ema Awarded Theses 2017/2018 Samy Amanatullah “Slowly, incest is being legalized throughout Europe” Detecting Human Rights Vulnerabilities in Fake News Using Critical Discourse Analysis ema, The European Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation SAMY AMANATULLAH ‘SLOWLY, INCEST IS BEING LEGALISED THROUGHOUT EUROPE’: DETECTING HUMAN RIGHTS VULNERABILITIES IN FAKE NEWS USING CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS SAMY AMANATULLAH FOREWORD The European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation (EMA) is a one-year intensive programme launched in 1997 as a joint initiative of universities in all EU Member States with support from the European Commission. Based on an action- and policy-oriented approach to learning, it combines legal, political, historical, anthropological, and philosophical perspectives on the study of human rights and democracy with targeted skill-building activities. The aim from the outset was to prepare young professionals to respond to the requirements and challenges of work in international organisations, field operations, governmental and non-governmental bodies, and academia. As a measure of its success, EMA has served as a model of inspiration for the establishment of six other EU-sponsored regional master’s programmes in the area of human rights and democratisation in different parts of the world. These programmes cooperate closely in the framework of the Global Campus of Human Rights, which is based in Venice, Italy. 90 students are admitted to the EMA programme each year. During the first semester in Venice, students have the opportunity to meet and learn from leading academics, experts and representatives of international and non-governmental organisations. During the second semester, they relocate to one of the 41 participating universities to follow additional courses in an area of specialisation of their own choice and to conduct research under the supervision of the resident EMA Director or other academic staff. After successfully passing exams and completing a master’s thesis, students are awarded the European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation, which is jointly conferred by a group of EMA universities. Each year the EMA Council of Directors selects five theses, which stand out not only for their formal academic qualities but also for the originality of topic, innovative character of methodology and approach, potential II DETECTING HUMAN RIGHTS VULNERABILITIES IN FAKE NEWS usefulness in raising awareness about neglected issues, and capacity for contributing to the promotion of the values underlying human rights and democracy. The EMA Awarded Theses of the academic year 2017/2018 are: • Amanatullah, Samy, “Slowly, incest is being legalized throughout Europe”. Detecting human rights vulnerabilities in fake news using critical discourse analysis, Supervisor: Antonis Gardikiotis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki • Kasuni , Sandra, Pragmatic Peace. The UNTAES Peacekeeping Mission as Example for Peaceful Reintegration of Occupied Multiethnic Territories, Supervisor: ćĐor e Gardaševi , University of Zagreb • Phoenix, đMichael James,ć Images and Human Rights: towards Sovereignty or Subversion, Supervisor: Guy Haarscher, Université Libre de Bruxelles • Vassalo Abreu Vieitas de Amorim, Sara Andreia, Is Offshoring the Solution? The EU and the Extraterritorial Processing of Asylum Claims, Supervisor: Lisa Heschl, University of Graz • Venner, Kayin Joëll, The Making of Human Rights Polities: Contentious Governance and the Uneven Implementation of Human Rights. The Case of Irregular Migrants’ Unequal Access to Healthcare in Spain after Royal Decree Law 16/2012, Supervisor: Gorka Urrutia Asua, University of Deusto, Bilbao The selected theses demonstrate the richness and diversity of the EMA programme and the outstanding quality of the work performed by its students. On behalf of the Governing Bodies of EMA and of all participating universities, we congratulate the authors. Prof. Manfred NOWAK Global Campus Secretary General Prof. Ria WOLLESWINKEL EMA Chairperson Prof. George ULRICH EMA Programme Director III SAMY AMANTULLAH This publication includes the thesis “Slowly, incest is being legalized throughout Europe”. Detecting human rights vulnerabilities in fake news using critical discourse analysis, written by Samy Amanatullah and supervised by Antonis Gardikiotis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. BIOGRAPHY Samy Amanatullah holds a BA in linguistics. Prior to obtaining his MA with EIUC, he worked in international education and as a freelance writer/editor. His research interests include persuasion campaigns, sociocultural linguistics, and human rights advocacy. 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 that exploit existing scepticism 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 behaviour as positive transformative action and co-opts the rhetoric of the human rights regime to further arguments rooted in new racism. IV DETECTING HUMAN RIGHTS VULNERABILITIES IN FAKE NEWS ACKWNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 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. V SAMY AMANATULLAH TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS 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 NGO Non-governmental organisation NLW Non-linear warfare SMF Social media fraud STRATCOM Strategic communications UN United Nations VI DETECTING HUMAN RIGHTS VULNERABILITIES IN FAKE NEWS TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword II Biography IV Abstract IV Table of abbreviations VI List of tables IX 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. DEFINITIONS AND CAUSES 4 2.1 Towards a working definition of fake news 5 2.2 Reception of disinformation 7 2.2.1 Social psychology 7 2.2.2 Debates over echo chambers, filter bubbles and the backfire effect 10 2.3 Enablers of disinformation 12 2.3.1 Virality, amplification and monetisation 12 2.3.2 Non-linear warfare 15 2.3.3 News media and disinformation 17 3. CONSEQUENCES AND REMEDIES 20 3.1 Consequences of disinformation 21 3.1.1 Real-world consequences 21 3.1.2 Agenda setting and devaluation of truth 23 3.1.3 Human rights as a target of disinformation 25 3.1.4 Disruption and disinformation 28 3.2 Remedies 30 3.2.1 Media literacy 31 3.2.2 Government regulation 33 3.2.3 Platforms and algorithms 34 3.2.4 Fact-checking 34 4. METHODOLOGY 36 4.1 The role of headlines in disinformation 36 4.2 Framework 38 4.2.1 Cooperative principle 38 4.2.2 Critical discourse analysis 40 4.3 Research questions and methodology 41 4.4 Environment background and fact-checking sites 44 VII SAMY AMANTULLAH 4.4.1 United States 44 4.4.2 Italy 45 4.4.3 Greece 47 4.4.4 Ukraine 48 4.4.5 Notes on the sources and headlines 49 5. RESULTS 51 5.1 General findings 51 5.2 US 54 5.2.1 Celebrity 55 5.2.2 Guns 56 5.2.3 Social issues 57 5.2.4 Liberal markers 58 5.2.5 Trump 60 5.2.6 Media 60 5.2.7 Curiosities 61 5. 3 Italy 62 5.3.1 Politics 62 5.3.2 Social issues 65 5.3.3 Culture and media 68 5.4 Greece 69 5.4.1 International affairs 70 5.4.2 Governance 72 5.4.3 Culture and social issues 73 5.5 Ukraine 75 5.5.1 Weak Ukraine 76 5.5.2 International institutions 77 5.5.3 Human rights violations and Ukrainian military hostility 78 5.5.4 Pro-Russia 79 5.5.5 EUvsDisinfo 79 6. DISCUSSION 81 6.1 A Gricean perspective 81 6.2 Description 83 6.3 Interpretation 84 6.4 Explanation 89 7. CONCLUSION 103 BIBLIOGRAPHY 107 Appendix A: Disinformation headline charts 124 Appendix B: United States 125 Appendix C: Italy 135 Appendix D: Greece 152 Appendix E: Ukraine StopFake 164 Appendix F: Ukraine EUvsDisinfo 169 VIII DETECTING HUMAN RIGHTS VULNERABILITIES IN FAKE NEWS LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Definitions of fake news 5 Table 2: Headline totals by country 51 Table 3: Examples of discourse manipulation 85 Table 4: Headlings showing self-reflexive media narratives 86 Table 5: Headlines showing insider perspective narratives 86 Table 6: Headlines related to imminent punishment narratives 87 Table 7: Headlines showing