news.
Therefore, it is the Internet, especially social networks, that is a convenient and
safe place for the spread of "fake news", in our opinion. There are several
reasons for this. First, the tendency to enter the information market through
social networks and create content there is very easy. Second, social networks
are convenient in format - it is convenient to receive news on a phone or watch
it on a computer screen, but this can create difficulties for discussing the
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reliability of information. Third, the number of users of social networks is
growing at a very high rate. In such conditions, trust in traditional media is
declining. As a result, verified sources of information are changing in favor of
social networks, opening a wide path for the development of unverified, poor-
quality information. Fourth, scientists have proven that social media
ideologically isolate people from each other. For these reasons, the influx of a
huge amount of information through the Internet and, in particular, social
networks has lowered the status and position of traditional media.
Some authors give detailed explanations for the distorted form of
information such as “fake news”: humor, misinformation, manipulative
information, organized information, misleading content, misinterpreted
information[3]. However, it is necessary to distinguish between fake news and
content that carries misleading and false information. Information corruption
often takes one of three forms: disinformation – disinformation: false
information deliberately created with the aim of harming a person, social group
or country; misinformation – incorrect information: information is false, but not
created with the aim of harming a person, social group or country;
malinformation – accurate information, but it is used to harm a person, social
group or country[4].
All three types of information corruption are aimed at spreading false
information and causing harm. It should be noted that today, societies living in a
constant information environment are increasingly exposed to unreliable,
distorted information. In particular, news related to political events, military
operations, international events, that is, events that require important decisions,
the spread of “fake” is becoming a manipulative tool. One of the greatest
researchers on the impact of information on public consciousness, the Canadian
philosopher Herbert Marshall McLuhan, was of the opinion that the media are
“natural resources”. Therefore, in the modern world, the struggle for access to
information resources has come to the fore. Understanding the nature of “fake”
news based on rumors helps to clearly delimit the concepts of “information” and
“disinformation”.
Disinformation is a type of information that creates a false picture of reality
in the audience. The means of disinformation include complete or partial
distortion of facts, concealment of information, wrong emphasis on the message
in communication, etc.
In the conditions of the rapid development of information technologies and the
expansion of technical capabilities, it is difficult to distinguish rumors and half-
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truths, half-jokes from real ones. The reason is that now there is a technology
that “allows” each user to easily copy documents, images, audio files, which is
always an obstacle to reliable information. To prevent, stop and refute this, we
need techniques and filters that help organize the activities of journalists at a
professional level. Today, with the rapid development of new media and
Internet journalism, other concepts have entered the mass media arena, which
differ in the participation of the audience and the methods and means of
influencing readers. Its name is mystification.
References:
1.
Комиссаров М. А. “Проблема распространения недостоверной
информации в СМИ и социальных медиа”// Тезисы к выступлению на 20-й
Центрально-Азиатской Конференции СМИ “Будущее журналистики”.
https://www.osce.org/representative-on-freedom-ofmedia
2.
Jabborov R. Sources of information attacks: problems and solutions.
http://huquqburch.uz/uz/view/533
3.
The Impact of CrossCheck on Journalists & the Audience, by
Smyrnaios, N., Chauvet,S.,& Marty, E., November 2017
4.
ClaireWardle, Hossein Derakhshan, “Information Disorder. Toward an
interdisciplinary ramework for research and policymaking”, Council of Europe,
2017.
