“Slowly, Incest Is Being Legalized Throughout Europe” Detecting Human Rights Vulnerabilities in Fake News Using Critical Discourse Analysis
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1 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation A.Y. 2017/2018 “Slowly, incest is being legalized throughout Europe” Detecting human rights vulnerabilities in fake news using critical discourse analysis Author: Samy Amanatullah Supervisor: Antonis Gardikiotis 2 ABSTRACT: Liberal democracy has struggled to respond to so-called fake news. The term is used to describe content and discredit the media, and it is increasingly seen as the tool of illiberal actors. This research examines how fake news targets human rights through a critical discourse analysis of demonstrably false headlines in four environments: the United States, Italy, Greece, and Ukraine. This research defines fake news as disinformation, or disingenuous content that is disseminated to persuade as an agenda. It then examines relevant social theories, enabling features, and motivated actors to suggest that disinformation functions through repetition and peripheral processing to exploit existing skepticism and social tensions in the neo-liberal system. This study collects headlines and headline-adjacent content from fact-checking sites in four countries, codes them according to sociological implications, and analyses them through social discourse theory. It finds that disinformation targets social movements and multi- culturalism by discrediting actors and presenting the human rights regime as disingenuous and oppressive. Disinformation frames illiberal behavior as positive transformative action and co-opts the rhetoric of the human rights regime to further arguments rooted in new racism. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I would like to thank the UNESCO chair office of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for hosting my research. I would like to extend my special gratitude to Antonis Gardikiotis for his attention and patience in supervising this research. I would also like to thank the editors and publishers of PolitiFact, Butac.it, EllinikaHoaxes, and StopFake. Their work made this research possible. 4 TABLE OF ACRONYMS: AFC – Automated Fact-checking CDA – Critical Discourse Analysis CoE – Council of Europe CP – Cooperative Principle ELM – Elaboration Likelihood Model HRW – Human Rights Watch HSM – Heuristic Systematic Processing IFCN – International Fact-Checking Network MR – Members Resources MRC – Media Research Center NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization NLW – Non-linear Warfare SMF – Social Media Fraud STRATCOM – Strategic Communications UN – United Nations 5 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 7 2. Definitions and Causes ..................................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Towards a working definition of fake news ................................................................................ 10 2.2 Reception of Disinformation ....................................................................................................... 12 2.2.1 Social Psychology ................................................................................................................ 12 2.2.2. Debates Over Echo Chambers, Filter Bubbles, and the Backfire Effects ........................... 13 2.3 Enablers of Disinformation ......................................................................................................... 15 2.3.1 Virality, Amplification, and Monetization ........................................................................... 15 2.3.2 Non-Linear Warfare ............................................................................................................. 17 2.3.3 News Media and Disinformation ......................................................................................... 18 3. Consequences and Remedies ............................................................................................................ 21 3.1 Consequences of Disinformation ................................................................................................ 21 3.1.1 Real-World Consequences ................................................................................................... 21 3.1.2 Agenda setting and devaluation of truth .............................................................................. 22 3.1.3 Human Rights As a Target of Disinformation ..................................................................... 24 3.1.4 Disruption and Disinformation ............................................................................................ 26 3.2 Remedies ..................................................................................................................................... 28 3.2.1. Media Literacy .................................................................................................................... 28 3.2.2 Government Regulation ....................................................................................................... 29 3.2.3 Platforms and Algorithms .................................................................................................... 30 3.2.4 Fact-Checking ...................................................................................................................... 30 4. Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 32 4.1 The Role of Headlines in Disinformation ................................................................................... 32 4.2 Framework .................................................................................................................................. 33 4.2.1 Cooperative Principle ........................................................................................................... 33 4.2.2 Critical Discourse Analysis .................................................................................................. 35 4.3 Research Questions and Methodology ........................................................................................ 36 4.4 Environment Background and Fact-Checking Sites ................................................................... 38 4.4.1 United States ........................................................................................................................ 38 4.4.2 Italy ...................................................................................................................................... 39 4.4.3 Greece .................................................................................................................................. 41 4.4.4 Ukraine ................................................................................................................................. 42 4.4.5 Notes on the sources and headlines ...................................................................................... 43 5. Results ............................................................................................................................................... 45 5.1 General Findings ......................................................................................................................... 45 5.2 USA ............................................................................................................................................ 48 6 5.2.1 Celebrity ............................................................................................................................... 48 5.2.2 Guns ..................................................................................................................................... 49 5.2.3 Social Causes ....................................................................................................................... 50 5.2.4 Liberal Markers .................................................................................................................... 52 5.2.5 Trump ................................................................................................................................... 53 5.2.6 Media ................................................................................................................................... 54 5.2.7 Curiosities ............................................................................................................................ 54 5. 3 Italy ............................................................................................................................................ 55 5.3.1 Politics .................................................................................................................................. 56 5.3.2 Social Issues ......................................................................................................................... 58 5.3.3 Culture and Media ................................................................................................................ 61 5.4 Greece ......................................................................................................................................... 62 5.4.1 International Affairs ............................................................................................................. 62 5.4.2 Governance .......................................................................................................................... 64 5.4.3 Culture and Social Issues ....................................................................................................