Where to Go: Fake News, Democracy, Social Media and Artificial Intelligence

The proliferation of fake news and misinformation through social media has become like wildfire on the social landscape, which has created misunderstandings in society, inaccuracy in the information available and distrust towards politics, the media, and similar institutions and organisations around the world. The existence of numerous hyper-partisan and bogus websites and pages on social media is the primary factor contributing to the proliferation of fake news, which can lead to negative political mobilisation. Even though advancements in technology like artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to make matters worse, they can also be utilised to counteract the spread of false information.

Democracies require well-informed citizens, and social media has a role in implementing democracy. From newspapers to social media, the various forms of media that citizens use to learn about political events have mingled and intertwined over the course of history. Fake news is not something new, but the issue was pushed into the foreground by the spreading of COVID19. It became more prevalent after the Trump era, when the former U.S. president labelled news media from ABC, NBC, and other media companies as fake news. The open access of social media, including Meta, Twitter, TikTok and many others, is a main source for fake news. Social media has become an essential factor in the development of, and an increasingly important element in, political action, as it helps to form citizens’ political culture, and shape positive political awareness, if it’s well utilized. Thought and awareness grow with the variables of life, and shape them in a continuous and interactive movement, and have since human existence on this earth, and they continue to exist. Social media and its means have become one of the most prominent tools for spreading thought and awareness in this time, and it is distinguished by technological progress and the growing ability to disseminate diverse information, contradictory in its values and ideologies. This chapter deals with fake news on social media and its effect on democracy. It also deals with artificial intelligence and how it helps to generate fake news. The political awareness on social media platforms and its role in spreading awareness among members of society is also discussed, due to its apparent strength and tangible ability, and the real impact they make on attracting the public and satisfying its knowledge needs.