Fighting Fake News: The Cognitive Factors Impeding Political Information Literacy

Abstract

While LIS scholarship emphasizes the need to be multi-literate by equipping people with critical information literacy, digital literacy, and media literacy skills to combat the phenomenon of fake news in the contemporary information society, the concept of political information literacy is still in its infancy. This chapter addresses this gap by developing an understanding of political information literacy and challenges the premise that information professionals and information organizations should remain neutral in the face of phenomena like censorship through noise and disinformation. In this endeavor, it reviews contemporary information environments vis-à-vis the growth of fake news and misinformation, and current information literacy approaches utilized by information organizations. Thereafter, it explores several cognitive barriers, such as the role of confirmation bias, information avoidance, information groupishness, and information overload, which affects people’s ability to process information. Finally, it encourages information professionals to hold regular information sessions on politically charged topics, tackle the cognitive factors increasing misinformation, and cultivate multidisciplinary approaches to confront fake news.

Citation

Singh, R. and Brinster, K.N. (2021), "Fighting Fake News: The Cognitive Factors Impeding Political Information Literacy", Taylor, N.G., Kettnich, K., Gorham, U. and Jaeger, P.T. (Ed.) Libraries and the Global Retreat of Democracy: Confronting Polarization, Misinformation, and Suppression (Advances in Librarianship, Vol. 50), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 109-131. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0065-283020210000050005