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The broader analytical framing of systematically distorted communication (SDC) helps extract value out of the enormous amount of scholarship on fake news.

The massive literature on fake news has been the subject of handbook overviews, systematic literature reviews, summaries, taxonomies, citation studies and so on. Deploying these tools, the approaches that the literature takes can be characterized, Habermas' concept of systematically distorted communication (SDC) will then be presented in its context, reviewed and put to work to frame fake news research to tell us new things that individual pieces of specific analysis and research do not. Conclusions will be offered from this analysis.

Fake news research has become repetitive, revolving around themes such as the fate of journalism, the role of technology, remediating its effects and deep dives into definitional components (disinformation, misinformation, lies and so on). A broader framing of systematically distorted communication allows us to arrive at some conclusions about contemporary fake news: that it is a power strategy with a particular right-wing slant and it creates a sociology – that is, its own interpretive environment – hostile to democratic functioning. It answers the question: what is fake news for?

A perspective on fake news research is much needed and Habermas' concept is a useful framing mechanism for the large corpus of research. Systematically distorted communication asks – and answers – different questions of the research. Meanwhile, SDC itself is modified by its application to fake news research and contemporary conditions.

Disinformation, false information designed with the intention to mislead, can significantly damage organizational operation and reputation, interfering with communication and relationship management in a wide breadth of risk and crisis contexts. Modern digital platforms and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), introduce novel risks in crisis management (Guthrie and Rich, 2022). Disinformation literature in security and computer science has assessed how previously introduced technologies have affected disinformation, demanding a systematic and coordinated approach for sustainable counter-disinformation efforts. However, there is a lack of theory-driven, evidence-based research and practice in public relations that advises how organizations can effectively and proactively manage risks and crises driven by AI (Guthrie and Rich, 2022).

As a first step in closing this research-practice gap, the authors first synthesize theoretical and technical literature characterizing the effects of AI on disinformation. Upon this review, the authors propose a conceptual framework for disinformation response in the corporate sector that assesses (1) technologies affecting disinformation attacks and counterattacks and (2) how organizations can proactively prepare and equip communication teams to better protect businesses and stakeholders.

This research illustrates that future disinformation response efforts will not be able to rely solely on detection strategies, as AI-created content quality becomes more and more convincing (and ultimately, indistinguishable), and that future disinformation management efforts will need to rely on content influence rather than volume (due to emerging capabilities for automated production of disinformation). Built upon these fundamental, literature-driven characteristics, the framework provides organizations actor-level and content-level perspectives for influence and discusses their implications for disinformation management.

This research provides a theoretical basis and practitioner insights by anticipating how AI technologies will impact corporate disinformation attacks and outlining how companies can respond. The proposed framework provides a theory-driven, practical approach for effective, proactive disinformation management systems with the capacity and agility to detect risks and mitigate crises driven by evolving AI technologies. Together, this framework and the discussed strategies offer great value to forward-looking disinformation management efforts. Subsequent research can build upon this framework as AI technologies are deployed in disinformation campaigns, and practitioners can leverage this framework in the development of counter-disinformation efforts.

This study aims to establish a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of how individuals engage with deepfakes, focusing on limiting adverse effects and capitalizing on their benefits.

This study conducted a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies on deepfakes, incorporating study-specific analysis followed by a cross-study synthesis.

Based on the meta-synthesis, the study developed an integrated conceptual framework based on the perspectives from the social shaping of technology theory embedding deepfake-related assertions, motivations, the subtleties of digital platforms, and deepfake-related repercussions.

The study offers crucial insights into the evolving nature of deepfakes as a socio-technical phenomenon and the significance of platform dynamics in deepfake production. It enables researchers to comprehend the cascading effects of deepfakes and positions them to evaluate deepfake-related risks and associated mitigation mechanisms.

The framework that emerges from the study illustrates the influence of platforms on the evolution of deepfakes and assists platform stakeholders in introducing effective platform governance structures to combat the relentless proliferation of deepfakes and their consequences, as well as providing guidance for governments and policymakers to collaborate with platform leaders to set guardrails for deepfake engagement.

Deepfakes have been extensively contested for both their beneficial and negative applications and have been accused of heralding an imminent epistemic threat that has been downplayed by some quarters. This diversity of viewpoints necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon. In responding to this call, this is one of the first to establish a comprehensive, theoretically informed perspective on how individuals produce, process, and engage with deepfakes through a meta-synthesis of qualitative literature on deepfakes.

