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Americans Don't Think the Platforms Are Doing Enough To Fight Fake News (poynter.org)
Journalists regularly weigh in on what platforms like Facebook and Google are and aren't doing to stop the spread of viral misinformation. But what do Americans at large think? From a report: Nothing good, according to a new survey published by Gallup and the Knight Foundation on Wednesday. The report, based on web surveys from a random sample of 1,203 U.S. adults, found that 85 percent of Americans don't think the platforms are doing enough to stop the spread of fake news. Additionally, 88 percent want tech companies to be transparent about how they surface content, while 79 percent think those companies should be regulated like other media organizations -- a common trope among journalists. That's despite the fact that the majority of people surveyed (54 percent) said social media platforms help keep them informed and that they're concerned about those companies making editorial judgments.
85% of all Oswalds think that Americans aren't doing enough to stop the spread of Facebook.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
I think we haven't done enough to separate these two concepts. We're confusing manipulative lies with opinions incompatible with the worldview of a segment of the population, and it will destroy us.
Why are CNN still allowed on online platforms?
propaganda
noun propaganda \ prä-p-gan-d , pr- \
1) : the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person
2) : ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; also : a public action having such an effect
“That the existential realm of man could be taken over by pseudorealities whose fictitious nature threatens to become indiscernible is truly a depressing thought. And yet, the Platonic nightmare, I hold, possesses an alarming contemporary relevance. For the general public is being reduced to a state where people are not only unable to find out about the truth but also become unable even to search for the truth because they are satisfied with deception and trickery that have determined their convictions, satisfied with a fictitious reality created by design through the abuse of language.”
--Josef Pieper
"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
Americans Don't Think the Platforms Are Doing Enough To Remove Worldviews Contrary To Their Own
would work. As would:
Americans Are Over The Whole Bill Of Rights Thing, Want To Feel Warm, Fuzzy, And Safe.
Check your premises.
You can't really win when 50% of the population considers one news fake, and the other 50% considers the opposite news to be fake...
Maybe just let people read different news sources and decide.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
You only see fake news because they know you'll click on it.
... who happen to have voted for the losing candidate 2 years ago, who would most likely lose again if the elections were repeated today Fixed for you.
Stop crying that some paternalistic authority isn't regulating free speech enough, and take responsibility for choosing your own sources of information and becoming educated on whatever issues you care about.
Is the average person really that stupid that they passively consume a Facebook feed and think that's a substitute for understanding what's going on in the world? If so, maybe this whole "voting" thing needs to be phased out.
Additionally, 88 percent want tech companies to be transparent about how they surface content,
and the "Platforms" only care about the surface, which they control. Lovely.
So the people with a vested interest in propping up traditional media and censorship miraculously discover in a poll that... Americans want more censorship!
It's like Stalin proclaiming that Russians want more communism!
Or like Brawndo proclaiming that Brawndo is what people crave!
Fight Fake news get rid of FOX NEWS. https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/08/13/nyc-mayor-de-blasio-if-fox-news-didnt-exist-wed-have-less-racial-hatred-and-no-president-trump
This is where capitalism fails. Sensationalism makes more money than real news, just as a fast food hamburger makes more money than a nutritious salad. Until capitalism is brought to bear on the things humans actually need rather than the things they want, nothing will change.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
I don't think you should get news from platforms.
The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
" the fact that the majority of people surveyed (54 percent) said social media platforms help keep them informed"
Terrifying. What do the ADULTS surveyed say? Surely there people are not of voting age...please?
Howabout teaching critical thinking skills at every grade level. A large chunk of this generation may already be too far gone, but that doesn't mean we can't begin fixing the problem with the next one. Anyone with even a modest ability to critically think when confronted with hyperbole on social media sites can quickly discern real from fake news, or at least realize the need to use Google or other search engines (such as duckduckgo.com) to check the veracity of any "news" report or bombastic claim.
Platforms that offer free service don't do enough to vet news? Well, you get what you pay for - a bunch of clickbait of dubious authenticity.
The problem is that the definition of "fake news" seems to have changed for incorrect facts or biased viewpoints to "anything that contradicts my beliefs or I simply don't like"
do Americans think the platforms are not doing enough to fight fake news?
How many of that 85% are sharing every shock value story across their own Facebook feed? Fake news is pretty easily stopped simply by not turning into a viral "please click like and share" campaign. And we can't blame all Trump supporters either. Those that hate him turn anything that remotely looks like a juicy rumor mill story against him into the latest facebook viral story.
