Names Change, Truth At Risk

Michael Hedges March 22, 2019 - Follow on Twitter

The out-of-service sign has been hung on the term fake news. Collins English Dictionary anointed it word of the year in 2017 after a tsunami of fake news, fake ads and fake video created a vast undertow. People were drowning in it, for it and with it. Then in that most post-modern way clever dictators usurped the term, changing it into criticism of criticism. Fake news has always been about creating confusion. Now we talk about disinformation.

European Parliament (EuroParl) elections will be held between May 23rd and 26th. People of voting age living within the European Union (EU) will vote for 751 members, affectionately referred to as MEPs. If the United Kingdom leaves the EU and goes on its merry way 705 MEPs will be elected. EuroParl elections are held every five years. Aggregate voting rates have dropped under 50% since the 2009 election but the voting histories of individual Member States varies widely. Many observers sense this EuroParl election may generate more interest.

A shift toward more right-wing, populist and xenophobic MEPs, who can select Commissioners, is considered a distinct possibility. Showing elevated caution the European Commission (EC) has allocated new funds to counteract fake news during this EuroParl election cycle. It is a bold undertaking and, considering the adversaries, seriously under-gunned. The European Media Literacy Week, taking place this past week, is meant to shore-up “informed decisions in the digital age.” Consensus on action among the 27 Member States is like herding cats. Still, the effort is better than pretending disinformation campaigns will simply disappear.

Ireland’s Be Media Smart campaign, also commencing this past week, focuses broadly on media literacy which, like critical thinking, appeals to the intellect. “The Be Media Smart awareness campaign is built around bringing the same level of care to one’s information sources as one would of their food provenance or car history,” said Media Literacy Ireland (MLI) steering group chairman and TU Dublin professor Brian O’Neill, quoted by the Irish Times (March 20). The MLI campaign receives support from Media regulator Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) and several news organizations. One of the tips: “Watch out for typos and strange sounding sentences.”

Fact checking has shown surprising promise, particularly when partnered with established news outlets. Initiatives in France and Germany, supported with strong legislation, have diminished the effects of certain disinformation tactics. Social media platform Facebook, widely criticized for facilitating fake news, announced a partnership with German news agency DPA to flag the bad stuff, similar to the work of investigative reporting collective Correctiv, which has been in place for two years. “This is a very adversarial space, and whether the bad actors are financially or ideologically motivated, they will try to get around and adapt to the work that we are doing,” said Facebook’s head of news feed integrity Tessa Lyons, quoted by Reuters (March 18).

In the high-stakes race to ward off the purveyors of disinformation (fake news) ahead of the EuroParl elections, a Europe-wide fact checking project has enlisted support with considerable resources. FactCheckEU.info has appeared, built on the successful CheckNews.fr platform developed by French newspaper Libération to thwart French election trolls and disinformation surrounding the Gilets Jaune (Yellow Vest) movement. It separates fact from fiction on request from readers.

For FactCheckEU, several European news agencies and publishers are applying their skills to do the same. The International Fact Checking Network (IFCN), part of Poynter Institute, is a principal sponsor with Google News Initiative and Open Society Initiative for Europe contributing. Initially, 19 fact checkers in 13 countries joined and met the IFCN code of conduct requirements for the project: AFP (See AFP statement here), CheckNews/Libération (France), Decoders/Le Monde (France), 20 Minutes (France), France 24 (France), Correctiv (Germany), Ellinika Hoaxes (Greece), Factograf (Croatia), FactCheckNL (Netherlands), Lead Stories (Belgium), TheJournal.ie (Ireland), maldita.es (Spain), Newtral (Spain), Observador (Portugal), Pagella Politica (Italy), Patikrinta 15min (Latvia), TjekDet (Denmark), Viralgranskaren (Sweden) and lavoce.info (Italy.

People are still drowning in fake news. A Eurobarometer survey of EU Member States residents, now a year old, showed 85% believe fake news is a problem in their country. More than one-third (37%) said they come across fake news every day or almost every day. Nearly half (45%) said journalists should be “responsible for stopping the spread of fake news.”

See also...

• Hot Topics - Elections and Media

• Hot Topics - Fake News