Migration, Fake News and Communication Conflicts: A Study about Syrian Immigrants in Turkey

Due to the 8 years’ war in Syria, Turkey faced the immigration of more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees. About a million of them are settled in the region Çukurova. Allthough most of them do not have a permanent residence permit it may be expected that a vast number of these Syrian migrants will settle permanently. The majority of this immigrant population is non or low-educated; they rarely participate in education programmes and intercultural communication disorders with the local community and societal tensions occur. Surveys have been conducted among adult Syrian immigrants living in Çukurova in order to identify whether their satisfaction about local services. Secondly, services and communication strategies of public institutions, municipalities and NGOs in the Adana, the main city in the region have been analysed in order to identify the range and effects of their services. Assuming that a lack of integration and intercultural communication disorders cause disturbance in the local communities, this study aims to investigate possible solutions - with the use of the integration policy of the Netherlands – in order to prevent societal unrest.

Concerns over fake news have been raised in Indonesia since there has been a significant increase in the spreading of fake news via social media. University students, as the most active social media users, are susceptible to consume and distribute fake news. This study is motivated by the assumption that media literacy interventions help users resist fake news. However, limited studies have specifically addressed their level of media literacy in identifying fake news. Using the new media literacy framework, this study analysed the level of media literacy to process fake news on social media among university students in Aceh. A total of 500 undergraduate students from Syiah Kuala University and Ar-Raniry State Islamic University participated in the survey. Following the survey, 28 students were selected to take part in four focus group discussions. The findings showed that students' degree of media literacy concerning fake news is relatively low. Although almost all students demonstrated a good skill in using multiple social media platforms and understanding information they received, they were not confident in their abilities to distinguish between fake and real news. Surprisingly, some students deliberately share controversial posts on social media for no reason or to please themselves. The study suggests that program of media literacy should emphasise the identification of fake news and the consequences of its distribution. Keywords: Media literacy, social media, fake news, university students, Aceh.

Background The use of social media as a platform to access news and information has the potential to lead to the spread of fake news in Indonesia. This study aims to (1) understand the trust characteristics in information of Indonesians during COVID-19; (2) identify Indonesians’ ability to detect COVID-19 fake news; and (3) analyze the relationship between people’s trust characteristics in information with regard to COVID-19 information and their ability to detect fake news. Method An online survey was conducted with 751 Indonesians who use social media to access information about COVID-19. Cultural theory is used to categorize people’s trust characteristics in information, while signal detection theory is employed to identify people’s ability to discriminate between fake and real news. Results The results showed that 61% of respondents were categorized as having hierarchy trust characteristics. Concerning the detectability of fake news, most respondents could discriminate between fake and real news. Lastly, there was a relationship between trust characteristics in information and bias tendencies in detecting fake news. Conclusions The respondents have hierarchy trust characteristics, indicating they trusted government information related to COVID-19 issues. The respondents also have high ability to discriminate between fake and real news, even though they tended to miss more errors than identify false alarms when detecting fake news. The findings showed that respondents who had hierarchy and egalitarian characteristics tended to perceive real news as fake news and had a better ability to distinguish fake news compared to other trust characteristics in information.

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> The civil war in Syria resulted in a massive wave of refugees out of Syria into many safer countries in the world. Many aspects of their lives have been affected, hence affecting their overall quality of life. There is a scarcity of information on the quality of life and factors influencing it for Syrian refugees. The objective of the study was to assess the quality of life among Syrian refugees residing outside camps in Jordan.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> A survey questionnaire was distributed to target Syrian refugees during a campaign "warmth and peace" to distribute winter needs to Syrian and Palestinian refugees organized by Qatar charity in cooperation with the Jordanian Hashemite Charitable Organization during the month of 12/2021. 239 questionnaires were collected. Quality of life was assessed using WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Most of the study population were females (57.3%). it was also observed that most of the study population were in the age group of 31−45 years (56.5%). (90.4%) of the study population were married. More than half of them have studied up to the primary level (63.6%). (44.8%) of households consisted of 4−6 person. With regard to monthly household income, most of them (87%) earned <300 JD. The Syrian refugees had a higher mean score in the psychological domain, followed by physical, environmental, and social.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Despite the support provided to Syrian refugees, it appears that they still suffer from poor physical, psychological health, social relationships, and environmental domains, with scores below 50 on a scale (0-100).</p>

