How to recognize and steer clear of fake news? In their blog posts, students Aurélie Dubru, Fredrika Lahdenranta, Cheuk Leung, and Di Gan discuss timely topics, such as the coverage of Hong Kong’s protests, President Trump and fake news, and what to post on social media. The blog posts have been produced as a part of the course “Social Media, Ideologies, and Ethics in the United States” at the University of Turku.
Miten tunnistaa valeuutiset eli “fake news”? Blogikirjoituksissaan opiskelijat Aurélie Dubru, Fredrika Lahdenranta, Cheuk Leung ja Di Gan tarkastelevat Hong Kongin protestien uutisointia, presidentti Trumpin suhdetta vale/vastauutisiin sekä pohtivat, mitä sosiaalisessa mediassa yleensä kannattaa julkaista. Opiskelijoiden blogikirjoitukset on tehty osana Turun yliopiston Social Media, Ideologies, and Ethics in the United States –kurssia.
This blog post was produced as part of the course “Social Media, Ideologies, and Ethics in the United States” at the University of Turku.
Image: Pinterest
Albert Camus once said: “A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed
upon this world,” and I could not agree more. Ethics was one of my favorite topics
of the course, mainly because I think that it is in constant change and each
society or people have different opinions on what the limits of ethics are.
Regarding social
media, it is particularly hard to find these limits. Social media are supposed
to be a platform where people can express themselves freely. However, we can ask
ourselves whether social media should be more regulated and whether there
should be more limits to what people are allowed to share with others. Unlike
newspapers, social media are not very strict. They may have some rules but they
are not always respected. Moreover, it is very easy to post something that is out
of bounds. It might be deleted shortly after, but there is still time for
others to see it. Ask anyone on social media, and you will realize that more
people than we think have already seen content that they wish they had never
seen but they just could not avoid. Whether the post is an extremist or racist
opinion or a shocking picture of a dead animal, most people do not want to see
it. What are these people even looking for – attention? Or money? I just wonder
how people can forget all morality for one moment, just so they can briefly enjoy
what they were looking for. The answer might be that they actually never had morality;
social media is just a place where everyone can realize that. On the other hand,
maybe they have a different view of morality and ethics. It might feel normal
them and not pose any ethical questions.
We may ask:
who or what decides what is ethical and what is not?
Image: OpenLearn/The Open University
Compared to reality, social media are quite complex when it comes to defining
limits and knowing what is ethical. I love this quote from Albert Einstein: “I
fear a day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will
have a generation of idiots.” Technology, as well as social media, are now part
of most people’s lives and people sometimes forget that it is not the reality.
When I see how much people edit their pictures or even spread fake news, I
wonder why people do not consider ethical principles as they do in real life.
Hiding behind the computer is so much easier than confronting people. I often
feel like people allow themselves too much freedom on social media. Maybe they
should think more than twice about what the world is about to see because it
might have a bigger impact than they think. Related to the many shootings
happening in the U.S., it surprises me how often it is possible to find the perpetrators’
racist opinions on their Facebook page and come across pictures of the
shootings. When people already have to deal with a traumatizing event, they do
not necessarily want to be reminded of it on social media by a picture of a
dead body, for instance.
It is definitely time for us all to start being
careful with what we post and reconsider what we have been sharing until now.
This blog post was produced as part of the course “Social Media, Ideologies, and Ethics in the United States” at the University of Turku.
The era of alternate realities and widespread distrust in media sources has largely become defined by President Donald Trump. The line between truth and falsity has become increasingly blurry, which is highlighted by the subjective reality constructed by the U.S President.[i]
In the era of unlimited information, it is more and more difficult to discern what is actually true, partly due to social media’s role as a news source.[ii][iii] The term “fake news”[iv] is a powerful tool that mainly Trump and other right wing politicians[v] use for discrediting reliable news sources as biased. This relates to the idea of alternate realities, as it underlines the disappearance of objective fact based truth, and highlights value-laden statements. Consequently, “64% of adults believe fake news stories cause a great deal of confusion” in the U.S.[vi] Furthermore, “some 46% of adult social media users say they feel “worn out” by the number of political posts (…) they see on social media”[vii], according to studies by the PEW Research Center. The concern here is that feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information available and beliefs masqueraded as facts on social media, people may abandon critical thinking when making decisions on which news sites – or politicians – to trust.
In
addition, the role of social media as a platform that provides not only
information related to politics but also different forms of entertainment can
be argued to convolute the matter even further. According to Waltzman, “the
manipulation of our perception of the world is taking place on previously
unimaginable scales of time, space and intentionality” due to “Internet and
social media.”[viii]
If social media is a platform that enables this distortion of the factual
world, its role as an information source needs to be rethought. Consequently,
the importance of critical thinking and information searching skills becomes
even more evident.