Sent from my TARDIS
The only Fake News in this area is profits from your Tesla shorting.
... served up inside a bubble is a goddam mistake.
The bubbles are out to make money, and they aren't concerned with diligence as much as money.
Right now, some of my extended family are shitting their britches because their bubbles have removed Alex Jones.
Not by way of support or that ass, but by way of providing information, I pointed out that jerk is available all over the fucking place.
The hard part is to exit the confines of the bubble long enough to read.
However, that's too much trouble for them.
An easier, more satisfying approach is to stay in the bubble and bitch like hell.
Batshit crazy people.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
This isn't a news story from a paper a reporter, it's from "Daniel Funke covers fact-checking, online misinformation and fake news for the International Fact-Checking Network at The Poynter Institute.", a person with a biased reason to spin it to justify himself - probably because he censors news. No disclosure of that right at the top ids intentional deception.
A recent example of fake news is the election site hack that was widely reported.
Most news sites reported that some 11y/o hacked a replica election site and changed a vote count to 12B (he held down the zero key! OMG!!)
I searched around a bit and did eventually run across an NPR article on the topic and they mentioned more detail about how the kids were pre-trained about SQL-injection
I don't recall if they mentioned that the databases and DB-configuration was replicated from an actual election related website, but any site owner can successfully coach people how to do SQL-injection on a pen-test practice site.
If the practice site owners did replicate a bad DB design from an actual election site, then I am impressed that they creatively got the word out without getting squashed for being a whistle-blower.
If the practice site owners were just demoing SQL-injection, it's good that new people got to learn about that, but the headlines got a little crazy.
People are developing safe zones with news, tuning in to sources who only give them a preferred biased viewpoint. This happens for liberals and conservatives. Its not healthy and creates divisions and not compromises and its why government is so gridlocked. We do not elect people without agenda's and are willing to negotiate policies and laws. We now have a mentality on both sides that I am right and you are wrong.
Where 1200 == Americans at large. Great random sample size there out of 300000000.
They banned Alex Jones but not the Huffingglue post, The Not News Network, etc. Try THAT and confidence will go back up.
there's plenty of actual fake news going around. Google "QAnon". There's also a ton of misinformation around Climate Change. And then there's John Oliver's video on Astroturfing last week.
There's literally billions being spent to spread what can only be called lies. I'm less worried about folks confusing opinions with facts and more worried about them confusing outright lies for something true. That's what's going to destroy us.
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You know.. if I see something on a legitimate news site that sounds outrageous or out of step with reality in some way? I look elsewhere to see if it's being reported accurately (Snopes is good for this). Most people? Not so much, apparently. Stop using Zuckerbook and other so-called 'social media' as a news source, for starters! Then apply this Magical Thing called 'critical thinking', and (shocker!) common sense. There, was that so hard?
Regulate media organizations?! What the fuck country do you think you're in?
Dude, if you think media is (or should be) regulated, America is not the right country for you. And this isn't a modern phenomenon; America hasn't been the right country for you ever since we ratified the Bill of Fucking Rights, motherfucker.
If the above stat is true, I think 79% of people should go back to England where these subversive red-coat-licking limeys came from.
Why do I feel so strongly about that? Because it means that at least 79% of people WOULD VOTE AGAINST RATIFYING THE BILL OF RIGHTS. When you motherfuckers are complaining that you're not allowed to know anything (i.e. all news is bullshit government press releases instead of just some of it) or when you don't like quartering soldiers in your home or you think you should have the right to own a knife or have a trial when accused of a crime, don't come crying to me, because I'd vote for your rights, instead of against them like you, motherfucker. Hell yes, I'm pissed.
ummm.. Facebook and Google are part of the problem!
...With yawns and malaise.
That's the problem.
The ultimate in fake news that just got caught misreporting news again, like the very other day almost..
A lot of us will be starting to Block all S&P 500 corporations on Twitter starting on Friday.
No, a one week suspension is just Alex Jones going on an already planned vacation, as any decent intelligence operative could tell you.
Permanent or we cut your funding.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
"But what do Americans at large think?"
would be better asked as
"But do Americans at large think?"
The problem is people accepting whatever is spoon fed to them by their media outlet of choice.
(... and endless butt-burt)
Americans Really Really Want Platforms To Do All Their Thinking For Them
"Like, why do I have to think for myself like some chump?" - said Joe Blow from White Trash, Florida
If people are dumb enough to rely on social media for *anything* with any real importance, they are pretty much begging for it. You know, it is entirely possible to live a happy and successful life without any social media whatsoever. Put down the kool-aid, you are not famous, and no, nobody really cares about your shares, least of all the wheels of society.