Fake health-related news has spread rapidly through the internet, causing harm to individuals and society. Despite interventions, a fenbendazole scandal recently spread among patients with lung cancer in South Korea. It is crucial to intervene appropriately to prevent the spread of fake news. This study investigated the appropriate timing of interventions to minimize the side effects of fake news. A simulation was conducted using the susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model, which is a representative model of the virus spread mechanism. We applied this model to the fake news spread mechanism. The parameters were set similarly to those in the digital environment, where the fenbendazole scandal occurred. NetLogo, an agent-based model, was used as the analytical tool. Fake news lasted 278 days in the absence of interventions. As a result of adjusting and analyzing the timing of the intervention in response to the fenbendazole scandal, we found that faster intervention leads to a shorter duration of fake news (intervention at 54 days = fake news that lasted for 210 days; intervention at 16 days = fake news that lasted for 187 days; and intervention at 10 days = fake news that lasted for 157 days). However, no significant differences were observed when the intervention was performed within 10 days. Interventions implemented within 10 days were effective in reducing the duration of the spread of fake news. Our findings suggest that timely intervention is critical for preventing the spread of fake news in the digital environment. Additionally, a monitoring system that can detect fake news should be developed for a rapid response.

After the Syria Conflict in 2011, Turkey has accepted about four million Syrian refugees. Initially, they were seen as guests, but after eight years, the Turkish Government has spent more than forty billion USD, and the money that has been spent is seen as a burden by both the Government and the people. That’s why some Turkish people started using negative language against Syrian Refugees not only for economic reasons but also political. This study aims to understand the impact of young Syrian refugees’ social exclusion with temporary protection status on their daily lives. It is thought that the stigmatization and negative discourses by the Society in which they live leads to social exclusion, and this has a fundamental effect on daily life practices. In this study, it is understood that Syrian Youth sometimes face exclusion and negative discourses in their daily lives in family, friends, education, and other fields. According to their statements, these exclusion situations differ according to their gender and education. Especially, women confront with some exclusion because of language and behaviors. Education should be used as a leverage to increase the integration between Turkish and Syrian People and integration policies based on multiculturalism must be produced to increase the harmony between two societies.

BackgroundThe conflict in Syria that began in 2011 has resulted in the exodus of over 5 million Syrian refugees to neighbouring countries, with more than one million refugees currently registered by UNHCR in Lebanon. While some are living in tented settlements, the majority are living in strained conditions in rented accommodation or collective shelters in the Bekaa Valley next to Syria. Adolescents are particularly vulnerable in any crisis. In 2013–4, the American University in Beirut in collaboration with the Women’s Refugee Commission, Johns Hopkins and Save the Children, sought to understand the specific experiences of very young adolescents, those 10–14 years of age, in this protracted crisis context.MethodsThe study was conducted in 2014 in Barelias and Qabelias – two urban areas located close to each other in the Beka’a valley that has a large concentration of Syrian refugees. Focus group discussions (FGDs), including community mapping and photo elicitation, were conducted with 10–12 and 13–14 year old Syrian refugee adolescents, in order to obtain information about their experiences and perspectives. FGDs were also implemented with 15–16 year old Syrian refugees and separately also with adult refugees, to consider their perspectives on the needs and risks of these adolescents.ResultsA total of 16 FGD (8 for each sex, with 6–9 participants in each) were conducted in Arabic across the two sites, with 59 female participants and 59 male participants. The experiences and risks faced by these adolescents were significantly impacted by economic strain and loss of educational opportunities during displacement, and only a minority of adolescents in the study reported attending school. Additionally, on-going protection risks for girls were felt to be higher due to the crisis and displacement. In Lebanon this has resulted in increased risks of child marriage and limitations in mobility for adolescent girls. Adolescents, themselves expressed tensions with their Lebanese counterparts and feared verbal attacks and beatings from school-aged Lebanese male youth.ConclusionsFamilies and adolescents have been dramatically affected by the conflict in Syria, and the resulting forced displacement. The loss of educational opportunities is perhaps the most significant effect, with long-term devastating outcomes. Additionally, the futures of Syrian girls are deeply affected by new protection concerns, particularly as they are exposed to an unfamiliar and more liberal society in Lebanon. Child marriage and limitations in their mobility – particularly for girls - are presented by families as coping strategies to these risks. Programming is needed to ensure sustained education access for all adolescents, and to educate very young adolescents and their parents on managing their own health and well-being, given the multiple strains. More effort is needed to encourage positive interaction between adolescent Lebanese and adolescent Syrian refugees.

