Graphic by Carrie Clowers ’18
BY CASEY ROEPKE ’21
The phenomenon of fake news, spotlighted recently in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, is not a new occurrence. Russia’s alleged interference during the campaign, via Facebook and other social media sites, was not the first time news was fabricated to alter the results of an election. In an episode of “Backstory,” a weekly history podcast, historian Mark Summers discussed the practices of “Gilded Age-era elections” and argued that past politicians consistently published lies about their opponents in newspapers in order to sway public opinion. However, before examining the effects of fake news in the U.S. and around the world, it is important to precisely define “fake news.”
“Just because something is biased doesn’t mean that it is fake,” said Todd Brewster, Mount Holyoke journalism professor and former senior editorial producer for ABC News. He believes that Donald Trump and others in his administration have made a practice of pointing at any story that paints them in a negative light and calling it fake — yet bias is inherent in reporting.
Brewster argues that some news sources use their bias to cater to a certain audience, but that does not necessarily signify that they are ignoring the facts. “One should be aware of the original philosophy of a particular news gathering source. When we look at Fox News, we have to see that it was created in the 90s by those who believe that stories were not being told or they were being told in a way that minimized the values that they held near,” said Brewster. “It’s important to understand where Fox News originates in their approach to the news. But then you need to evaluate and put the same expectations on them that we would for any source.”
With these conditions in mind, there are a few different types of fake news. One is news that has been purposefully falsified; that is, intentionally fabricating news stories to “stir up passion and strong feelings,” according to Brewster. Another type is when journalists run with an unverified story — whether or not the reporters themselves know the truth of a story is irrelevant in this regard.
The U.S. 2016 election demonstrated the threat of fake news on a global scale. Although President Trump is still denying Russia’s involvement, many recognize fake news and legitimize its dangers.
Several countries have begun taking preventative steps against the spread of fake news. Germany, France and Italy are at the forefront of this global initiative for internet intelligence and protection.
Reuters reported on Feb. 12 that a Berlin regional court ruled the use of personal data by Facebook illegal, as Facebook “did not adequately secure the informed consent of its users.” Essentially, Facebook is now prohibited from gathering users’ personal data in order to present articles or pages related to the users’ personal views or interests, which increases the danger of fake news entering the mainstream. Social networks, like Facebook, “came under fire during the U.S. presidential vote when it became clear they had inadvertently fanned false news reports.”
Although people have the tendency to “go to places where they hear what they want to hear,” as Brewster puts it, Germany has taken the radical step of determining that Facebook’s support of these “echochambers” is intolerable.
Facebook was also involved in another effort against fake news in France. According to Reuters, Facebook and Google joined news organizations to introduce fact-checking tools to “root out ‘fake news’ stories in France ahead of the country’s presidential election.” The country hoped to avoid a similar situation as the United States, where fake news has been blamed for the election of Donald Trump. Facebook’s fact-checking would depend on its users, who would flag potential fake news so that the partner news organizations could fact-check them.
Italy is taking a different route towards eradicating fake news. Instead of focusing on measures that could be taken by news organizations or social media platforms, the Italian government is relying on education — namely, high schools — to teach young adults to differentiate between real and fake news. As The New York Times writes, this initiative, which includes an entire course dedicated to the dangers of fake news, has been “rolled out in 8,000 high schools across the country.” The goal of this program is to “deputize students as fake-news hunters, showing them how to create their own blogs or social accounts to expose false stories.”
All three European countries have elections coming up, which has heightened tensions surrounding fake news and conspiracy theories. If they learned anything from the United States, it is that the internet has made malevolent fake news sources more accessable, and more powerful, than ever before.