by Julie Posetti and Alice Matthews

“ In this environment, where trust becomes polarised around what “news” aligns with their views, many news consumers feel entitled to choose or create their own ‘facts’. Combined, these developments present an unprecedented threat level that can drown out journalism, as well as contaminate it with the implication that there is nothing to distinguish it from false and fraudulent information more broadly. ”

“ As one-to-many communications developed in the 20th century, especially with the advent of radio and television, satirical news evolved, sometimes being mistaken as the real thing in news consumers’ minds. Finally, as this guide illustrates, the arrival of the internet in the late 20th century, followed by social media in the 21st century, dramatically multiplied the risks of misinformation, disinformation, propaganda and hoaxes. ”

“ Parliamentary inquiries launched into ‘fake news’ in the UK, The Philippines and Australia In the UK, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee launched an inquiry into ‘fake news’, asking, “What is fake news? Where does biased but legitimate commentary shade into propaganda and lies?” [78] Next, Australia announced the establishment of a Select Committee on the Future of Public Interest Journalism to examine ‘fake news’, propaganda and public disinformation. ”

“ While news media have historically been caught up in disinformation and misinformation, including through news hoaxes, this is not regarded as legitimate in the dominant contemporary paradigm across different news media. This explains in part why contemporary manifestations of disinformation and misinformation are mainly evident in social media systems – with grave risks to authentic journalism and to open societies more broadly. ”

“ Growing concerns about ‘fake news’ and propaganda, the inappropriate leaking of individual consumers’ data, and failure to curb online bullying and offensive content led Australia’s national journalists’ union - the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) - to call on “digital giants” like Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to be “regulated similarly to broadcasters and forced to contribute a percentage of their revenue towards public interest journalism.” ”

“ In May, Kenya’s president signed into law the Computer and Cybercrimes Bill which states that if a person “intentionally publishes false, misleading or fictitious data or misinforms with intent that the data shall be considered or acted upon as authentic,” they can face a penalty of up to almost US$ 50 000 or two years in jail. [113]
Singapore issued a Green Paper on the challenges and implications of deliberate online falsehoods in January 2018, and the parliament held public hearings on the topic in March. The Philippines had three Bills against ‘fake news’ pending before its legislature. ”

“ War of the Worlds radio drama The War of the Worlds radio drama in the USA fooled many unwitting listeners into believing that Earth was being attacked, foreshadowing 21st-century responses to news satire. “No one involved with War of the Worlds expected to deceive any listeners, because they all found the story too silly and improbable to ever be taken seriously.” [16]
1939-1945 – World War II Edward Herzstein, in his book The War that Hitler Won (1978) , described the Nazi propaganda campaign as “the most infamous propaganda campaign in history.” ”

“ Australia’s Immigration Minister sparks alt-right propaganda-linked racism row with South Africa & declares criticism ‘fake news’ Australia’s Border Protection and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton caused a diplomatic row when he responded to problematic journalism inspired by far-right propaganda about land redistribution plans in South Africa, by promising to consider creating a special visa category to fast-track asylum seeker claims from white (only) South African farmers [104] . ”

“ The New York Times issues apology over reporting of weapons of mass destruction “Editors at several levels who should have been challenging reporters and pressing for more skepticism were perhaps too intent on rushing scoops into the paper. Accounts of Iraqi defectors were not always weighed against their strong desire to have Saddam Hussein ousted.” This was the reflective critique of The New York Times’ editorial board about the paper’s coverage of ‘weapons of mass destruction’. “We consider the story of Iraq’s weapons, and of the pattern of misinformation, to be unfinished business. ”

“ This learning module designed to be used by journalists, journalism trainers and educators (along with their students) provides historical context for the analysis of the 21st century ‘fake news’ crisis. Relevant case studies and a timeline are designed to better inform users about the causes and consequences of ‘information disorder’– from harassment of journalists by ‘troll armies’ to the manipulation of elections and diplomatic crises. ”

“ Appreciate the historical context, causes and consequences of propaganda and news hoaxes Be able to appreciate the role and value of news satire in critiquing power-wielders, while also understanding the confusion it can cause within audiences Understand the new features of ‘fake news’ architecture (such as automated ‘bots’ and social media virality) , in contrast with historical manifestations. Be able to report on the ‘fake news’ crisis with more nuance Module Format This module is designed to be delivered face-to-face or online. ”

“ European Union report on ‘fake news’ In late 2017, the European Union created a high level expert group on ‘fake news’ and online disinformation which reported in early 2018 with various solutions recommended, although it did not call for state regulation. [102] The report recommended more transparency of online news and its circulation; increased media and information literacy to counter disinformation; tools for empowering users and journalists to tackle disinformation and foster a positive engagement with fast-evolving information technologies ”

“ Fake philanthropist causes diplomatic issue between Brazil and Venezuela A reportedly mentally ill Brazilian man based in Los Angeles used social media to trick reputable media organisations, the Brazilian Bar Association, the governments of Venezuela and Brazil, a host of diplomats, far-right groups, and several human rights organisations into believing that he was a philanthropist running an NGO raising funds to care for malnourished Venezuelan children. ”

