11/13/2023 0 Comments Fake computer screen![]() Similarly, a recent Pew Research Center survey suggested that almost a quarter of American adults have shared fake news, knowingly or unknowingly. Social media platforms are developing tools which would penalize false news websitesĪn analysis by BuzzFeed, a US news site, conducted in November 2016 found that during the final months of the US presidential campaign, fake news stories outperformed real news on social media, drawing more shares and engagement than news content from respected mainstream media. "Fake news is a bad thing, but according to my understanding, the Ministry of Truth is also bad," said Estonia's Andrus Ansip, the EU Commissioner for the digital single market, referring to the ministry responsible for the slogans and falsehoods in George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984".Īlthough fake news is flooding social media, it's difficult to know how many people are actually reading or viewing it and what effect it has. In a recent EU debate, representatives from former Soviet bloc countries (where in Soviet times the press was under the strict control of the state) warned of the risks of a single body having a monopoly on the "truth". This definition raises the issue of how to measure the factual basis or truth of a story and who should be responsible for measuring it. Their definition excludes false statements made by politicians (because that's not news but rather a political statement) as well as satirical content ( PDF). "News stories that have no factual basis but are presented as facts" is one possible definition used in a January 2017 study of fake news by Stanford University. As an extreme example, US President Donald Trump often blasts mainstream outlets such as the New York Times as "fake news media", causing the Washington Post (another Trump target) to declare that fake news has " lost all meaning". ![]() The farcical newspaper "The Onion" is often mistaken for real news.Īnother problem besetting fake news is that the term has been hijacked to denounce unfavorable reporting. But is it fake news?Īre satire, hoaxes and jokes fake news, too? Satire can be subtle enough to trick even news-savvy readers. Because social media can spread this information in the blink of an eye, sloppy journalism can have an enormous impact. News stories that have no factual basis presented as factsĪnd what about erroneous or unverified information that doesn't necessarily intend to deceive but is false all the same? The dizzy speed of the digital news cycle means even traditional media outlets pay less attention to verifying facts and sources. But what about news written with a specific slant for a specific audience, such as the content on hyperpartisan websites and their associated Facebook pages, stories that frequently demonize the other side's point of view, often at the expense of facts? The challenge of fake news starts with its definition it can mean very different things depending on who is speaking and what the context is.įictional news deliberately designed to deceive readers is obviously fake news. Hoax news websites have tapped into the deficiencies of social media algorithms to turn fake news into a big business.īut what is exactly fake news? How does it affect democracy and public discourse? And importantly, what can be done to counter its effects? The proliferation of fictitious stories isn't just motivated by propaganda, though, but also by profit. Fake news potentially affected the outcome of the US presidential elections and it's feared it could also influence key elections in France, the Netherlands and Germany in 2017. In the Global South, fake news has lead to xenophobia attacks and violence. Now fake news is having a second heyday – assisted this time by the spread of social media which has fundamentally changed the news ecosystem and created a favorable climate for the bogus news boom.ĭisinformation and fake news played (and still plays) a crucial role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and Russia's use of false stories as a cyberwarfare tactic is a real threat in countries as diverse as Sweden, Estonia and Moldova. It swept through Europe with the invention of the printing press in 1439, which allowed for the rapid circulation of false information. ![]() There's nothing fundamentally new about fake news.
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