Fake News – a crime against society?

Fake News or misinformation is not new. It has been with us for a very long time. Sharing news and gossip is one of the ways to know what is going on in our environment and how we can avoid threats and gain opportunities. It is innate to our survival.

Notwithstanding its ever-present nature, it is hard to avoid the feeling that we are in a period where we are witnessing a growth in the production, distribution and consumption of Fake News. This is driven by a number of factors, including:

• Social media which creates a global village and removes natural ‘fire breaks’ in the spread of news
• Digital has driven the cost of publication to nil and this reduces the barrier to entry for people to share their mischievous stories
• Some people, particularly, in positions of power are using the influence of misinformation more overtly than ever before and seemingly without any immediate negative consequences for themselves
• Our willingness to ignore obvious inaccuracies if the story happens to fit our individual biases. This is our tribal instinct coming to the fore

Problem?

If there is more Fake News circulating, is that a problem? Yes, for the following reasons:

• Rather than bringing clarity to topics, the truth can be clouded, reducing the education of the populace. Lower levels of education mean people can be taken advantage of more easily and the decision they take are less well informed and ultimately damaging to themselves and others
• It reduces the chances of a neutral debate on the merits of the topic under discussion
• Our tribal leaders should be setting the standards for a healthy society. When they propagate Fake News, we feel a sense of disappointment and injustice, reducing our levels of contentment
• Extremists can have a voice disproportionate to the validity of their argument
• It creates a feeling amongst people that society has biases. An unequal and non-meritocratic environment generates division and frustration leading to increased selfish behaviour

Antidote

Enlightenment Principles

One place to start is the re-statement of the principles of the Enlightenment. This movement which flourished between the 17^th and 19^th centuries and can be credited as a critical contributor to the advanced society that we live in today.

As set out in the book, Enlightenment Now by Stephen Pinker, the movement was based around 1) Reason 2) Science 3) Humanism. These principles drove people towards greater rationality, curiosity and due diligence on the topics of the day. These principles are still with us today, however they require protecting and elevating. We need to actively use them, day in, day out so that they are natural for us. This, in turn, will encourages others to do the same.

Society structures

Over hundreds of years, many countries have created a social structure where power and influence are separated and shared. This has proven valuable so as to avoid too much power in the hands of any one person/organization. For example, the judiciary, military, education, press, police and government are best kept apart. The dividing lines between these spheres of influence reduce the chances of perpetrating Fake News across all of society. We should work hard to maintain these dividing lines.

Organisations

With every challenge in life, opportunity arises. We are seeing new organisations set themselves up with the explicit mandate of fact checking and bringing proven data to the fore. Examples include: www.ourworldindata.org and www.fullfact.org.

We have also seen existing organisations add explicit fact checking to how they conduct themselves and communicate with their consumers. Examples include the BBC, Facebook and Channel 5.

Is this sad that such fact-checking is necessary or a positive, yet unintended consequence? Maybe the perpetrators of Fake News are playing their hand too openly and making more and more people aware of their games.

Either way, organizations that rely upon the society they serve, have a duty to protect it and not exploit it.

Personal actions

Maybe the most powerful of all antidotes is at the individual level. It can be hard to believe that any one person can make a difference, however, if everyone rejects Fake News and calls it out when we see it, together they protect and advance their community. Practical steps which can be taken include:

• Stop defaulting to a partisan pre-determined position on topics and assess them through the lens of the Enlightenment principles
• Do not believe statements just because someone says so. Seek data from multiple sources to verify statements
• Teach children to question authority and follow individuals and organization that consistently prove they can be trusted. In the digital sphere, trust has been elevated to be more valuable than ever
• Promote the use of reason when debating topics and hold back the desire to lead with intuition
• Take a 360 degree view of situations, be willing to accept outcomes which are not fitting with ingoing beliefs and be open with people when positions change

Fake News is not going away. People will continue to be drawn to the power that it offers to progress their selfish agendas. To an extent, this is the price that is paid for free speech. However, Fake News could be considered a ‘crime’ against society. But do not give up. Individuals can make it clear that they are watching. Together, enlightened people can make it harder for the perpetrators of Fake News to get away with it.