Reacting to Misinformation
I often brushed off the notion that fake news could be believed by people. In fact a few years ago when the whole trend started, I laughed it off. Recently I have become more aware, just as various news organizations and social media platforms have also caught wind of this reality. That fake news poses a real and tangible threat to people and In this specific instance voters. In 2016, when pressed on the matter, Mark Zuckerberg stated “Personally I think the idea that fake news on Facebook, which is a very small amount of the content, influenced the election in any way — I think is a pretty crazy idea. Voters make decisions based on their lived experience.” (Hutchinson)
Recently social media sites have been plagued with tales of how these false stories can paint ongoing situations and further perpetuate violence and ill will. An example I’ve seen almost daily is when my elderly Mother calls me to confirm some crazy story. Everything from such and such politician is a scammer, to Cuba being liberated. Conducting my own research and asking my friends and family, they also see highly questionable negative stories on their own feeds.
My colleague Courtney upon prompted claimed that “I don’t believe anything I see anymore. From GoFundMe’s to actual news, I just cannot depend on the internet. I’m closed off to any information at all. Even stuff you see on TV can be made up!” My partner also agrees, he states that “I wait a few days for something to be true. You can’t take anything seriously from the get-go.”. I agree with their sentiments and often find myself spending 10 minutes fact-checking, even the most innocuous things.
Companies such as Facebook and Twitter are feeling similarly. Both have begun to implement strategies that will limit the amount of disinformation that is spread via their platforms. By doing so, they are acknowledging that campaigns of disinformation are prevalent and they do have an influence. Twitter has said publicly “Based on our intensive investigations, we have reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinated state-backed operation. Specifically, we identified large clusters of accounts behaving in a coordinated manner to amplify messages related to the Hong Kong protests.”
Andrew Hutchinson builds on this statement in his article “Twitter and Facebook Remove Chinese-Backed Disinformation Campaigns Related to Hong Kong”. Hutchinson states “Twitter passed on its findings to Facebook, which has also announced its detection and removal of a group of Pages engaging in the same coordinated activities on its network.
Hannah Murphy in San Francisco and Christian Shepherd in Hong Kong in their article “Chinese social media accounts suspended over Hong Kong disinformation” have concluded that “Facebook and Twitter have moved to curb Chinese state-backed disinformation campaigns that targeted pro-democracy Hong Kong protesters, marking the first time the social media groups have linked covert propaganda operations on their platforms to Beijing.”
Articles mentioned:
Hutchinson, Andrew. “Twitter and Facebook Remove Chinese-Backed Disinformation Campaigns Related to Hong Kong.” Social Media Today, 20 Aug. 2019, www.socialmediatoday.com/news/twitter-and-facebook-remove-chinese-backed-disinformation-campaigns-related/561228/.
Shepherd, Christian. “Chinese Social Media Accounts Suspended over Hong Kong Disinformation.” Financial Times, Financial Times, 19 Aug. 2019, www.ft.com/content/985f893c-c2b2-11e9-a8e9-296ca66511c9.