Furthermore,
the platforms that provide a means for disinformation to spread need to be
challenged. Despite social media’s several benefits, its free form also offers
an inlet for spreading false information, partly due to the fact that “their
economics favour shareability over veracity and distribution over retraction.” [ix] For example,
although Twitter claims “to be a place where people can (…) find reliable
information, and express themselves freely and safely,”[x]
it has at the same time allowed the false narratives of Trump, among others, to
spread fast and far.[xi]
Fortunately,
several news media educate people on recognizing fake news and misinformation.[xii][xiii]
The problem is that they are mainly left-leaning liberal media that the right-leaning
media often judge as biased rather than objective. Due to the free form and
less regulated usage of social media platforms, providing only unbiased and
objective information is nearly impossible. Therefore, the responsibility to
fact-check and analyze received information rests mainly on the users.
[i] Leonhardt & Thompson. Trump’s Lies. New York Times. Dec 14, 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/23/opinion/trumps-lies.html
[ii] Smith, Silver, Johnson, Jiang. Publics in Emerging Economies Worry Social Media Sow Division, Even as
They Offer New Chances for Political Engagement. PEW research center. May
13, 2019.
[iv] “Journalism or information that either deliberately or unintentionally misleads people and distorts reality by spreading false information, hoaxes, propaganda or misrepresentation of facts.” Mastrine. Defining “Fake News” Is Harder Than You’d Think. The Forum Network. Aug 13, 2019. https://www.oecd-forum.org/users/291420-julie-mastrine/posts/52249-defining-fake-news-is-harder-than-you-d-think
[viii] Waltzman, Rand.The
Weaponization of Information: The Need for Cognitive Security. Santa
Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. 2017. https://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/CT473.html.
This blog post was produced as part of the course “Social Media,
Ideologies, and Ethics in the United States” at the University of Turku.
The internet and social media have become an extensive, large-scale,
easy-to-use, real-time information publishing platform. It has become an open
platform for discussion, dissemination of knowledge, expressing ideas, and sharing
daily life. One advantage of the immediate dissemination of news and debates is
that because the content is no longer controlled by institutions but by the
people, the coverage of an issue can be more extensive. Moreover, instead of
passively accessing news and content, people actively participate in
discussions and share their ideas. Also, mobile technology and real-time streaming
through social media have entered the world, changing the way people consume
and generate news. With the popularity of real-time streaming media platforms,
more traditional social media have expanded into the field as well. Examples of
this are Facebook Live and Instagram Live. As mentioned above, as citizen
journalism is reshaping the relationship between media producers and consumers,
sharing and publishing news is no longer reserved for professional journalists.
Moreover, unfiltered video streaming can be an advantage for citizen journalism
because there is no censorship involved and journalists can provide their
audience with first-hand images of live events. Reporting on social media also
generates more audience engagement to create an interactive journalistic
experience with direct feedback from the audience.
However, when compared with traditional news sources, such as news channels and newspapers, the credibility of content circulating on social media platforms is questionable due to the contributors’ independence and freedom of expression. Fake news, misinformation, and false information have become by-products of the digital communication ecosystem because of simple forwarding and sharing actions on social networks. This has alarming worldwide ramifications. Various government agencies have implemented regulations to penalize sites that circulate misinformation. Many social media platforms have announced actions to limit the spread of fake content. However, with the aid of clickbait, these problems have still spread across the internet, and this has proven to be very dangerous.
Image: Wikipedia
Image: Twitter
Let’s look at Hong Kong’s democratic protests as an example. Fake
online news disseminated carefully edited videotapes and selected stories,
exacerbating fear, hatred, and confusion among Hong Kong residents. When
protesters at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University set a police vehicle ablaze,
photographs allegedly featuring a badly burned police officer at the wheel were
circulating online within hours. Chinese state media also released footage of
the Shenzhen People’s Armed Police military trucks and tanks, claiming they
were heading to the Hong Kong border. However, according to fact-checking by
the press, these claims are wrong. Due to China’s online censorship, Chinese
citizens cannot read news reports in certain media. Facebook, Twitter, and
YouTube have also found that state-backed media have spread misinformation
through fake accounts and advertisements. We can clearly see what false
information can bring about with the aid of social media.
Meel,
P., & Vishwakarma, D. (2019). Fake news, rumor, information pollution in
social media and web: A contemporary survey of state-of-the-arts, challenges
and opportunities. Expert Systems with Applications, 112986. doi:
10.1016/j.eswa.2019.112986
This blog post was produced as part of the course “Social Media, Ideologies, and Ethics in the United States” at the University of Turku.
