Beyond Rational: Understanding of Fake News in the Post-Truth Era

Abstract

The paper focuses on fake news as one of the most serious threats and distinguishing features of the post-truth period, which is defined by the following aspects: the rise of diverse sources of information on the Internet, the devaluation of facts, and the proliferation of fake news. These conditions necessitate a revision of the algorithm, the verification and presentation of information, as well as tactics and techniques for dealing with fake news. The purpose of this research is to describe the distinct characteristics of fake news. The authors have specifically extracted research from the Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar search databases; the sample includes 120 scientific articles with titles related to fake news that were published after 2016 when the term "fake news" gained legitimacy after being named word of the year by Collins (usage of the term increased by 365% since 2016). The analysis focused on key definitions of fake news suggested in each selected research and its permanent and non-permanent characteristics.