Fake news epidemic: Inoculation possible

Hillary Clinton has issued a call to action against the "epidemic" of fake news in a rare public appearance since her unexpected loss to Donald Trump, reported The Guardian. While paying tribute to the departing Senate minority leader Harry Reid she took the opportunity of flagging the concern thus: proliferation of false news stories online can have "real world consequences."

She cited an incident over the weekend to make her point; a man had opened fire at a pizza eatery, popular with children, after having read a false news story online. The story claimed that DC Pizzeria, another restaurant (specialising in the same delicacy), was harbouring children allegedly as part of a sex ring led by Clinton.

Thankfully, no one was hurt but what a close shave with danger it was for the visitors to the restaurant! Bogus, fabricated news with a dark intent has a way of fitting into the prejudiced worldview of either stupid or mischievous people. And, they may not be in short supply. What's basically scary is that they could care less about verifying the authenticity or otherwise of a posted, basically planted, piece of news.

Actually, Hillary Clinton is the most qualified person to be speaking on the subject because she has felt the relevance of it with her own career. She saw her fortunes in the presidential race wilting like autumn leaves though she came tantalisingly close to seeing a spring-time blossom, thanks to malicious propaganda that upset the apple cart.

A BuzzFeed data analysis found stories going viral falsely claiming that the Pope had endorsed Donald Trump; Hillary Clinton was implicated in the murder of an FBI agent; and that she had sold weapons to ISIS. The American private internet company claimed that all these "received more Facebook engagement than the most popular news stories from established outlets such as The New York Times and CNN."

Stories of falsehood reeking of vicious motives have been known, each surpassing the other in terms of the harm intended to individuals and communities.

In middle England, for instance, a fake image of a school being engulfed with fire went viral on the internet. It had 50,000 hits as anxious parents kept their wards from going to school. Not before the school website uploaded the reassuring message that everything was indeed alright would pupils resume their classes. Here there was a website to unmask the vile act of, mind you, a faceless operator. Other victims of fake news might not have been as lucky to debunk false information as soon as it appeared.

 The Wall Street Journal in a December 8, 2016 report by Jack Nicas depicted possibly the height of commercial abuse of internet to date! Opening with the words "Fake News Sites Inadvertently Funded by Big Brand" it informed that ads from well-known companies often appear on sites with false or misleading news.

"Yoko Ono: I had an Affair with Hillary Clinton in the 70s" read the headline in World News Daily Report, a website that 'peddles made-up stories.' Next to the story? An ad for the 2017 Ram 1500 truck made by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.                                           

At home, we have witnessed two major online hate campaigns. Circulation of fake posts was reported in 2012 when radical Muslims attacked Buddhist homes and temples in Ramu, Cox's Bazar. Reportedly, lately, extremist elements used the same medium to  vandalise  Hindu houses and temples at Nasirabad in Brahmanbaria.

It is learnt that news websites are creating Facebook pages with the help of tech-savvy groups to "embarrass the government and create panic among minorities and war crimes trial campaigners."

In America, after the failure to stop spread of 'fake news' around the US election, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and Google have been facing heightened public scrutiny. It is argued fake news is a 'threat' to democracy and that the users of research and social media platforms 'deserve better.'

Possible remedies are being talked about based on the fact that if society is harmed who the major platforms would be left to serve. A charity called Full Fact, an expert named Lora Kolodmy informs us of "aims to end fake news with automated fact checking tools." It wishes to make fact checking as easy as spell checking— that would be a dream come true when and if it comes about!

 But the charity involves fundraising; this being indicative of lack of direct investment by the major platforms. We think they ought to take a more serious approach than a 'charitable' one to combat online hate and fake news proliferation. They present a complex phenomenon with issues of anonymity, nipping it in the origin, preventing it going viral, and should it appear, seeking correction and retraction. The digital service providers, technologists, print and online media and the users – all need to do their part to fend off the menace, methodically under an international convention.

For our part, we must have a homegrown pool of technicians, equipped and ready 24/7 to be ahead in the game.     

The writer is a senior journalist and former Associate Editor, The Daily Star.

E-mail: shahhusainimam@gmail.com