Information reliability: Criteria to identify misinformation in the digital environment

Abstract

The article presents information reliability criteria to identify misinformation and its representations (fake news, post truth, alternative facts and deepfake) in the current scenario, characterized by the digital environment. It also contextualizes the concepts of critical reading and critical thinking, essential in the conceptual formulation of informational reliability. From there, the paper elaborates its criteria in order to verify the reliability of information disseminated in the web. For this purpose, it uses the criteria to evaluate information sources developed by Tomaél, Alcará and Silva (2008), the critical analysis of arguments by Carraher (1983), and Floridi’s (2011, 2010) concept of informativeness and also his informational concept map. The article concludes that these criteria help to combat misinformation, and stimulate critical reading and thinking processes in the individual, even though they are not a final solution for this purpose.