The thing is, that's just debate and happens all the time.
I don't see debate happening hardly at all any more. All I see are people are shouting past each other, or someone talking and someone else refusing to listen. Actual debate seems to be dead, there is no room for it anymore amidst the anger,
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
For platforms being platforms and interfering with their users as little as possible.
With the advent of social media we have brazen attempts to manipulate the populous vs the news media's covert attempts to do the
same. The only difference between the to is whether it is overt or covert.
If you want to get the full story and not one side of it, I'm convinced this is the only way.
I know. I am such a SHORT. I guess the SEC must be a short too. That can be the only explanation!
I think the issue here is just that there's a general disagreement about what "fake news" is. I'm willing to bet that a significant number of people answering that survey think the platforms aren't doing enough to block fake news put out by the Washington Post, Huffington Post, New York Times, and CNN in particular.
I pasted a link to CNN article and FB didn't delete it. What gives?!
What's wrong with the way it's always been? Let all information out there through, don't filter anything. If source is caught lying, people don't go to it anymore. If source proves reliable, more people pay attention to it.
THAT many people want some kind of regulation/agency to tell them what's true and what's not true, what to believe and what not to believe instead of making up their own minds...? Sounds more like 79-88% of Americans are morons.
They have been caught hundreds of times this month alone pushing false stories.
Americans don't want to think for themselves
CNN is Fake through and through. That's a fact. That's the truth.
"Americans Don't Think the Platforms Are Doing Enough To Fight Fake News "
So, is the fake news problem only in America, or are Americans just that fucking stupid and gullible that they need action be taken to protect themselves from themselves?
Asking on behalf of Common F. Sense...
We need to stop with this "we don't want companies censoring" bullshit. Taking down fake news is not an editorial choice, it's taking out the trash. It's *everyone's* responsibility to put a stop to Alex Jones and foreign hostile powers ability to piss all over our home.
You really expect me to believe that YouTube hasn't demonetized them yet? Oh, sure, it's a LARP but the idea they're getting rich off of this is without evidence. Just like so much of the "news" these days.
If only we had some catchy name for sites that report on ridiculous, evidence-free, rumors like the allegations of prostitutes peeing on Obama's bed in Russia... Yes, it's here in my verified dossier that says that water is wet and that you wet the bed until 6th grade. We know it's all true because water is wet, as any idiot can plainly see.
Why is this crap here??
regardless it's here, and well i guess lets deal with it..
Moving forward, Florida is a dumping ground. Any one whom has done business with entities out there may attest to the same thing..
Worthless..
Who cares, Florida will be underwater in a couple of years any way, let that red tide eat the land.. :)
"Americans Don't Think the Platforms Are Doing Enough To Fight Fake News"
Yes but shutting down CNN is easier said than done.
They would have to ban ALL political comments, or other offerings.
I have yet to meet anyone in real life who gives a shit about so-called "Fake News". It's a solution in search of a problem.
Even if you disagree with him or think he's a loon, plenty of stuff is being made up to get him deplatformed. Free speech unless the snowflakes disagree with you this day in time, it seems. 'murica.
If you're trying to fill your time slots with 24 hours worth of news it's inevitable that you'll quit telling the news and start selling people newstainment. That's exactly what we've come to now. A cycle of 24 hours that's run by journalists who run things like Journolist and editors for major newspapers like NYT who hire Harvard graduate Asians who believe in post modernism's oppressor vs oppressed crap.
"Americans" aren't saying shit. "Some" People, with an an to grind and business (news agencies, I am looking at you) to protect are hell bent on discrediting everyone else and social media.
The fake news has been around since there was "news" and "journalists". Except, there were only few media outlets who could all agree (or atleast majority) and put out what they want People to hear and manipulate them.
With technology advancements and social media, traditional news and manipulation have become in effective. There are more platforms People can reach out to, share ideas. And its becoming huge problem for traditional politicians and news agencies that belong to them, to contain the narrative.
Hence the "war on fake news", funded and perpetrated by the biggest peddlers of fake news.
Media journalists are standing on thin ice. From Fox and Brietbart to CNN and MSNBC political agendas shine through. Journalists are supposed to be objective reporters of fact. Analysis, "our say," and judgmental words are not objective statements of fact. At least social media is a level playing field. Of course most of it is links to media outlets (bad) and lolcats (stupid).
