NEW MEDIA LITERACY AND MISINFORMATION: SAMPLE OF THE UKRAINE-RUSSIA CRISIS

Abstract

The Ukraine-Russia crisis, which recrudesced suddenly and affected the world agenda, started with the occupation of Ukraine by Russian military units on 24 February. This situation spread rapidly through new media opportunities, and many true or false news was made about it. While discussing whether this situation can be defined as a war, thousands of messages and news have spread daily through the new media. The accuracy of most of the information posted on social media platforms is controversial. Verification/fact-checking platforms began to work from the first day to check the accuracy of this critical information posted and transmitted new media opportunities. As in other examples, much fake and additional information that needs verification is shared regarding the Ukraine-Russia crisis. teyit.org and dogrulukpayi.com, the two fact-checking platforms, cope with verifying the information on this subject. Thus, it is possible to query, research and verify the remarkable information posted/circulated on new media platforms. Combating the processes defined as misinformation has become essential in realizing the dissemination of accurate information. In this context, this study focuses on misinformation activities and new media literacy. In addition, the findings obtained because of the research on fact-checking platforms, which are an effective counter-fight to the spread of false/fake news, are included. In this context, comparatively examined the posts on teyit.org and dogrulukpayi.com websites (on 24 February and 24 March 2022), which are the two most active fact-checking organizations.