How to identify fake news on social media : a systematic literature review

Abstract

Fake news in the form of disinformation on social networks has become a real concern, with serious potential consequences as a result of the massive viral spreading of false information and fake news. To this end, a systematic literature review was performed to investigate how the validity of news on social media can be determined. An initial literature search resulted in identifying 1105 potentially relevant articles, which were taken through a systematic sifting process resulting in 25 articles that were analysed in detail. During a thematic analysis, four themes emerged, related to fake news, social media, the influence of bias and information literacy. This paper discusses the findings related to the four themes. The findings were distilled into a set of five guidelines that may be used to determine the validity of news on social media. The techniques are: consider the source; beware of bots; be aware of bias and make use of multiple sources; beware of mimics; and ways to recognise good sources of information. This paper contributes to the current discourse on how to distinguish between valid news and fake news on social media, and provides guidance to assist with this ever growing and increasingly important information management challenge.