Should We Be Worried By "fake News" On The Internet (And Elsewhere)

[ichkeria]

Or are we all much to clever to be taken in by it?

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/12/14/google-officials-promised-stop-making-fake-news-profitable-one-month-later-theyve-failed/214812

[andy-hughes]

I think you have to adopt a detached view to anything you see on the internet, which is unregulated, and populated by a massive number of mischief makers and paranoid borderline care cases.

[jno]

I'm baffled by the obituaries I keep seeing on FB for people who haven't died. The first one did surprise me, but I soon learnt.

However: it isn't necessarily a new thing. Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster and all that.

[bookbinder]

Only the credulous members of society could be worried by this tripe. The more mature and worldly-wise amongst us would not be concerned.

[jim360]

We've all been taken in by one or other fake story. The problem is that I don't think many people are all that good at retraction, embarrassed by their own gullibility or some such. That's the problem: fake news, even if it becomes known isn't properly retracted by those who shared it, allowing others to be taken in because they never noticed that it was fake.

We just have to be more careful, and I don't think anyone should go around pretending that they'd never fall for it themselves.

[Ninefingers]

Id be more worried about the swathes of people who believe some of the claptrap we are fed in the media!

[Gromit]

There are different distinctions.
The Mail will report a story one sided, but a least it is based on an verifiable event.
Fake news sites make stuff up and peddle lies.
The main ones we see on AB are Brietbart and Gatestone Institute. People are taken in by them because they link to them.
When fake news becomes mainstream or viral, then it is dangerous. People can be manipulated if they are being spoonfed inaccurate information.

[Gromit]

Try some of these for size...

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/archives/

[Old_Geezer]

I don't believe anyone can be sure of spotting a fake news story. Also I don't see how you can prevent folk spreading false rumours. One just has to check anything one is going to use and remain sceptical.

[vetuste_ennemi]

Are all these articles "fake news", Gromit, or only some of them? I ask because I notice that Douglas Murray is the author of two of them. You may disagree with his views, but you're not telling me that he's inventing things (like the recent trial of Geert Wilders) to comment on?

[sp1814]

"Or are we all much to clever to be taken in by it?"

No - we are not.

Denzil Washington summed it up perfectly.

"If you want to be uninformed, don't read newspapers. If you want to be misinformed, read newspapers."

It's mostly our fault. There's a new trend online called 'confirmation bias'. There's a subsection of people who believe any story which supports their own particular world view. They will swallow a story whole without doing any fact-checking, or using common sense.

It's also the fault of the Internet. Rubbish news outlets have to fill their pages 24/7 and they do not check stories using professional journalists as they did in the past.

Coupled with that, we have social media sites that distribute fake news stories, which stupid people take for being validated.

It's the perfect storm.

[sp1814]

If anyone wants to be horrified, I strongly suggest that they buy or download a copy of 'Flat Earth News' by Nick Davies.

It's the reason why I now don't believe 90% of the detritus flung around the Internet.

It's an eye-opener.

[sp1814]

Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation

[jno]

There's a subsection of people who believe any story which supports their own particular world view. They will swallow a story whole without doing any fact-checking, or using common sense.

That could never happen on AB. I'm not even going to provide any links that might suggest otherwise.

[pixie374]

That's exactly right, sp, you wouldn't read a newspaper article without a bucket of salt, it's biased, twisted, misleading and possibly just untrue. You would expect the same online.

[waterboatman]

Can't argue with that pix!

[Togo]

//The Mail will report a story one sided, but a least it is based on an verifiable event.//
You make the Mail sound like the BBC there.

[Gromit]

Jno,
Most people who supply a Stonegate or Breitbarf link to support their views, usually end up totally undermining their own argument.

[webbo3]

Came across this on Facebook, hope it works.

https://www.facebook.com/sahouraxo/posts/352655811766138

Dave.

[naomi24]

Gromit at 00:18 Thu, that isn’t entirely true - but truth is often unpalatable.

[ichkeria]

Don't forget folks I'm talking about fake news, not bee-in-the-bonnet bloggery. Fabrications, rather than opinions. It would be an interesting exercise to try and find something and post a link here.