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Fact checking is becoming an essential journalistic task because of the proliferation of misinformative content disseminated massively through social media and other channels. Based on this observation, the fundamental objective of the research that serves as the basis for this paper was to learn about the Spanish journalists' professional routines and training in fact-checking. The authors developed a 29-item questionnaire distributed via email to journalists nationwide between May and June 2023 to collect the information. We obtained 326 responses, resulting in several findings: a) the implementation of data verification is not uniform, being more frequent in some types of media --newspapers and verification platforms-- and in large corporations; b) workload is an obstacle that prevents most journalists from devoting as much time to verification as it would require; c) some areas generate more problems when it comes to cross-checking data --such as politics and economics--; d) the preferred sources for verification are academic and official sources --governments, state security forces-; e) the digital tools that are known or used by professionals still have low penetration rates, with only some exceptions; f) although the perception of the respondents is that they are sufficiently trained for verification work, only a minority have received specific training in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any confrontation seeks the (partial) imposition of one party's will on an adversary. In recent years, digital technologies and data science have combined to create new ways of controlling the narrative and carrying out powerful information or disinformation campaigns that are part of a new type of warfare with digital characteristics. In particular, based on a literature review and the direct work of authors in different expert groups, this paper studies the use of either static or moving images (real, altered, or wholly artificially generated) as one of the most efficient means of altering perceptions and thereby narratives in the so-called cognitive domain. To this aim, this article collects in an orderly and exhaustive way the most recent military and intelligence doctrine related to such "influence operations," from a dual technological-sociological perspective. Based on this, the paper determines the differences between traditional disinformation techniques and those incorporating digital and artificial intelligence technologies in the form of images and video. The paper proposes a new double-entry taxonomy that can display the degree of image faking and the objective of disinformation. This helps to identify and prioritize the most relevant cases and thus adopt the most appropriate countermeasures. These are also examined in detail, leading to the conclusion that only a combination of transparency, consumer education, technology, and regulation can counteract the increasing use of images and video with false content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disinformation is one of the great challenges threatening the health of the public space and democratic systems, which must be based on truth to facilitate decision-making by citizens. For this reason, the fight against fake news has attracted attention from professionals and researchers during the last five years. In the journalistic field, numerous fact-checking outlets have been established. They use the media at their disposal and, above all, social networks to make verified content visible. TikTok, an emerging social video platform (very popular among the youth population), is the latest tool to be explored by fact-checkers to make the truth public. In this context, this paper aims to (1) determine the characteristics of fact-checkers' videos that drive their engagement on TikTok and (2) identify the factors that predict the number of likes, comments, views, times shared, and engagement rate of such content. All the videos published on this platform by the Spanish fact-checkers Maldito bulo and Newtral (n = 320) during the first 26 months of activity of both outlets were analyzed. Bivariate correlational studies, multiple linear regression, and binary logistic regression tests were applied. The type of content (verification versus explanation) has a greater impact on engagement than the topics of the videos. Verifications multiply the probability of a content getting an above-average number of likes, by 2.42. If the video is hosted by a woman, it doubles its chances of getting an above-average number of shares. Our results provide other valuable data that can help fact-checkers make their content more easily spreadable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any confrontation seeks the (partial) imposition of one party’s will on an adversary. In recent years, digital technologies and data science have combined to create new ways of controlling the narrative and carrying out powerful information or disinformation campaigns that are part of a new type of warfare with digital characteristics. In particular, based on a literature review and the direct work of authors in different expert groups, this paper studies the use of either static or moving images (real, altered, or wholly artificially generated) as one of the most efficient means of altering perceptions and thereby narratives in the so-called cognitive domain. To this aim, this article collects in an orderly and exhaustive way the most recent military and intelligence doctrine related to such “influence operations,” from a dual technological– sociological perspective. Based on this, the paper determines the differences between traditional disinformation techniques and those incorporating digital and artificial intelligence technologies in the form of images and video. The paper proposes a new double-entry taxonomy that can display the degree of image faking and the objective of disinformation. This helps to identify and prioritize the most relevant cases and thus adopt the most appropriate countermeasures. These are also examined in detail, leading to the conclusion that only a combination of transparency, consumer education, technology, and regulation can counteract the increasing use of images and video with false content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]