“ Troll farms and ‘fake news’-for-profit As the US election approached in 2016, international media reports revealed a profitable troll farm run by teenagers in the small town of Veles in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. ”

“ Hyperpartisan ‘news’ sites that deal in misinformation for profit are also prevalent in the USA. In 2017, a BuzzFeed investigation revealed that confected outrage feeding massive Facebook engagement was the basis of the business model of one Florida-based company that produced false and misleading content targeting both liberals and conservatives, across a number of websites. ”

“ Where disinformation campaigns have been exposed, the result has been major damage to the actors involved – both the implementing agencies and their political clients (see the cases of Bell-Pottinger and Cambridge Analytica below) .
Propaganda, hoaxes and satire as historical features of the communications ecology A selected timeline of ‘Information Disorder’ through the ages [8] Circa 44 BC – Mark Antony smear campaign Octavian’s propaganda campaign against Antony deployed Twitter-worthy slogans etched onto coins to smear Antony’s reputation. ”

“ Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Court of Justice finds against ‘false news’ laws in Gambia In February 2018, in an historic ruling by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Court of Justice, Gambia’s laws on sedition, false news and criminal defamation were found to violate the right to freedom of expression [103] . ”

“ This content included disinformation material created to mimic legitimate news content, with the badges of media houses like BBC, CNN and NTV Kenya being misused to attach credibility to false news. [83] Misinformation and propaganda are not new in Kenya, however: “This election season has seen these migrate to popular social media platforms, to either play at existing beliefs, fears and biases, or to sway perceptions and even votes.” ”

“ Pakistan’s Defence Minister issues nuclear retaliation warning in response to a ‘fake news’ story After reading a story on a false news site reporting that Israel had threatened Pakistan with nuclear weapons, Pakistan’s Defence Minister tweeted: “Israeli def min threatens nuclear retaliation presuming pak role in Syria against Daesh. Israel forgets Pakistan is a Nuclear state too.” ”

“ South Africa’s propaganda war South Africa’s apartheid government sponsored a sophisticated, secret, global propaganda and lobbying campaign to win support for, and counter opposition against, its apartheid policies. ”

“ Google, Facebook and Twitter subsequently stated that Russian accounts had been identified in connection with political content distributed during the US election. [75]
2017 – Venezuela’s President describes international media as ‘fake news’ In July 2017, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that media “spread lots of false versions, lots of lies. This is what we call fake news today, isn’t it? The era of post-truth.” ”

“ The content included viral fake stories about the Pope endorsing candidate Donald Trump and the ‘imminent indictment’ of Democratic Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. The operators of the fake news sites profited significantly from automated advertising engines (e.g. Google AdSense) tracking their sensationally false content. In the final weeks of the election campaign President Obama talked at length about the “digital gold rush” experienced by Veles’ fake news’ farm. ”

“ News industry transformation: digital technology, social platforms and the spread of misinformation in Ireton, C & Posetti, J (Eds) Journalism, ‘Fake News’ and Disinformation (UNESCO) Forthcoming↑ Woolf, N., “As fake news takes over Facebook feeds, many are taking satire as fact”, The Guardian, guardian.com/media/2016/nov/17/facebook-fake-news-satire>. Retrieved on 01/04/18 ↑ See Posetti, J. (2018) . Combating Online abuse: When journalists and their sources are targeted In Ireton, C & Posetti, J (Eds) Journalism, ‘Fake News’ and Disinformation (UNESCO) . ”

“ Illicit Arms Kept Till Eve of War, An Iraqi Scientist Is Said to Assert”, The New York Times, . ”

“ Power, S. (2017) . Samantha Power: Why Foreign Propaganda Is More Dangerous Now, The New York Times. Accessed 29/03/18: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/19/opinion/samantha-power-propaganda-fake-news.html
Rodny-Gumede, Y. (2017) . Fake news: the internet has turned an age-old problem into a new threat, The Conversation. Accessed 29/03/18 https://theconversation.com/fake-news-the-internet-has-turned-an-age-old-problem-into-a-new-threat-7211118
Soll, J. (2016) . The Long and Brutal History of Fake News, Politico Magazine. ”

“ Retrieved on June 15, 2018 ↑ Shuster, S. (2017) , “Russia Has Launched a Fake News War on Europe. Now Germany Is Fighting Back”, TIME, 1 2 Salisbury, P. (2017-10-20) , “The fake news hack that nearly started a war this summer was designed for one man: Donald Trump”, Quartz, ↑ Boburg, S. ”

“ Retrieved on 29/03/18 ↑ "Syria: 13,000 secretly hanged in Saydnaya military prison - shocking new report". amnesty.org.uk. Amnesty International. 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2018-03-29. 1 2 Smith-Spark, L. (2017) . "Assad Claims Syria Chemical Attach Was Fabrication, in Face of Evidence". CNN.COM. CNN. ↑ “How we created a virtual crime scene to investigate Syria’s chemical attack”, The New York Times, 24/06/2018, ↑ "The Perils of Speed Before Accuracy". Media Watch. ”