The document discusses the phenomenon of fake news, describing it as either stories aimed at generating profit through social media clicks or propaganda intended to influence political discourse. It notes fake news proliferated on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter during the 2016 US election. While platforms have taken steps to curb fake news, it remains a challenge due to factors like users not checking sources and algorithms prioritizing engaging content. Potential solutions proposed include restricting anonymous users, offering alternative social media options, and reforming platforms' business models.

2. What it is

3. What it is
What it isn’t

4. What it is
What it isn’t
How to avoid it

5. A brief history of fake news

10. Fake news for profit
• False or wildly
misleading stories
aimed at going viral

11. Fake news for profit
• False or wildly
misleading stories
aimed at going viral
• Goal is to game Google
and Facebook’s
algorithms for profit

12. Fake news for profit
• False or wildly
misleading stories
aimed at going viral
• Goal is to game Google
and Facebook’s
algorithms for profit
• Examples: Being Liberal,
Right Wing News

13. What can we do about it?
Google has already taken
steps to drop known fake
news content from its Ad
Sense program. Facebook
has dropped accounts and
taken other steps to try to
eliminate it.

14. Fake news as propaganda
• Error-riddled or
deceptive stories with
a political agenda

15. Fake news as propaganda
• Error-riddled or
deceptive stories with
a political agenda
• The goal is to persuade
and affect public
discourse

16. Fake news as propaganda
• Error-riddled or
deceptive stories with
a political agenda
• The goal is to persuade
and affect public
discourse
• Examples: Breitbart,
Alex Jones’ InfoWars,
Occupy Democrats

17. What can we do about it?
“The best test of truth is
the power of the thought
to get itself accepted
in the competition of the
market.”
— Justice Oliver Wendell
Holmes Jr., Abrams v. U.S.
(1919)

18. A complicating factor

19. A complicating factor
• Russian advertisements reached 126 million
users on Facebook during the 2016 campaign

20. A complicating factor
• Russian advertisements reached 126 million
users on Facebook during the 2016 campaign
• 131,000 messages on Twitter

21. A complicating factor
• Russian advertisements reached 126 million
users on Facebook during the 2016 campaign
• 131,000 messages on Twitter
• More than 1,000 videos uploaded to YouTube

22. Another complicating factor

23. Another complicating factor
• Facebook has become the biggest and most
crucial distributor of news

24. Another complicating factor
• Facebook has become the biggest and most
crucial distributor of news
• Presentation makes everything look the same,
and many users don’t notice the source

25. Another complicating factor
• Facebook has become the biggest and most
crucial distributor of news
• Presentation makes everything look the same,
and many users don’t notice the source
• News Feed algorithm encourages
engagement, which often means anger

26. Alex Jones and InfoWars

27. Alex Jones and InfoWars
• Has pushed multiple hoaxes, including the
Newtown conspiracy theory

28. Alex Jones and InfoWars
• Has pushed multiple hoaxes, including the
Newtown conspiracy theory
• Facebook and others have deplatformed him,
but his right to operate a website is protected
by the First Amendment

29. Alex Jones and InfoWars
• Has pushed multiple hoaxes, including the
Newtown conspiracy theory
• Facebook and others have deplatformed him,
but his right to operate a website is protected
by the First Amendment
• Can Jones be silenced? Should he be?

30. Alex Jones and InfoWars
Via SimilarWeb; accessed 10/2/2019

31. Sean Hannity and Seth Rich

32. Older people and fake news
“On average, American Facebook users aged 65
and older posted seven times as many articles
from fake news websites as adults 29 and
younger. . . . And that was true regardless of
ideology, education level or political affiliation:
Older users just tended to share misinformation
more.”
— The New York Times, Jan. 10, 2019

33. Can Facebook be fixed?
Ideas from experts interviewed
by The New York Times:

34. Can Facebook be fixed?
• More strictly enforce rules that require real
names — no exceptions

35. Can Facebook be fixed?
• More strictly enforce rules that require real
names — no exceptions
• Offer a “vintage Facebook” alternative with no
News Feed and no algorithms

36. Can Facebook be fixed?
• More strictly enforce rules that require real
names — no exceptions
• Offer a “vintage Facebook” alternative with no
News Feed and no algorithms
• Similarly, allow users to choose a
chronological News Feed with no algorithms

37. Can Facebook be fixed?
• More strictly enforce rules that require real
names — no exceptions
• Offer a “vintage Facebook” alternative with no
News Feed and no algorithms
• Similarly, allow users to choose a
chronological News Feed with no algorithms
• Reorganize Facebook as a public benefit
corporation to reduce profit pressures

38. What would you do?

39. What would you do?
Imagine your community has been targeted by a
fake-news campaign claiming that an incurable
disease developed by the government as a
biological weapon has escaped into the
environment from a university lab. Bots are
amplifying the message. You work for the public
radio station at the university, which is the
leading news source in your community.

40. What would you do?
• How would you reassure frightened listeners
that they have nothing to worry about?

41. What would you do?
• How would you reassure frightened listeners
that they have nothing to worry about?
• How would you cover the story to get the
truth out without amplifying the falsehoods?

42. What would you do?
• How would you reassure frightened listeners
that they have nothing to worry about?
• How would you cover the story to get the
truth out without amplifying the falsehoods?
• What steps would you take to educate the
community about how to avoid fake news?

43. What would you do?
• How would you reassure frightened listeners
that they have nothing to worry about?
• How would you cover the story to get the
truth out without amplifying the falsehoods?
• What steps would you take to educate the
community about how to avoid fake news?
• How could you use this as an opportunity to
bring people with disparate views together?