DOMINOES Glossary

The degree to which content is free from errors - this may include both superficial errors such as spelling or punctuation, errors within the message itself, as well as verifiability and, therefore, reliability of the content/source

Visual presentation of the source including the looks, feel and professionality of the design

Openness about the purpose, structure and underlying actions of the algorithms used to search for, process and deliver information

An explanation that runs counter to the mainstream narrative, often used as an appear more credible or attractive by offering a ‘different perspective’

Based on elements of how an argument presented (rather than on the subject itself); rhetorics

Is the practice of masking the sponsors of a message or campaign to simulate it has been originated from and is supported by grassroots participants

A phenomenon where a truly engaged viewer will not be aware that they are not distracted

It is a psychological bias in which people when is confronted against contrary evidence from their previous beliefs, these become stronger

An Internet bot, web bot or bot (from robot) is a software application programmed to run automated tasks in order to mimic human behaviour

(In opposition to rational choice) exhaustive problem solving as a human impossibility

A famous case surrounding a consulting company that specialized in using data   science methodologies to support political campaigns. The company declared bankruptcy in 2018 following legal and political fallout from its use of personal data   obtained from roughly 90 million Facebook users. In 2018, the company became  the subject of widespread criticism following reports that it purchased data  from a British academic concerning the personal psychological profile of   roughly 270,000 Facebook users. Due to the terms and conditions of the   Facebook platform at that time, the company was able to indirectly access data from the Facebook friends of those users.6 In this manner, Cambridge Analytica was able to access a far larger pool of data concerning 87 million users—without the knowledge or consent of almost any of them. Cambridge Analytica was able to use the data points it collected to build models that allowed psychological profiling of the variety of users, including the political affinities of the user, whether they were extroverts or introverts, and how they would react to certain campaigns. Using these profile-based models, the company managed to run different campaigns suitable for different   kinds of users, which allegedly influenced election choices.

A chatbot or chatterbot is a software application used to conduct an online chat conversation via text or text-to-speech, in lieu of providing direct contact with a live human agent.

A tactic used to ‘prove’ opponents wrong by arbitrarily choosing rare instances in which make their argument appear weak or unreliable

A headline whose main purpose is to attract the attention of readers and encourage them to click on a link to a particular webpage

A headline which alludes to new or exciting information but carefully deprives the reader of the details, provoking the reader to feel intrigued and encouraging them to bridge the distance between their new-found curiosity and promised knowledge (by clicking on the link)

According with the psychologist Leon Festinger, who enunciated the theory in 1957, cognitive dissonance occurs when people’s thoughts and feelings are inconsistent with their behavior, which results in an uncomfortable, disharmonious feeling

Mental shortcut or a ‘rule of thumb’

In the digital context, many services need personal data to function, hence, data subjects receive multiple consent requests that need answers through clicks and swipes every day. This may result in a certain degree of click fatigue: when encountered too many times, the actual warning effect of consent mechanisms is diminishing. This results in a situation where consent questions are no longer read. This is a particular risk to data subjects, as, typically, consent is asked for actions that are in principle unlawful without their consent. European Data protection Board

Explanatory causal-based, ideologically laden narratives which depict significant social events or crises as perpetrated by a group of powerful secret actors who solely follow their own nefarious interests, irrespective of the good of the masses

Organized practice of screening user-generated content (UGC) posted to Internet sites, social media, and other online outlets, in order to determine the appropriateness of the content for a given site, locality, or jurisdiction. The process can result in UGC being removed by a moderator, acting as an agent of the platform or site in question

The natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law.

Depth and comprehensiveness of the information presented

A set of tools used in the process of interpreting content to analyze and evaluate ideas, messages, or arguments, including interpreting evidence, placing the message in a larger context, and understanding whether cited data supports the point of view. Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thought processes with a view to improving them. Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It requires rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails effective communication and problem solving abilities, as well as a commitment to overcoming our native egocentrism and socio-centrism. It advances the character and ethical sensitivities of the dedicated person through the explicit cultivation of intellectual virtues. Paul and Elder (2020)

Human accounts that use automation techniques or bot accounts managed by human beings

Any form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyse or predict aspects concerning that natural person's performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behaviour, location or movements

A natural person about whom a controller holds personal data and who can be identified, directly or indirectly, by reference to that personal data (GDPR)

Deep learning is a class of machine learning algorithms based on artificial neural networks with representation learning. It includes three modalities according to how learning is conducted:  supervised, semi-supervised or unsupervised. It have been applied to a wide scope of fields including

