Fake News and Cyber Propaganda

 

Fake News and Cyber Propaganda: The Use and Abuse of Social Media

                                          

When the term “fake news” comes up, people usually think of social media posts with rather fantastic, implausible stories. While posts shared on social media is its most visible aspect, there is so much more to fake news than exaggerated article titles on social media feeds.

Fake News and Cyber Propaganda

Fake news may seem new, but the platform used is the only new thing about it. Propaganda has been around for centuries, and the internet is only the latest means of communication to be abused to spread lies and misinformation.

Fake News Triangle

The fire triangle represents the three elements a fire needs to burn: oxygen, heat, and a fuel. Similarly, fake news requires three different items to succeed. These collectively represent the Fake News Triangle: without any one of these factors, it is unable to spread and reach its target audience.

The first requirement: tools and services for manipulating and spreading the message across relevant social media networks, many of which are sold in various online communities from across the globe. A wide variety of tools and services are available; some are relatively simple (paid likes/followers, etc.), while some are more unusual—some services promise to stuff online polls, while some force site owners to take down stories. In any case, the tools and services for social media promotion are readily available, both inside and outside the underground scene.

Countermeasures

Governments, companies, and users are all waking up to how serious public opinion manipulation—as manifested in “fake news”—can be.

Governments are starting to recognize that fake news is something that must be actively fought. Various government agencies are now setting up services to debunk stories that they consider to be false. They are also considering imposing regulations and punishing sites that do publish misinformation.

The targets of these new regulations would include social networking services. This would make fake news very bad for business indeed, and so they’re taking steps to fight it. The steps being taken include the suspension of bot/suspicious accounts, adding features to allow users to report fake news, and hiring more personnel to help deal with these reports.