Fake news, one of the most typical
representations of deception in the media world, used to be regarded as a type
of serious mistake in journalism. However, with the emerging social media, new
forms of journalism have been thriving. They are more immediate, individual,
and interactive than the traditional ones. The definition of journalists has
begun to broaden and to exclude the requirements of professionalism. The amount
of fake news is sharply increasing with a flood of citizen journalists and
ready access to computer technical skills.
Professor Basyouni Hamada once pointed out the defects of the
trendy forms of journalism that seem to have increased the probability of fake
news: “The citizen journalist model does not care about accuracy, verification,
objectivity, balance, and truth telling; what he is interested in is
spontaneous; and quick publication of anything at hands assuming the
responsibility of the users to verify or not to verify what they consume.”
Therefore, it is time to learn some techniques for spotting the false stories
in order to avoid getting duped. Here are six tips for identifying fake news in
social media:
1. Check the Original Posters
This is a basic step to make a preliminary
judgement on whether the story might be false. Try using the list below to
examine the credibility of the news source:
Individuals
Are you familiar with the poster?
Does this poster have a history of
unusual claims? Does this seem to be a newly created profile?
Is there a reliable byline, introduction
or any information to prove the person’s expertise?
Do a Google search of the poster for
more information about his or her identity and professionalism.
Institutions
Are you familiar with the
institution?
Does the organization have an “about
us” link? Read the “About Us” section for more insight into the publisher,
leadership, and mission statement.
Is the author listed on the site, or
is there an “about me” section?
What is the domain name? “.gov,”
“.edu,” and “.org” appear more credible than “.com.co,” “.net,” and other
unusual top-level domain names.
Don’t be distracted by
official-looking forms or trademarks.
Don’t let your guard down even if it
is a well-known or influential institution.
2. Scrutinize the Headlines
Nowadays the headlines on social media are
designed to be eye-popping in order to induce users to share posts rather than
evaluate or even read the content. Fake news frequently use headlines as
clickbait. Be critical and try your best to avoid complete trust at first
glance. Skepticism helps you to stay alert to unauthentic reports with
outrageous, misleading, or suggestive diction in their headlines.
3. Apply Common Sense
UFOs, aliens, ghosts, time travel, zombies, and
other abnormal or supernatural phenomena could be elements of fake news that
are easier to spot than manipulation or falsification rooted in the material
world. However, you might still be fooled if there is a trace of belief in
their existence hidden in your mind.
4. Verify with Multiple Coverages from
Different Sources
This is probably the most useful and convenient
approach to confirming whether a piece of news you read is fake. Peer
comparison is an effective way to expose those that are unauthentic. Be cautious
with possible opposing viewpoints related to ideologies, political systems,
religions, traditions, etc. behind different coverages. There could be
controversies on certain issues and it may be hard to define which ones are
false news.
5. Utilize Tools to Debunk Fake Images
Don’t rely on graphics or videos because your
eyes can be deceived with the support of technology. Editing photos and videos or
even using “deepfakes” and “shallowfakes” are witty means to convince people to
believe the fake news. Fortunately, there are tools that can help you check
whether an image is real or manipulated. Here are some you can try:
Ranskalaista #MeToo –liikettä käsittelevä podcast on tehty osana Turun yliopiston ”Social Media, Ideologies, and Ethics in the United States” -kurssia. Podcastissa opiskelijat Marie Alardot, Héloïse Cao, Aurélie Dubru, Prunelle Dauty ja Nolwenn Bargain keskustelevat sosiaalisen median luomista mahdollisuuksista aktivistiliikkeille.
This podcast on the French #MeToo movement has been produced as a part of the course “Social Media, Ideologies, and Ethics in the United States” at the University of Turku. In the podcast, students Marie Alardot, Heloise Cao, Aurelie Dubru, Prunelle Dauty, and Nolwenn Bargain discuss the opportunities that social media provides to activist movements.
What kind of opportunities do social
media provide to activist movements? In their blog posts, students Niklas
Endres, Nolwenn Bargain, Salome Schmid, Bénédicte Daguet, and Marie Alardot explore
different social media activism movements, such as #MeToo, #FridaysForFuture,
and #16daysactivism. The
blog posts have been produced as a part of the course “Social
Media, Ideologies, and Ethics in the United States” at the University of Turku.
Millaisia
mahdollisuuksia sosiaalinen media tarjoaa aktivistiliikkeille?
