Stanford study finds most students vulnerable to fake news

In this post-truth era we live in, the media, the science community, and the politicians together face increasing distrust from the public. But why? The issue was on everyone’s lips at the first ever European Parliament Science week from February 5 to 7, only a few weeks ahead of the EU elections. Trust in politicians is at historic lows and in the labyrinth of corridors and meeting rooms at the European Parliament (EP), it is easy to feel a sense of perplexity, not to say real panic, among the politicians. “There’s a hybrid media war financed by foreign powers, by armies. We need to protect democracy. We are all very nervous about it,” warned Dr. Paul Rübig, first vice-chair of the EP Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA). The STOA and de EU Commission’s Joint Research Center organize every year the event “Science Meets Parliament”, bringing together politicians and scientists to narrow the gaps between the two. … [Read more...] about Fake News: Politicians, journalists, and scientists face mistrust together

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Anjana Susarla, Michigan State University (THE CONVERSATION) When Mark Zuckerberg told Congress Facebook would use artificial intelligence to detect fake news posted on the social media site, he wasn’t particularly specific about what that meant. Given my own work using image and video analytics, I suggest the company should be careful. Despite some basic potential flaws, AI can be a useful tool for spotting online propaganda – but it can also be startlingly good at creating misleading material. Researchers already know that online fake news spreads much more quickly and more widely than real news. My research has similarly found that online posts with fake medical information get more views, comments and likes than those with accurate medical content. In an online world where viewers have limited attention and are saturated with content choices, it often … [Read more...] about How artificial intelligence can detect – and create – fake news

The "Fake News Awards" announced on the Republican National Committee website and touted by President Donald Trump pose a conundrum: Does it really count if the news organization admits error?Everyone makes mistakes - and the point is not to play gotcha. News organizations operate in a competitive arena and mistakes are bound to be made. The key test is whether an error is acknowledged and corrected.Trump almost never admits error, even has he has made more than 2,000 false or misleading statements. So with that context, here's an assessment of the "awards:""1. The New York Times' Paul Krugman claimed on the day of President Trump's historic, landslide victory that the economy would never recover."Krugman, of course, is a columnist. So it's a bit odd to feature an opinion as fake news when it's not really news, just opinion.Krugman wrote: "We are very probably looking at a global recession, with no end in sight. I suppose we could get lucky somehow. But on economics, as on everything … [Read more...] about Fact check: Trump’s ‘Fake News Awards’ focused on reports that were wrong — and quickly corrected

Why does fake news exist? How can we fight it? How much of a threat does it pose to Europe? YouTube creator Fonseca, from the VisualPolitik channel, looked into the issue at the Democracy Alive festival on the Dutch Island of Texel. From a brief history of fake news to its current influence on the European political sphere. To help unpick the issue, he enlisted the help of Margrethe Vestager, EU competition commissioner and social media strategist Ned Howey. Watch the video to hear their suggestions for tackling the issue. The Democracy Alive festival, organized by the pro-European lobby European Movement took place in April 11-14 gathering top politicians from all boards, activists and citizens in a political gathering inspired on the Democracy Festivals celebrated in several Nordic Countries in the last decade. … [Read more...] about How can we save democracy from fake news? Video report

“We’re entering an era in which our enemies can make it look like anyone is saying anything at any point in time, even if they would never say those things,” are the words you hear and see Barack Obama saying on the screen. The video seems to be a message from the former president about the dangers of fake news on the internet. That is until the screen is split to reveal actor and director Jordan Peele delivering his famous Obama impression. The subsequent phrases in the video are not what many would expect coming from the mouth of the former occupant of the White House. The short message was produced by Buzzfeed with Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, using the graphics programme After Effects and video-editing programme Fakeapp — which has been used to superimpose celebrities’ faces onto pornographic videos. Peele and Buzzfeed wanted to raise digital awareness in an era when technology makes it increasingly easy to spread misinformation by manipulating … [Read more...] about Watch: Obama appears in fake news awareness video (or does he?)