(Fake) News pieces which use stories that are tailored to and targeted at specific audiences, in order to reinforce what people believe describes their lives

(A portmanteau of "deep learning" and "fake") are synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else's likeness. While the act of creating fake content is not new, deepfakes leverage powerful techniques from machine learning and artificial intelligence to manipulate or generate visual and audio content that can more easily deceive. The main machine learning methods used to create deepfakes are based on deep learning and involve training generative neural network architectures, such as autoencoders, or generative adversarial networks (GANs)

Relating to the wider discourse around a subject; the bigger picture

False or misleading content that is spread with an intention to deceive or secure economic or political gain, and which may cause public harm. Disinformation includes various forms of misleading content such as fake news, hoaxes, lies, half-truths and, also, artificially inflated engagement based on automated accounts, trolls, bots, fake profiles that spread and amplify social media posts

Social media account that has been hijacked or replicated and is operated by bots

Feeling for and with the characters present in a narrative

Framing issues through added emphasis on the values and beliefs of intended audiences, making the news more attractive, and harder to ignore

When an idea is made to look more credible based on having received a vote-of-confidence from a celebrity or perceived trustworthy person

A type of framing in which an argument is semantically adjusted to make the argument more preferable or agreeable to targeted audiences

The data subject shall have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning him or her or similarly significantly affects him or her. Paragraph 1 shall not apply if the decision: (a) is necessary for entering into, or performance of, a contract between the data subject and a data controller; (b) is authorised by Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject and which also lays down suitable measures to safeguard the data subject's rights and freedoms and legitimate interests; or (c) is based on the data subject's explicit consent

The process of checking that all the facts in a piece of writing, a news article, a speech, etc. are correct

Performative invocation of fact and reason, even when the truthfulness of these ‘facts’ is irrelevant

A type of online disinformation (1), with (2) misleading and/or false statements that may or may not be associated with real events, (3) intentionally created to mislead and/or manipulate a public (4) specific or imagined, (5) through the appearance of a news format with an opportunistic structure (title, image, content) to attract the reader’s attention, in order to obtain more clicks and shares and, therefore, greater advertising revenue and/or ideological gain. The term “fake news” is often seen as inadequate and imprecise, while the concept of “disinformation” offers a broader perspective for the phenomenon

Mechanism which allows fake news narratives to interact with pre-existing beliefs, identities and priorities of those exposed to the message, e.g. their own personal narratives

Use of words, images, phrases, and presentation style to present information, in order to influence an individual’s understanding of a given situation

This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers (EU Charter of Fundamental Rights)

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes freedom to change religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or in private, to manifest religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance. (2) The right to conscientious objection is recognised, in accordance with the national laws governing the exercise of this right (EU Charter of Fundamental Rights)

Everyone is free to conduct a business in accordance with Community law and national laws and practices is recognised (EU Charter of Fundamental Rights)

A European Union law that was implemented May 25, 2018, and requires organizations to safeguard personal data and uphold the privacy rights of anyone in EU territory. The regulation includes seven principles of data protection that must be implemented and eight privacy rights that must be facilitated. It also empowers member state-level data protection authorities to enforce the GDPR with sanctions and fines. The GDPR replaced the 1995 Data Protection Directive, which created a country-by-country patchwork of data protection laws. The GDPR, passed in European Parliament by overwhelming majority, unifies the EU under a single data protection regime

Rhetorical strategy in which the author or speaker careens through different topics and rattles through half-truths, with an intention to both to overwhelm opponents’ ability to respond and to introduce doubt into the minds of audiences

Content which is not necessarily illegal but potentially harmful, such as fake news or content that is harmful for minors

It refers to the tendency for individuals with a strong preexisting attitudes or beliefs on an issue to perceive media coverage as biased against their side and in favor of their antagonists´ point of view. Partisans from opposite sides of an issue will tend to find the same coverage to be biased against them

While definitions of hybrid threats vary and need to remain flexible to respond to their evolving nature, the concept aims to capture the mixture of coercive and subversive activity, conventional and unconventional methods (i.e. diplomatic, military, economic, technological), which can be used in a coordinated manner by state or non-state actors to achieve specific objectives while remaining below the threshold of formally declared warfare. There is usually an emphasis on exploiting the vulnerabilities of the target and on generating ambiguity to hinder decision-making processes. Massive disinformation campaigns, using social media to control the political narrative or to radicalise, recruit and direct proxy actors can be vehicles for hybrid threats. European Commission

