What similarities do you notice between the different countries outlined in the article and their problems with fake news?
Similarities - all associated with the government and political issues.
- Federal elections in Germany
- French presidential election campaign
- Myanmar - traditions changing
- Worrying Italian government
- China have reinforced 'internal management' to disable freedom online and the emergence of fake news due to the results of the US elections
- The importance has grown in Brazil as political opinion polarized following the close re-election victory of leftist president Dilma Rousseff
- Australia - not a huge issue but fake news on Facebook, repeated by politicians despite lack of evidence
- India - 2000 rupee, shows the impact of fake news in a country where media is prolific but journalistic standards are falling short
Is fake news an inevitable consequence of the "culture of freedom and innovation" that the internet has brought with it? Is there a way to stop it?
Social media enables the 'culture of freedom and innovation' to be enhanced and reinforced by individuals, however fake news is definitely an inevitable consequence of this due to the idea of bigots and extremists who merely want to create controversial views. The idea of censorship and regulation is one way to control fake news but I don't think there will ever be a way to stop it entirely as the internet is something that enables anyone to post anything through social media - if there was a way to stop it, all social media would have to be stopped and within a generation that is so dependent on social networking, this would not be the most beneficial strategy.
Which fake news stories were particularly successful for Beqa Latsabidze, the 22-year-old student in Tbilisi, Georgia, who tried to make money from web articles on Trump?
- A story about Trump having information to destroy Obama
- Pro-Clinton website
- Anti-Clinton stories had more successful recognition
- “the Mexican government announced they will close their borders to Americans in the event that Donald Trump is elected President of the United States.”
- “Stop it Liberals…Hillary Lost the Popular Vote by Several Million. Here’s Why.”
I think that although Facebook and Google are major global conglomerates, they cannot be blamed for the rise of fake news due to the idea that individuals are becoming more controversial and audiences are more accepting of this change. I think the sole blame lies with the media and the fact that the media, from TV shows and films to new stories are simply becoming more raw and the controversial through the fact that the times are changing and audiences want to see more. The problem is that Google and Facebook can only regulate so much of their websites and the question of both ethics and validity are to be questioned and debated before removing content; this therefore makes it a much more difficult task for media giants. Although they provide the platform for these views, they cannot be solely blamed for the rise of fake news.
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