Introduction. The spread of fake news on the internet is an increasingly serious problem. When analysing belief in fake news, people are usually treated as homogeneous group, however, previous studies suggest that different groups may exist. This study aims to identify clusters of older people according to their level of belief in real and fake news. Methods. 504 people aged 50 to 90 years (M=64.37, SD=9.10) participated in the study. Belief in true and false news was assessed using 10 news headlines (six false, four true). Respondents’ vaccination intentions and trust in democratic institutions were assessed. A cluster analysis was performed to distinguish between groups of respondents. Results. Four clusters were identified and replicated: moderately believing in fake and real news; believing in real but not in fake news; tending not to believe in either real or fake news; and tending to believe in both real and fake news. Individuals who fell into the cluster of believers in both real and fake news had lower intentions to vaccinate against COVID-19 and lower trust in political institutions. Conclusions. The study provides evidence that people aren’t homogeneous in their belief in fake and real news, and four meaningful clusters can be distinguished.

Syria: the neglected health crisis deepens

Nowadays, social media is a very important thing in our daily lives. People can't even think about a second without social media. Because of their busy life, people depend more on social media for information, thus increasing its popularity. Social media can be considered as a two-sided coin having its own advantage and disadvantage. These media help people to connect with their family or friends around the world. But the other side of the social media has many disadvantages. It can be considered as the cause of many problems in our society. One such major issue is the fake news. People were unable to distinguish the true and fake news and also about the credibility of the news and the news provider. They blindly believe the news without knowing the truth and they share the news with others. As a result, the fake news spread faster than the true news. By this, many people and organizations get affected. So, in a world of increasing fake news, a fake news detection system is an essential thing. This project deals with fake news. The system is a Webapp named ALIKAH- a clickbait and fake news detection system. It is just like social media network where the news providers can provide the news. This system distinguishes the fake and true news among the news provided in the Alikah system. There are three modules in this system-the admin, news providers and the users. Admin manages and monitors the system and its functionalities. News providers can provide the news to this system after getting permission from the admin and the user can view, like, comment, report and subscribe to the news and the news provider. Neural network is used as the classifier. This system detects the fake news by checking the credibility of the news provider, monitoring the comments and also by checking the relation of the heading and content of the news provided. It also helps to detect the fake news spreading on other social media like Facebook, by using its heading and content. This system definitely will be a beneficiary to the people and organizations which get affected by the news and also help to find the providers of these news.

Following the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, a massive migration of Syrian nationals to Türkiye has been a significant phenomenon. This situation has become a problematic issue, as the massive presence of Syrian refugees in Türkiye has become an important part of the domestic political agenda. The politicization of the refugee issue has long since presented a duality of conflicting opinions among the Turkish society, whereas it has led to political debates between pro-government and opposition groups. In light of these developments, Turkish government elites have produced discourses of religious solidarity with the aim of providing tolerance and social acceptance for Syrian refugees and thus legitimizing the open door policy of the government toward these refugees. The aim of this study is to analyze and categorize the themes that constitute the basis of the discourses of religious solidarity regarding Syrian refugees in Türkiye. In this context, a second aim is to demonstrate how these themes have been welcomed in a positive manner by their adoption and recognition by Turkish society. To these aims, governmental discourses of religious solidarity and a sample consisting of 980 posts on the digital platform X have been analyzed by using the critical discourse analysis technique and have been categorized under two discursive themes, namely the ensar–muhacir analogy and the emphases on the Ottoman legacy. The conformity between these discourses and the government’s ideological orientation and the degree to which these discourses have been welcomed and adopted by the Turkish society have been discussed in detail.

