Slides from the talk I gave at the Bath Digital Festival. The talk covered the rise of fake news and misinformation, how technology companies such as Facebook and Google provide the infrastructure and incentives (including the science of attention) for its creation and the role human nature plays in helping fake news spread. The thrust of the talk is this: we have easier access to information than ever before but are we becoming more ignorant as a result?

2. What percentage of Google search traffic goes to the first page of search
results?
50%, 75%, 90%
Within how many seconds do users make a judgement about a web page?
10 seconds, 20s, 30s
What percentage of people will share links without reading beyond the
headline?
20%, 40%, 60%
A quick quiz

4. “Pundits and MPs kept saying ‘why isn’t Leave arguing about the
economy and living standards’. They did not realise that for millions of
people, £350m/NHS was about the economy and living standards –
that’s why it was so effective. It was clearly the most effective argument
not only with the crucial swing fifth but with almost every demographic.
Even with UKIP voters it was level-pegging with immigration. Would we
have won without immigration? No.
Would we have won without £350m/NHS? All our research and the
close result strongly suggests No. Would we have won by spending our
time talking about trade and the Single Market? No way.”
Vote Leave director, Dominic Cummings

5. A bit about me
Run content and communications agency
Publish LearnPatch
Publish From Scratch Podcast

6. From fact to opinion to . . . ?
Jeremy Corbyn tells Theresa May and EU leaders to stop posturing
The Guardian
Ditch neoliberalism to win again, Jeremy Corbyn tells Europe’s
centre-left parties
The Independent
'COMRADES!' Corbyn calls on Europe's centre-left to quit neoliberalism
in socialist speech
Daily Express

7. Is greater access to knowledge making
us more ignorant?
Does this devalue knowledge?
And is this restricting our understanding
of the world and each other?

8. We are going to cover . . .
The scale of the misinformation problem
Why we should care
What we can do about it

9. There are lies and there is fakery
“Someone who lies and someone who tells the truth are playing on
opposite sides, so to speak, in the same game. Each responds to the facts as
he understands them, although the response of the one is guided by the
authority of the truth, while the response of the other defies that authority,
and refuses to meet its demands.
“The bullshitter ignores these demands altogether. He does not reject the
authority of the truth, as the liar does, and oppose himself to it. He pays no
attention to it at all. By virtue of this, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth
than lies are.”
Harry Frankfurt, On Bullshit

10. So what are we talking about?
Lies
Untruths
Hoaxes
Bullshit
Fake news
Post-truth
Misinformation

11. Big problem?
6 Russia-linked Facebook pages: posts shared 340 million times
Fake news headlines about the US election fooled American adults about
75% of the time.

12. Have we created a monster?
Distribution is free
Audiences are vast
No need to worry about the law - there’s too much fakery to police
There’s money to be made
Facebook and Google predicted to make $106 billion from advertising in 2017,
almost half of world's digital ad spend
Justin Coler earns $30,000/month running fake news sites

13. Are we in their hands?

14. Why we should care
Credit: Elisa Riva

15. Because we are wowed by tech
How has tech made your life
better?
Question

16. Because we are lazy

17. Because we trust official
sources less
“I think people in this
country have had enough
of experts.”
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

18. Because we trust official
sources less
6 in 10 people believe search engines over
human editors
53% do not listen to people or organisations with
whom they often disagree
Peers are now as credible as experts
Edelman Trust Barometer 2017

19. Because we are swayed by others

20. What can you do about it?
Stop and
think before
you share
Seek out a
different
perspective
Find the
source of
quoted data
Be a healthy
sceptic
Lead by
example

21. What can you do about it?
Seek out the
alternative view

22. Tools

23. More from me
martin@itsdevelopmental.com
@martincouzins