Bill Gates is a communist -- he's just more equal than the rest of us.
If you get it from the likes of ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, MSNBC, CNN, FOX on the TV side, and NY Times, Washington Post, Washington Times etc. It's all propaganda, depending on your political views.
"...Facebook and Google are and aren't doing to stop the spread of viral misinformation."
They're not the ones sharing the stories and making them viral. The idiots complaining about the problem are the ones creating it.
That poisons the conversation. I know he is a blathering idiot - but there are those that will accept that he is correct.
Kill the monster to save Russia and the world!
Sounds like bullshit to me.
If you both think the trivially modified in flight news you receive via video and internet can be trusted more than anecdote and believe any platform should be deciding what is fake and real for you then you already have demonstrated you lack the required critical thinking skills to participate in politics. Nothing against you but you are probably calling healthy rational skepticism paranoia by this point and believing every plea to authority that falls in line with your confirmation bias.
If this represents you, please stop voting or spreading your political ideas. DON'T participate. I don't care what your actually political views are or if there are millions of you ready to raise me up as king and get my way on all my views. If your views aren't based on sound reason and logic it no longer matters what they are.
Do you have any proof that the media is purposely withholding stories?
That would require a perfect conspiracy of everyone involved in the news cycle at ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, USA Today, New York Times, MSNBC, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, BBC, Al Jazeera, etc.
Now imagine what it would take to get everyone involved to shut up without scooping each other. News outlets get paid through advertising. If some amazing event occurs, the first outlet to report it gets the most eyes and the most advertising revenue. That is how it works. Your conspiracy theory runs counter to this.
I have a rule of thumb I try to keep in mind. If your explanation requires a conspiracy to work, your explanation is almost certainly wrong. People talk.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
it confirms what seems like most North Americans (yes, we Canadians too) want is to have someone else fix our problems. In this case, many seem to be too lazy to try and reason whether the given news is fake or not, they would rather have some program/person/company tell them it is.
IMHO, finding a solution to our laziness will go a long way to solving this problem, among others.
Never bathe in hot oil and Bisquick.
Americans are upset that they have the responsibility of installing bullshit filters in their own minds. People surveyed were angry that Big Brother doesn't seem capable of creating bespoke filters for every user that's sufficiently biased to the user's world view.
85 percent of Americans need to think more. Or some. Or any.
But it's easier to let someone else do it for you. Kinda like outsourcing your critical data into the cloud, where it's all backed up and secure (you hope) and available for anyone to use. (you hope NOT.)
If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
Those whining about platforms removing content that a particular user doesn't agree with... Get off your lazy, welfare using, fat ass and go look for the person who posted the comment, and when you find them, talk to them, tell them how your opinion is superior to theirs.
However, you may not want to do that, because, they may be bigger than you, with an even fatter ass, that might just squash you like a bug.
Best advice I can offer... Ignore it and them.
You don't like what they say? Fuck off, you have no right not to be offended. Any of us has the right to say anything that you might find offensive, and our standing army is there to make sure we retain that right.
AFAIK, these are the same people who insisted that there was a child pornography ring being run out of the basement of a pizza joint. Also the same people who insisted that the election was going to be "stolen" from the Big Giant Orange Head. Also the same people who insisted that "millions" of fraudulent votes were cast. Also the same people who fraudulently claim that "Christians are under attack worldwide."
There is a theme here of self-pity, moral anxiety, a gigantic chip on their shoulder, and lashing out at foreigners and non-conformity.
QAnon isn't a goof. It is part of the core values and headspace of what passes for the political Right nowadays. "Those are very fine people, the Best People."
We have this really old fashioned concept called journalistic standards. I know its somewhat derided in our Web 8.0 culture, but the concept still has a ton of merit. If a media organization is journalistic, it adheres to certain standards regarding factuality, impartiality and ethics. A journalistic organization can have an agenda, but it has to be open and explicit about it. On the other hand, for a media organization that isn't journalistic, it's pretty much open season in terms of what they say or who they take money from in exchange for saying something. For these organizations, honesty is optional.
Journalistic organizations are not perfect, but they are generally worthy of being trusted. All the others are, quite simply, unreliable sources of information.
Examples of journalistic organizations: most of the printed newspapers in major cities (the main ones, not the rags), US News and World Report, The Economist (has an agenda but is honest about it), NPR. There are lots of others. These are good sources of news that are generally trustworthy. Notice that most of these info sources require a subscription. That's because real journalism requires real people, doing real work, making real salaries, in order to determine what's factual and what isn't. It takes time and effort. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer people are getting their info from these sources because they actually cost money. NPR is free only because of the federal funding model they follow.
