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Fake News: An Analysis from Political Economy

Published in Economics (Volume 12, Issue 2)
Received: 9 January 2023    Accepted: 16 June 2023    Published: 27 June 2023
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Abstract

The issue of fake news has its antecedents in the very logic of capitalism, and has now become a recurrent phenomenon due to the way in which capitalist relations of production are being fetishized through the manipulation of reality. The issue of fake news has become a viral concern in social networks due to the dangers it represents for various social actors. The purpose of this article is to offer an assessment from the perspective of Political Economy, recognizing that the deepest cause of the same is a reflection of the sharpening of the fundamental economic contradiction of this system. The methodological procedure of documentary review was used, from the paradigm of qualitative research; this allowed, through documentary observation, analysis and synthesis, to make valid assessments for decision making in social institutions. As a central conclusion, it identifies that in the face of the problems caused by false news, the proposals for solutions are varied, some of them are focused on media education and others on the role of technology using artificial intelligence to detect this fact and discriminate it, with the limitation that it is not recognized that this fact is inherent to capitalist production relations. Beyond its use in the economic, political and ideological scenario of the term, Fake News is related to extremist opinions, propaganda and manipulation; the intentionality is to deceive the user. They are ways of generating alienation within the framework of capitalist relations of production, representing the interests of big capital, under the content of an unconventional war, based on creating uncertainties, through the misrepresentation of ideas. Politicians and powerful actors such as transnational companies in the digital environment have appropriated the term to mischaracterize media coverage that is not in line with their monopolistic interests, so that the conception with which the indiscriminate use of Fake News is handled, is an expression of the crisis of norms, beliefs and values of mercantile societies, endangering the credibility of individuals, organizations, States and communities.

Published in Economics (Volume 12, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.eco.20231202.15
Page(s) 72-82
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Fake News, Political Economy, Disinformation, Algorithmization, Capitalism

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Mario González Arencibia, Emilio Horacio Valencia Corozo, Dagmaris Martinez Cardero. (2023). Fake News: An Analysis from Political Economy. Economics, 12(2), 72-82. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eco.20231202.15

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    ACS Style

    Mario González Arencibia; Emilio Horacio Valencia Corozo; Dagmaris Martinez Cardero. Fake News: An Analysis from Political Economy. Economics. 2023, 12(2), 72-82. doi: 10.11648/j.eco.20231202.15

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    AMA Style

    Mario González Arencibia, Emilio Horacio Valencia Corozo, Dagmaris Martinez Cardero. Fake News: An Analysis from Political Economy. Economics. 2023;12(2):72-82. doi: 10.11648/j.eco.20231202.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.eco.20231202.15,
      author = {Mario González Arencibia and Emilio Horacio Valencia Corozo and Dagmaris Martinez Cardero},
      title = {Fake News: An Analysis from Political Economy},
      journal = {Economics},
      volume = {12},
      number = {2},
      pages = {72-82},
      doi = {10.11648/j.eco.20231202.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eco.20231202.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.eco.20231202.15},
      abstract = {The issue of fake news has its antecedents in the very logic of capitalism, and has now become a recurrent phenomenon due to the way in which capitalist relations of production are being fetishized through the manipulation of reality. The issue of fake news has become a viral concern in social networks due to the dangers it represents for various social actors. The purpose of this article is to offer an assessment from the perspective of Political Economy, recognizing that the deepest cause of the same is a reflection of the sharpening of the fundamental economic contradiction of this system. The methodological procedure of documentary review was used, from the paradigm of qualitative research; this allowed, through documentary observation, analysis and synthesis, to make valid assessments for decision making in social institutions. As a central conclusion, it identifies that in the face of the problems caused by false news, the proposals for solutions are varied, some of them are focused on media education and others on the role of technology using artificial intelligence to detect this fact and discriminate it, with the limitation that it is not recognized that this fact is inherent to capitalist production relations. Beyond its use in the economic, political and ideological scenario of the term, Fake News is related to extremist opinions, propaganda and manipulation; the intentionality is to deceive the user. They are ways of generating alienation within the framework of capitalist relations of production, representing the interests of big capital, under the content of an unconventional war, based on creating uncertainties, through the misrepresentation of ideas. Politicians and powerful actors such as transnational companies in the digital environment have appropriated the term to mischaracterize media coverage that is not in line with their monopolistic interests, so that the conception with which the indiscriminate use of Fake News is handled, is an expression of the crisis of norms, beliefs and values of mercantile societies, endangering the credibility of individuals, organizations, States and communities.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Fake News: An Analysis from Political Economy
    AU  - Mario González Arencibia
    AU  - Emilio Horacio Valencia Corozo
    AU  - Dagmaris Martinez Cardero
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    AB  - The issue of fake news has its antecedents in the very logic of capitalism, and has now become a recurrent phenomenon due to the way in which capitalist relations of production are being fetishized through the manipulation of reality. The issue of fake news has become a viral concern in social networks due to the dangers it represents for various social actors. The purpose of this article is to offer an assessment from the perspective of Political Economy, recognizing that the deepest cause of the same is a reflection of the sharpening of the fundamental economic contradiction of this system. The methodological procedure of documentary review was used, from the paradigm of qualitative research; this allowed, through documentary observation, analysis and synthesis, to make valid assessments for decision making in social institutions. As a central conclusion, it identifies that in the face of the problems caused by false news, the proposals for solutions are varied, some of them are focused on media education and others on the role of technology using artificial intelligence to detect this fact and discriminate it, with the limitation that it is not recognized that this fact is inherent to capitalist production relations. Beyond its use in the economic, political and ideological scenario of the term, Fake News is related to extremist opinions, propaganda and manipulation; the intentionality is to deceive the user. They are ways of generating alienation within the framework of capitalist relations of production, representing the interests of big capital, under the content of an unconventional war, based on creating uncertainties, through the misrepresentation of ideas. Politicians and powerful actors such as transnational companies in the digital environment have appropriated the term to mischaracterize media coverage that is not in line with their monopolistic interests, so that the conception with which the indiscriminate use of Fake News is handled, is an expression of the crisis of norms, beliefs and values of mercantile societies, endangering the credibility of individuals, organizations, States and communities.
    VL  - 12
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Author Information
  • Center for the Study of Project Management and Decision Making, University of Computer Sciences, Havana, Cuba

  • Institute of Higher Studies (IAEN), Quito, Ecuador

  • Computer Science Department, University of Informatics Sciences, Havana, Cuba

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