The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
The 2019 UK election campaign has been particularly dispiriting for anyone who cares about the truth. Even established parties have proven they are not above using tricks to manipulate the news. Meanwhile, politicians are quick to shout “fake news” about anything they disagree with, even accurate stories. Continue reading
During the 2019 Australian general election, a news story about the Labor Party supporting a “death tax” – which turned out to be fake – gained traction on social media. Now, Labor is urging a post-election committee to rule on whether digital platforms like Facebook are harming Australian democracy by allowing the spread of fake news. Continue reading
In the Information Disorder report for Council of Europe (2017), Claire Wardle and I identified three types of bad-information (mis-, dis-, and malinformation), three phases (creation, (re)production, distribution), and three elements (agent, message, interpreter) to information disorder. Continue reading
The information we encounter online everyday can be misleading, incomplete or fabricated. Being exposed to “fake news” on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter can influence our thoughts and decisions. We’ve already seen misinformation interfere with elections in the United States. Continue reading
Journalists, politicians, academics, and governments all agree that the problem of news manipulation needs to be addressed, even if no one seems to be able to agree on what to call it. The terms ‘fake news’, ‘misinformation’, ‘disinformation’, and ‘propaganda’ are all used interchangeably. Continue reading
On 25 July 2019, the European Court of Human Rights delivered an important judgment in Brzeziński v. Poland, (available only in French) concerning a provision in Poland’s election law which allows a court, within 24 hours, to consider whether ‘untrue information’ has been published, and to issue an order prohibiting its further distribution. Continue reading
The rapid spread of fake news can influence millions of people, impacting elections and financial markets. A study on the impact of fake news on the 2016 US presidential election, for instance, has found that fake news stories about Hillary Clinton was “very strongly linked” to the defection of voters who supported Barack Obama in the previous election. Continue reading
Within a week of one another came two reports on the future of journalism in an age of big tech: The Cairncross Review (on 12 Feb) and The Commons DCMS Committee Final Report into Fake News and Disinformation (14 Feb – but with its excoriating criticism of Facebook, anything but a Valentine to Mark Zuckerberg). Continue reading
The final report of the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Disinformation and Fake News [pdf] was published on 18 February 2019. It is the product of an 18 month process – far in excess of the normal timeframe for Select Committee inquiries, involving 170 written submissions and 73 oral witnesses. Continue reading
The House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has published its final report on “Disinformation and ‘fake news’” [pdf] after an inquiry lasting 18 months. Continue reading
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