FAKE NEWS IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Viola Gjylbegaj
Assist. Prof. Dr., Abu Dhabi University, United Arab Emirates, viola.gjylbegaj@adu.ac.ae

Abstract

Fake news, or in other words hoax news, states propaganda or false information distributed under the appearance of being reliable news. The objectives of this study are to identify how fake news affected our lives and what initiatives were taken to minimize the negative impacts of fake news. Moreover, we aim to inform the readers of the penalties set by the UAE government to prevent the spread of fake news on social media. For the issue of fake news in the age of social media, the theory that is used to address it, is Shannon Weaver Model. The methodology chosen is a combined methods (both quantitative and qualitative) approach. The website used to get the responses is: ‘’Survey Monkey’’ where people were asked questions about their understanding on the topic. Around 200 participants participated in our research. At the end of our research we could assess how people perceive fake news in the age of social media.

Keywords: Fake News, Social Media, News.