Former news reporter and founder of Africa’s first fact-checking organisation Peter Cunliffe-Jones argues that since concern about ‘information disorder’ soared in 2016, we have laboured under flawed assumptions about the nature and effects of ‘fake news’ and misinformation. Based on a four-year review of 250 case studies, Cunliffe-Jones sets out four ideas for fact-checkers, policymakers and platforms to curb harmful consequences and protect wider freedom of speech. First, information disorder is about more than misinformation. Second, misinformation in offline settings can cause as big a problem as misinformation online. Third, misinformation that affects policymakers can be as bad as misinformation that affects the public. Fourth, he proposes a model for fact-checkers, researchers and platforms to distinguish false claims that do and do not have substantive potential to cause substantive consequences.
“This timely book offers a powerful new framework for thinking about the real-world harms that can result from viral misinformation — and a much-needed path through stale academic debates about the ‘moral panic’ over fake news.”
– Lucas Graves, Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“Cunliffe-Jones highlights the need to move beyond simplistic notions of fake news and proposes a nuanced, systematic model to identify the claims that pose real-world harm and risks. A must-read for professionals and researchers alike.”
– Masato Kajimoto, Professor of Journalism, The University of Hong Kong and Director of Annie Lab

“Drawing on his extensive experience of fact-checking on the African continent, and taking a historical perspective on what is widely referred to as ‘information disorder’, Peter Cunliffe-Jones offers provocative conceptual interventions and makes helpful recommendations for ways to understand and counter the problem more successfully. This book will be of interest to academic researchers, counter-disinformation activists and policy-makers working in this fast-growing field.”
– Herman Wasserman, Professor of Media Studies and Director of the Centre for Film and Media Studies at the University of Cape Town