A type of narrative presentation which forces the audience to repeatedly engage with ever-evolving, interwoven, complicated plots – a strategy which may be used to confuse the reader

Incitement to terrorism, xenophobic and racist speech that publicly incites hatred and violence, as well as child sexual abuse material are illegal in the European Union

The rapid spread of false, inaccurate or misleading information about the pandemic – has posed substantial risks to personal health, public health systems, effective crisis management, the economy and social cohesion

How the information is structured on the website

Ease of navigation, and interaction with the source as well as the user interface

Field of study that allows computers to learn without the need to be programmed

Popular or wide-accepted, traditional

The ability to:

●        decode and understand media messages (including the political and economic ecosystems in which they are produced and exist);

●        assess the influence of those messages on human beliefs, feelings, and behaviours;

Relating to a story or shared understanding within a group or as representations of events, an encompassing view, based on causal, temporal and spatial relationships that order events and confer meaning and are, therefore, explanatory, correlational and organizational in nature. Narratives have a clear linear structure, with a beginning, a middle and an end, which are socially constructed and involve actors, setting and plot

Engagement with or understanding and paying attention to a narrative

An element of storytelling which catches the attention of a reader

Is an interdisciplinary subfield of linguistics, computer science, and artificial intelligence that deals with the interactions between computers and human language, particularly how to program computers to process and analyze large amounts of natural language data

An exercise in deciding whether the content being presented is opinion or fact

The person/organisation who runs and maintains said news platform

Any information that relates to an identified or identifiable living individual. Different pieces of information, which collected together can lead to the identification of a particular person, also constitute personal data

The use of techniques such as data mining, data visualization, algorithm clustering, and neural networking to find patterns or trends in data. These patterns or trends are used to forecast future behaviour based on current or past behaviour

A wide range of operations performed on personal data, including by manual or automated means. It includes the collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction of personal data

A set of characteristics, features and attributes with which a person or a group can be discerned from another person or group

The intensive manipulation of information so as to influence perceptions and the ability of the target audience to make objective decisions. The overall aim of propaganda is to obtain strategic advantages, political and financial capital brand and image promotion etc. Propaganda was used historically in order to legitimate political regimes, advance certain ideological causes, and also as a way to mobilize the masses in case of armed conflict

False narratives that have begun to take on the heightened status of a plausible reality within a community

Process of reasoning used in order to perform a cost-to-benefit analysis

Any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of a data subject’s wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her (GDPR)

Relying on mental shortcuts or ‘rules of thumb’ until the acceptability threshold is met

An editorial tactic which involves presenting information in an overtly shocking or exciting way

Computer programs designed to use social networks by simulating how humans communicate and interact with each other

Bots that distribute malicious URLs, unsolicited messages and hijack trending topics contaminating the conversation with other content

Appealing to the imagination of one’s audience through effective and engaging communication

An intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument

Pseudonymous identities, i.e., user accounts, used for a disproportionately large influence”

The functioning of the website/source on a technical level

A fallacious tactic which uses self-fulfilling data to match the author’s biases and lends credibility to their arguments

Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article. Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law. Everyone shall have the possibility of being advised, defended and represented. Legal aid shall be made available to those who lack sufficient resources in so far as such aid is necessary to ensure effective access to justice (EU Charter of Fundamental Rights)

The Union shall respect cultural, religious and linguistic diversity (EU Charter of Fundamental Rights)

Everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications (EU Charter of Fundamental Rights)

(1) Everyone has the right to the protection of personal data concerning him or her. (2) Such data must be processed fairly for specified purposes and on the basis of the consent of the person concerned, or some other legitimate basis laid down by law. Everyone has the right of access to data which has been collected concerning him or her, and the right to have it rectified. (3) Compliance with these rules shall be subject to control by an independent authority(EU Charter of Fundamental Rights)

The behavior of posting content on the Internet, especially on social networks, with the express and sole purpose of provoking a reaction, sowing discord, provoking an emotional response. In this context, a troll is a person who has such behavior. The most common behaviors that can be considered as trolling: personal attacks, provocative comments, insults or vulgar language. Often, the identity used for online trolling behavior is a fake one (fabricated social media account that cannot be associated with a real person)

A measure of whether something is true or not

A judgement about whether or not something seems plausible or convincing (even though it may not be)

Online platforms reaching at least 45 million active recipients in the EU on a monthly basis (10 % of the EU population), which could pose particular risks in the dissemination of illegal content and societal harms

Search engines reaching at least 45 million active recipients in the EU on a monthly basis (10% of the EU population), and therefore, more responsibility in curbing illegal content online