Blogikirjoituksissaan opiskelijat Niklas Endres, Nolwenn Bargain, Salome
Schmid, Bénédicte Daguet ja Marie Alardot tarkastelevat erilaisia sosiaalisen
median siivittämiä aktivistiliikkeitä, kuten #MeToo, #FridaysForFuture ja
#16daysactivism. Kirjoitukset on tehty osana Turun yliopiston Social Media,
Ideologies, and Ethics in the United States –kurssia.
This blog post was produced as part of the course “Social Media, Ideologies, and Ethics in the United States” at the University of Turku.
“I don´t believe it” (BBC News, 2018). This
is how the president of the United States of America, Donald Trump, commented
on the results of a climate change report in 2018. What may sound like a joke
at first is sadly dead serious. One of the most powerful men in the world does
not believe in one of the biggest issues of our time.
The U.S. is already experiencing impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise, ongoing droughts, and an increasing amount of natural disasters. After China, the U.S. has the second highest amount of natural disasters (cf. Statista, 2016). Although President Obama already introduced the “Clean Power Plan,” which is a political strategy to fight the extent of climate change (cf. climatenexus, 2019), current U.S. President Donald Trump denies any proof for climate change developments in the last years.
“Fridays for Future,” climate marches, and
increasing attention towards our climate and environmental protection take this
discussion to a whole new level. People are protesting against the
narrow-minded views of the President, they do not stay at home and wait for our
planet to finally get destroyed. Instead, they fight for their opinions and for
our world.
Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old climate
activist who called the Fridays for Future movement into being (and of whom most
of you should already have heard of), was absurdly mocked by Donald Trump via
Twitter after her passionate speech at the UN Climate Action Summit in
September 2019 (cf. Der Tagesspiegel, 2019). After Thunberg criticized world
leaders for not engaging enough in government actions concerning environmental
protection, the President of the United States decided to react by sneering “She seems like a very happy young
girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see.“
(Twitter, 2019).
After reading this text, one might ask how someone so narrow-minded can still be in one of the highest governmental positions on our planet, and how can we make the U.S. President finally change his mind and accept the consequences of undeniable facts? I think the only way to answer those questions is to show support and fight for our future. Even President Trump needs to keep his electors in mind when making decisions, and if he sees that people are not satisfied with his politics, he must re-think his actions. It seems like in the end, we are responsible for our own future and we have the power to make changes in this world.
This blog post was produced as part of the course “Social Media, Ideologies, and Ethics in the United States” at the University of Turku.
Nowadays, social media are central in everyday life and
widely used in society. I suspect everyone knows what social media are, but I
am going to define them as websites or applications that enable users to create
and share content or to participate in social networking.
Social Media and the Creation of Activist Movements
Social media are platforms for self-expression, and social activists use the internet to put pressure on powerful organizations and societies. I am sure that you have heard about movements such as Me Too, Times Up, Black Lives Matter, and Never Again, but do you know what they have in common? All of them gained influence through social media, particularly on Twitter. Social media allow minorities, who are often underrepresented, to have a voice. In addition to being avenues for expression, social media facilitate access to information and connect activists with each other. This is the case with Black Lives Matter, for example.
Image: Johnny Silvercloud/Wikimedia Commons
Black Lives Matter is a movement that has mobilized to fight violence and systemic racism against African Americans. It started out as just a hashtag (#BlackLivesMatter) that allowed people to express their indignation on social networks. Then they began organizing demonstrations and gathering together to denounce police brutality and racism in the police force. In this case, online activism allows people to organize events such as protest marches. They have their own website, Home – Black Lives Matter, where it is possible to join the movement.
Superficial Engagement in Social Media
Image: Eric Allie/Cagle Cartoons
Nevertheless,
I would like to raise a point that we do not often think about. Using social
media is clearly a way to create activist movements and feel involved in them,
but is it not simply creating an “impression” of activism? Many people only
share a message on an online platform or like a post, and some have the feeling
of “being part of the movement.” This kind of support can be called disengaged
activism. This is the case when people support a cause by taking simple
measures, but are not necessarily engaged, not going to the demonstrations. This
is a point that can be criticized.
The Importance of Social Links in Activism
We often hear about the positive effects of social media on activism. Journalist Malcolm Gladwell thinks that activism on social media is not real activism. According to him, “strong” relationships are necessary for any serious activist project, and social media often rely on “weak” relationships, people you do not know. For him, it is not enough. He defines Twitter as follows: “The platforms of social media are built around weak ties. Twitter is a way of following (or being followed by) people you may never have met.”
His point of view can be criticized. I agree that strong ties are crucial to creating a movement, but we must not forget that all strong links begin with weak links, and social media are a way to build strong social ties and generate shared goals.
