A Media Ethics Critique of Fake News, Disinformation and Misinformation in Social Media

Abstract

This paper critically reviews the journal article\"Fake News, Disinformation and Misinformation in Social Media: A Review from a Media Ethics Perspective\". With the development of digital media and social networking platforms in recent years, many people have begun to spread various types of false and misleading information online. The purposes of this paper are to explore the ethical problems caused by fake news on social media and to assess how far the selected article has contributed to this research. This paper presents the goal and path of the above research; lists the main results achieved; and finally studies two prominent ethical issues: the conflict between truthfulness and the speed of information dissemination, and the conflict between public interest and commercial profit. Utilitarianism and the Potter Box Model will be used to analyse the problems and provide an organised ethical evaluation. The strengths and weaknesses of the selected article are introduced in the study, along with other extensions to journalism, digital platforms, policy and society. Based on the above results, the following are required to combat the problem of false information and maintain public trust in the digital information environment: Ethical journalism, media literacy, algorithmic transparency, and multi-stakeholder governance.

Introduction

This paper critically reviews the article “Fake News, Disinformation and Misinformation on Social Media: A Review for Analysis” by Aïmeur, Amri, and Brassard (2023), examining the ethical challenges posed by the rapid spread of false information on digital platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter). While social media has transformed communication and improved access to information, it has also enabled misinformation and fake news to spread quickly, threatening public trust, political stability, and social cohesion.

The reviewed article provides a systematic overview of fake news by defining different forms of false information, examining why they spread so rapidly, evaluating AI- and machine learning-based detection techniques, and recommending collaborative solutions involving governments, media organizations, technology companies, educators, and the public. It argues that technical solutions alone are insufficient and emphasizes the importance of media literacy, ethical journalism, transparency, and responsible online behaviour.

The critique focuses on two major media ethics issues:

1. Truthfulness versus Speed of Information Dissemination
   • Social media prioritizes rapid sharing over fact verification, allowing false information to spread faster than accurate news.
   • During events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation about vaccines and treatments demonstrated the harmful consequences of prioritizing speed over accuracy.
   • Using Utilitarianism, the paper argues that although rapid information sharing increases engagement, the long-term social harms—including reduced public trust, political polarization, and dangerous public behaviour—outweigh the short-term benefits. Therefore, media organizations and digital platforms have an ethical duty to prioritize verification before publication.
2. Public Interest versus Commercial Profit
   • Social media platforms rely on advertising revenue and engagement-based algorithms that often promote sensational or misleading content because it attracts more user attention.
   • The spread of fake political news during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election illustrates how commercial incentives can conflict with the public interest.
   • Applying the Potter Box Model, the paper concludes that digital platforms should prioritize truthfulness, transparency, accountability, and harm reduction over profit. It recommends greater algorithm transparency, independent fact-checking, improved content moderation, and stronger regulatory oversight.

The critique identifies several strengths of the reviewed article:

• It provides a comprehensive overview of fake news, misinformation, and disinformation.
• It distinguishes different types of false information and explains their societal impact.
• It highlights the shared responsibility of governments, journalists, technology companies, educators, and users in combating misinformation.

However, it also notes several limitations:

• The article focuses more on technical detection methods than on ethical decision-making.
• It contains relatively few real-world case studies.
• It gives limited attention to emerging ethical challenges posed by generative AI, including deepfakes, AI-generated political propaganda, and synthetic media.

The paper concludes that addressing misinformation requires more than technological solutions. Ethical journalism, transparent platform governance, media literacy, responsible user behaviour, and clear ethical standards for AI are all essential for maintaining public trust and protecting democratic societies. It emphasizes that combating fake news is a shared responsibility requiring cooperation among governments, media organizations, technology companies, educators, and citizens.

Conclusion

This journal critique has studied the ethical problems in the article \"Fake News, Disinformation and Misinformation in Social Media: A Review from a Media Ethics Perspective\". As shown in the article, at present, fake news and misinformation are serious problems in the digital era because they have swayed public opinion, damaged trust in the media, and harmed democratic development. Based on the review of previous studies, this paper will present some reasons for and effects of the spread of false information on social media platforms, as well as countermeasures. The two main ethical problems that have been cited in this criticism are: the conflict between truthfulness and the speed of dissemination of information, and the conflict between public interest and commercial profit. Utilitarianism and the Potter Box Model were used to assess the above problems (Potter, 2019). Both theories should serve the public interest and aim for accuracy, transparency, accountability and public welfare rather than commercial or user-engagement goals. Ethical Communication is responsible behaviour that avoids causing harm and spreads truth and reliability. Although the selected paper has made an academic contribution by reviewing the current situation of research on fake news and misinformation, more in-depth ethical analysis, practical case studies, and solutions to new problems, such as AI-generated political content and deepfake technology, could be added to expand the discussion. In light of the above problems, the article will be more in touch with the changes in digital media at present. In short, in the face of fake news, journalists and others need to cooperate to build an all-around defensive system. To keep the public\'s trust and protect democratic discourse, ethical behaviour of the media, effective fact-checking, increased media literacy and transparent platform governance are all required conditions. As digital technology continues to develop, the rules of conduct for the media in the digital age will remain the same.

References

This journal critique has studied the ethical problems in the article \"Fake News, Disinformation and Misinformation in Social Media: A Review from a Media Ethics Perspective\". As shown in the article, at present, fake news and misinformation are serious problems in the digital era because they have swayed public opinion, damaged trust in the media, and harmed democratic development. Based on the review of previous studies, this paper will present some reasons for and effects of the spread of false information on social media platforms, as well as countermeasures. The two main ethical problems that have been cited in this criticism are: the conflict between truthfulness and the speed of dissemination of information, and the conflict between public interest and commercial profit. Utilitarianism and the Potter Box Model were used to assess the above problems (Potter, 2019). Both theories should serve the public interest and aim for accuracy, transparency, accountability and public welfare rather than commercial or user-engagement goals. Ethical Communication is responsible behaviour that avoids causing harm and spreads truth and reliability. Although the selected paper has made an academic contribution by reviewing the current situation of research on fake news and misinformation, more in-depth ethical analysis, practical case studies, and solutions to new problems, such as AI-generated political content and deepfake technology, could be added to expand the discussion. In light of the above problems, the article will be more in touch with the changes in digital media at present. In short, in the face of fake news, journalists and others need to cooperate to build an all-around defensive system. To keep the public\'s trust and protect democratic discourse, ethical behaviour of the media, effective fact-checking, increased media literacy and transparent platform governance are all required conditions. As digital technology continues to develop, the rules of conduct for the media in the digital age will remain the same.

Copyright

Copyright © 2026 SI Muting, Mohd Haizra. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.