On December 20, 2022 Dr. Magdalena Paul of the University of Warsaw presented the lecture Fake news – a new daily reality or a weapon in an information war?
Dr Barbara Budyńska, President of the Polish Librarians’ Association, welcomed the participants representing different types of libraries.
Dr. Magdalena Paul began her speech by presenting the definition of fake news and its relatively short history. She described the types of fake news, and alternative terms used in regard to such phenomena. She devoted quite a large part of her presentation to the issue of perception of true and false information, and drew attention to linguistic features of fake news. The speaker presented also how false information have been used in politics, and referred to the social consequences of this phenomenon. Disinformation was discussed among other examples, as a basis for the invasion of Ukraine. The other topics discussed by the speaker were deepfakes and post-truth. She reminded the attendees that post-truth was the word of the year 2016 of the Oxford Dictionary. Dr. Magdalena Paul referred to the idea of fact-checking, presenting (among other thigs) the Code of Ethics of the International Fact-Checking Network. She also mentioned existing fact-checking agencies. She devoted quite a large part of her speech to the role of libraries in the fight against disinformation, and concluded the lecture with the question: Can fake news have positive consequences?
The lecture Fake news – a new daily reality or a weapon in an information war? was the last one scheduled for the year 2022. We cordially invite to the following meetings in the New Year.
Check for the details soon.