Unreliable and deceiving information is spreading at a great speed these days across the world through social media sources. Fake news is a growing problem in our modern society, and it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between real and fake news due to the advancement of technology. Fake or misinformation about the latest CORONA pandemic wreaked havoc. Studies conducted during the epidemic COVID that false news might have menaced public health broadly. Detecting and averting the spread of unreliable media content is a delicate problem, especially given the rate at which news can spread online. With the increase in the use of social media platforms; the leading cause for spreading such news can be that fake news can be published and propagated online faster and is also cheaper when compared to traditional news media such as newspapers and television. Online fake news or information which is deliberately designed to deceive readers is mostly commonly manually written; but with the recent progress in natural language generation techniques, models have been built to generate realistic looking ‘Fake news’. With the explosion of large language models fake news can be easily created and with proper grammar and sentences. This creates a greater need to handle the fake news identification problem in a different way to not just classify the fake and real news, but also to mark the human-generated and machine-generated (neural) fake news. Considering most of the work that is done in this research area, it is found that only the very complex language models that are used as generators and detectors are able to catch the machine generated fake news. Again, such models have been observed to be performing well on their own generated text, but not quite effective while working with text from other language models. Also, they don’t seem to be tested on the human generated fake news. Now if someone uses the language model to generate the news and then change a few elements manually to make it look more real; this kind of fake news might go completely undetected by such models. So, there is a considerable scope to further study and analyze the difference as well as similarities in the human and machine fake news. This study looks at the problem of machine-generated fake news classification as more of a comparative analysis of Human Vs Machine Generated fake news and identify the differences or similarities of the patterns.

The relationship between a subject’s ideological persuasion with the belief and spread of fake news is the object of our study. Departing from a left- vs. right-wing framework, a questionnaire sought to position subjects on this political-ideological spectrum and demanded them to evaluate five pro-left and pro-right fake and real news, totaling 20 informational products. The results show the belief and dissemination of (fake) news are related to the political ideology of the participants, with right-wing subjects exhibiting a greater tendency to accept fake news, regardless of whether it is pro-left or pro-right fake news. These findings contradict the confirmation bias and may suggest that a greater influence of factors such as age, the level of digital news literacy and psychological aspects in the judgment of fake news are at play. Older and less educated respondents indicated they believed and would disseminate fake news at greater rates. Regardless of the ideology they favor, the Portuguese attributed higher credibility to the sample’s real news, a fact that can be meaningful regarding the fight against disinformation in Portugal and elsewhere.

The spread of fake news in social media platforms has garnered much public attention and apprehension. Consequently, both the tech industry and academia alike are investing increased effort to understand, detect, and curb fake news. Yet, researchers differ in what they consider to be fake news sites. In this paper, we first aggregate 5 and 3 distinct lists of fake and mainstream news sites published by experts and reputable organizations. Then, focusing on tweets about the democratic (Hillary Clinton) and republican (Donald Trump) presidential nominees, we use each pair of fake and traditional news lists as an independent to examine i) the prevalence, ii) temporal characteristics and iii) the agenda-setting differences between fake and traditional news sites. We observe that depending on the groundtruth, the prevalence of fake news varies significantly. However, the temporal trends and agenda-setting differences between fake and mainstream news sites remain moderately consistent across different groundtruth lists.

Identifying fake news has become an important issue. Increasing usage of social media has led to an increase in the number of people who can be influenced, thus the spread of fake news can potentially impact important events. Fake news has become a major societal issue and a technical challenge for social media companies to identify and has led many to extreme measures, such as WhatsApp deleting two million of its users every month to prevent the spread of fake news. The current problem of fake news is rooted in the historical problem of disinformation, which is false information intentionally, and usually clandestinely, disseminated to manipulate public opinion or obfuscate the truth. Our work addresses the problem of identifying fake news by (i) detecting and analyzing fake news features (ii) identifying the textual and sociocultural characteristics fake news features.