The pedlars of fake news are corroding democracy
Summary
This article discusses how most adults get their news from Facebook and that there should be laws to hold the social networks to account. The article begins by saying that the most important question about 2016 is not why the Brexit result and Trump happened but instead if historians will regard both as incidental; whether these events will go down as the year democracy revealed itself unworkable in the age of the internet - in which reality finally gave way to "alt - reality". The article goes on to say that these results of US election and Brexit were shocking but not surprising... the rules of capitalism (a system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit rather than by the state) have been governed by the ruling of kleptocracy (those in power exploit national resources). The overall concern is the greater long term impact the accidental or deliberate propagation of misinformation via social media. Many people saw and believed fake news that The Pope endorsed Trump etc so if democracy is predicted based on such information said to be reliable it is in serious trouble. M Zuckerberg though has been reluctant to accept the fact that his company (Facebook), social media, or the web are undermining democracy; particularly as the fake news spread on Facebook is being said to be the reason why Trump got elected.
Key Statistics
- 1990's, height of dotcom boom
- Many millions of us saw and believed stories spread on social media about important issues such as Trump and The Pope and Clinton and JFK. Were we swayed incorrectly?
- Buzzfeed found a group of Macedonians copying the most outrageous fabrications to 140 specially pro Trump websites, sexing up the headlines and to gain clicks and go viral on Facebook
My Opinion
I think that with the development of the digital age we as the article states have become accustom to getting our news online particularly via social media which is why the number of adults in the USA getting the news this way is so high, with Britain said to follow. However, I am in agreement with what the article discusses in that social media should be held to account in some way for the material that they publish if it is seen to be undermining democracy. Having said that... is there really a need for social media networks among other sites to be held to account like that because the digital age is meant to have brought us the ability to have greater access to views and values and share our opinions freely, which is less likely to be done if people know that every little move is be looked at for a way to blame the social networking sites. Also, with the social networking age and the freely available levels of information surely we are deciding what we want to consume so how are social networking sites accountable.
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