The European Union has called on Facebook and other platforms to invest more in fact-checking, but a new study shows those efforts may rarely reach the communities worst affected by fake news. The analysis by big-data firm Alto Data Analytics over a three-month period ahead of this year's EU elections casts doubt on the effectiveness of fact-checking even though demand for it is growing. Facebook has been under fire since Russia used it to influence the election that brought Donald Trump to power. The company quadrupled the number of fact-checking groups it works with worldwide over the last year and its subsidiary WhatsApp launched its first fact-checking service. The EU, which has expanded its own fact-checking team, urged online platforms to take greater action or risk regulation. Fake news and propaganda still rife on Facebook - report How a fake news story about euthanasia fooled the world's media Fact-checkers are often journalists who set up non-profits or work at mainstream … [Read more...] about Fact-checking ineffective under tsunami of fake news
Fake news meme
Deadly epidemic of Ebola and the deadlier spread of fake news
This is a tale of two epidemics. Only one of them is real. The real one is Ebola. Ebola is a virus that kills people. This is a fact. But we fear facts as much as we fear disease. We prefer reassuring falsehoods to facts. And it’s so easy, you can deny practically anything. All you have to do is add the little word “not”. We’ve had Holocaust denial and climate change denial. Now we have Ebola denial. The virus, named after the Ebola river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo near where it first appeared in 1976, has an approximately 80 per cent mortality rate. ie not good odds: you have a one-in-five chance of surviving if you get it. The disease is not just hard to eradicate, it has a habit of triggering a second parallel virus, of the virtual kind, but just as insidious and potentially lethal, a rumour cloud around Ebola, made up of myth, moonshine, conspiracy theories, and paranoia. So the Red Cross finds itself fighting on two fronts, … [Read more...] about Deadly epidemic of Ebola and the deadlier spread of fake news
Fake news ‘spreading to young people through Instagram memes’
Fake news ‘spreading to young people through Instagram memes’ BelfastTelegraph.co.uk An exodus of young people from Facebook has seen fake news spread to Generation Z through memes on Instagram, a leading journalism academic has said. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/fake-news-spreading-to-young-people-through-instagram-memes-38089457.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/article38089456.ece/a605c/AUTOCROP/h342/bpanews_654278a8-918b-4f02-a797-22b868fbe41a_1 Email An exodus of young people from Facebook has seen fake news spread to Generation Z through memes on Instagram, a leading journalism academic has said. Nic Newman, a senior research associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and former world editor of the BBC News website, said many young people had switched from Facebook. Fake news is now spreading to young people through “memes and visual storytelling” on Instagram, he told a conference on Tuesday. … [Read more...] about Fake news ‘spreading to young people through Instagram memes’
Rapping fugitive fakes capture in online posts followed by thousands
A fugitive reported to have taunted police by saying they had "more chance finding Madeleine McCann " has pretended to be snared again. An account under the name of Daley Smith fooled thousands he had been busted when it posted an image of a property surrounded by police on social media. He later told followers on his Facebook page the claims had been no more than a trick. Smith has made headlines with his online taunting of Cheshire Police since going on the run nine months ago. Alongside images of police vehicles outside a building he wrote last week: "For f***s sake. Whole flat is surrounded. I think this is it people." This sparked hundreds of comments - including one that said: "No, this can’t be", followed by a series of crying emojis. But two hours later Smith - who turns 30 this week - admitted it was a joke and put up a post mimicking the chorus of the Eminem song Without Me, the Manchester Evening News reported . It read: "Guess who's back, back again. "Daley's … [Read more...] about Rapping fugitive fakes capture in online posts followed by thousands
Fugitive who’s taunted police for months on Facebook fakes being caught
A fugitive who told police they had 'more chance finding Madeline McCann' tricked followers into believing he had been caught before revealing it was all a ruse. Daley Smith has been taunting Cheshire Police with a raft of Facebook posts since going on the run last year. He left his thousands of followers 'gutted' this week after he posted a photo from his 'hideout' surrounded by police cars, reports the Stoke Sentinel . The post - which attracted more than 700 comments - reads: "For f***s sake. Whole flat is surrounded. I think this is it people." But two hours later Smith - who turns 30 on Tuesday - admitted it was ruse and put up a post of his own version of Eminem's Without Me. It read: "Guess who's back, back again. "Daley's back, tell a friend. "Guess who's back, guess who's back? Guess who's back, guess who's back. Guess who's back, guess who's back? Guess who's back?" He even included a line about Cheshire Police, writing: "So the Cheshire Policey won't let me be or let me … [Read more...] about Fugitive who’s taunted police for months on Facebook fakes being caught