For Further Research


In order to better understand the nature of fake news in Slovakia and to distinguish them from real news, I will now suggest three websites that people can use to check accuracy of information.

Firstly, I would like to introduce a tool called Lovíme hoaxy (Transl. We’re hunting hoaxes), which is project developed by SME (a traditional newscast medium) with the aim of fighting disinformation (Hoťka, 2017). On the website hoax.sme.sk there is a list of articles analyzing various types of fake news that influence the public opinion. This is a tool that people can use to verify if certain information that they stumbled upon is true or fake.

In case people wish to find out about the source of their information, there is a website called konspiratori.sk, which is “a public database of websites that provide dubious, deceptive, fraudulent, conspiratorial, or propaganda content” (Konšpirátori.sk, n.d.). Besides listing dubious websites, the database also ranks and rates these websites according to the degree of doubt about their content.

Lastly, it is not only alternative media that share fake news. In fact, disinformation has become a powerful tool of politicians too. As a consequence, Inštitút SGI founded a project “Demagog.SK” as for people to check the truth of factual assertions of politicians and other publicly active persons. (Demagog.SK, n.d.).

My final suggestion is that while these tools can be very helpful, it is essential to be aware that they are funded by different interest groups and therefore using them requires a certain degree of critical thinking too. That is not to say that these portals are deceiving or fraudulent; however, the truth of the matter is that they might be less likely to be as critical towards information that is in line with their own agenda. Perhaps the best approach to verifying information would be to mix in a variety of tools and sources.

Links
Demagog.SK: https://demagog.sk/
Konšpirátori.sk: https://www.konspiratori.sk/zoznam-stranok.php
Lovíme hoaxy: https://hoax.sme.sk/

References
Demagog.SK. (n.d). O nás. Retrieved from https://demagog.sk/o-nas/
Hoťka, D. (2017, February 15). Denník SME bude loviť hoaxy. Retrieved from https://domov.sme.sk/c/20460415/dennik-sme-bude-lovit-hoaxy.html
Konšpirátori.sk. (n.d.). Protect your brand from being associated with controversial content. Retrieved from https://www.konspiratori.sk/en/


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