Examples of media organizations that are NOT journalistic: Facebook, Facechat, Twitter, Instragram, 4chan, Reddit, Slashdot. Basically all the new-gen online platforms. NBC and FOX pretend to be journalistic organizations, but they are dishonest about their agendas, which disqualifies them. Same goes for anything run by the Murdoch family. CNN gets close but doesn't quite make it either. These are NOT places to get news. They are fine for entertainment, biased commentary, and an occasional interesting discussion. But not for reliable info. Any news from these places needs to be treated with a "trust but verify, or just don't trust" mentality. Anyone who uses these as their main source of news is making a big mistake.
When the MSM themselves are almost just as bad at fake news level and just as guilty of propaganda? Also can American think for themselves instead of have others dictate their worldview?
Sorry brotha, not everything you learned in homeschool is true. Still hope for you though, but it's going to take a lot of deprogramming.
Can we cut this Orwellian shit out, please? It fools no one but the fools.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
News is impartial factual reporting with sceptical questioning of opposing advocates. Opinion pieces are not news.
if the movement wasn't getting national coverage. It's one thing to see stories on Fox News (which, let's not mince words here, is more or less the Republican Party's propaganda arm). But I've seen bloody CNN talking about it.
Now true, it's not like they could spend that time covering something like the 45,000 folks who die of preventable diseases every year or the war in Yemen being fought with our weapons or the last round of Wallstreet deregulation that just happened and is going to cause a market crash in about 6 years....
My point, in case it wasn't obvious, is that these nut job conspiracy theories are leaping off 4 chan and it's happening for a reason. Somebody with a lot of pull would much rather we pay attention to that then to our ever worsening economic situation... We can debate who that is, but that's secondary to the simple fact that we're being distracted from more important matters.
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"Americans prefer that someone else do their thinking for them, and are angry that it's not already doing it."
-Styopa
Education dumbs them down so much...
YouTube is a good example: YouTube is rife with misleading titles and thumbnails in order to get people to click on a video. There's so many of them that you can't possibly watch them all. The thumbnails or titles suggest something just on the fringe of belief in order to make me curious, and I've had to retrain myself to ignore it. Frankly, YouTube has become a cesspool of click-bait, premature conclusions, people speaking about science that they don't understand, and lots of hearsay with a spin to draw in hopeful viewers.
Are these same people complaining that their local newsstand isn't spending enough time reading all the newspapers and magazines they sell in order to tear out the "questionable" articles? Likewise, the post office isn't responsible even if illegal drugs or other goods are mailed using their service.
I don't understand why people think the distribution network is responsible in any way for the content that is pushed through their network. If anything, the social networks are a victim of people abusing their system.
Trump is an asshole. The media et al are self-destructing. Itâ(TM)s all about the shouting.
To censor content risks losing safe harbor protections. Warning labels do not, so long as they can be contested & appealed, and maybe checked/tested (via algorithm) before publishing content. Moreover, categorically labeling an entire site/source as unreliable is more problematic then labeling a single item that site/source produces/publishes as being suspect.
Either way, this opens a Pandora's box of civil liability.
For instance: 1) How can one algorithmically check factual content for accuracy vs. editorial opinion? 2) How can one distinguish the spreading of a rumor or propaganda from mere reporting on the prevalence of a rumor or propaganda? 3) Who is the authorized arbiter of truth? 4) What if an unsubstantiated rumor is later proved to be true? 5) What if a generally accepted rumor is later proved to be false? Etc.
Error: NSE - No Signature Error
If you are getting your news from Facebook. You ARE doing it wrong. eom.
are apparently not smart enough to ignore said platforms.
I don't understand what people would think would happen after the 2015 NDAA passed, since it legalized propagandizing US citizens. Media companies don't have to hide it anymore and they can't be held culpable.
In order to effectively combat fake news and propaganda, we need to seperate ourselves from our media overlords in Tel-Aviv.
Platforms cannot be the arbiter of truth. Why? Because they're as biased and subject to mistakes as the content creators they host. The very same people crying for moderation now will be crying foul when it turns against them.
Look up HR4310 "The 2013 national defense authorization act" under Obama that for the first time since the Smith-Mundt Act it was passed in 1948 allows the press to lie to the US public and create propaganda within our own nation.
More fake news...