This paper aims to explore the determinants causing fake information proliferation on social media platforms and the challenges to control the diffusion of fake news phenomena.

The authors applied the systematic review methodology to conduct a synthetic analysis of 37 articles published in peer-reviewed journals retrieved from 13 scholarly databases.

The findings of the study displayed that dissatisfaction, behavior modifications, trending practices to viral fake stories, natural inclination toward negativity and political purposes were the key determinants that led individuals to believe in fake news shared on digital media. The study also identified challenges being faced by people to control the spread of fake news on social networking websites. Key challenges included individual autonomy, the fast-paced social media ecosystem, fake accounts on social media, cutting-edge technologies, disparities and lack of media literacy.

The study has theoretical contributions through valuable addition to the body of existing literature and practical implications for policymakers to construct such policies that might prove successful antidote to stop the fake news cancer spreading everywhere via digital media. The study has also offered a framework to stop the diffusion of fake news.

This study deals with changes in European Union's (EU's) trade potential in Machinery (HS 84–85) and Transportation (HS86-89) products.

The study uses a Structural Gravity model, Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimation together with panel data for the years 2002–2018 and a two-step procedure that employs predicted values of bilateral trade to compare potential to actual trade.

Results for Machinery products suggest a potential to expand trade with existing Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) in the American continent, and countries of the IGAD region in Africa. In Transportation, a high trade potential with RTAs is found in the Americas, Africa and the Middle East. Policy suggestions concentrate on opportunities for enhancing trade relations through trade liberalization and agreement proliferation.

There are no studies to date, that examine “collective” measure of EU trade potential, that treats the EU as a single country. Changes in existing opportunities to expand trade, common for EU members, are of special interest for policy formulation, especially after the recent turmoil presented by the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the Greek Economic Crisis (GEC). Treating the EU as a single entity, is necessary for the formulation of an effective, common, EU trade policy. This study concentrates on the manufacturing sector to examine existing opportunities for the EU to expand trade, after the GFC and the GEC. This article deals with Machinery (HS 84 and 85) and Transportation (HS 86 through 89) products as they comprise a significant part of total EU exports, reaching 41% of total exports in 2016. Finally, this study offers a unique illustration of results through trade potential heat maps.

Deepfake information poses more ethical risks than traditional disinformation in terms of fraud, slander, rumors and other malicious uses. However, owing to its high entertainment value, deepfake information with ethical risks has become popular. This study aims to understand the role of ethics and entertainment in the acceptance and regulation of deepfake information.

Mixed methods were used to qualitatively identify ethical concerns and quantitatively evaluate the influence of ethical concerns and perceived enjoyment on the ethical acceptability and social acceptance of deepfake information.

The authors confirmed that informed consent, privacy protection, traceability and non-deception had a significantly positive impact on ethical acceptability and indirectly influenced social acceptance, with privacy protection being the most sensitive. Perceived enjoyment impacts the social acceptance of deepfake information and significantly weakens the effect of ethical acceptability on social acceptance.

The ethical concerns affecting acceptance behavior identified in this study provide an entry point for the ethical regulation of deepfake information. The weakening effect of perceived enjoyment on ethics serves as a wake-up call for regulators to guard against pan-entertainment deepfake information.

Online social networks can bridge the gap between distant individuals by simulating online experiences that closely resemble physical interactions. While people have positive experiences, such as joy, in a physical relationship and would like to enjoy those experiences online, they also have negative experiences, such as being subject to a lie. An online social network may allow users to lie to simulate a real-world social group better. However, lying must be prevented on social networks as unethical behavior. Thus, this study aims to investigate an ethical dilemma raised due to the two abovementioned perspectives.

This paper examines different aspects of lying in social networks, using a comprehensive descriptive literature review approach and a classification scheme.

Contrary to their initial intent, social networks are disrupting the traditional notion of human interaction, either by disregarding the presence of dishonesty or by attempting to regulate relationships. In this research, the authors examine the challenges of these two perspectives by identifying enablers, consequences and control measures of lying on social networks at the individual, social and technological levels. The authors also develop a framework to facilitate investigating this dilemma.

This paper examines a controversial topic. Although lying is unethical, allowing users to lie may be considered an appealing feature of social network platforms. This paper offers a framework to propose several research directions for future studies. This study’s examination focuses on the challenges associated with deception on social networks, prompting the formulation of three crucial questions regarding the potential impact of technology on such behavior.