A new study reveals that politicians are only too happy to use the term ‘fake news’ against the media – to the great detriment of journalism and public debate.
Social media giants such as Facebook have been blamed for helping spread misinformation. But the problem runs deeper than that.
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Every day, new “alternative facts” are peddled in the public realm. But misinformation is not solely a modern problem - its origins are as old as humanity.
On its own, human judgement can be subjective and skewed towards personal biases.
Sometimes it feels like everybody on social media is fighting about what’s “right” and what’s “wrong”. Well, figuring out why we all have such unique opinions is now helping experts tackle fake news.
This image made from a fake video featuring former U.S. president Barack Obama shows elements of facial mapping that lets anyone make videos of real people appearing to say things they’ve never said.
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Fake videos pose a risk to democratic representation, participation, and discussion. Canadians need to be mindful of their existence as we head towards the federal election.
There’s little evidence that Twitter is being overrun with partisan bots in the leadup to the Canadian election.
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Claims that tweets on the Canadian election are the work of bot accounts, without empirical evidence or verification, need to be taken with a grain of salt.
You might see a headline from The Onion or The Babylon Bee and, for a split second, think it’s true. But many social media users don’t get the joke – and share these articles as if they’re real.
In an attempt to address the growing problem of fake news online, an algorithm that identifies patterns in language may help distinguish between factual and inaccurate news articles.
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Using machine learning and natural language processing, researchers are developing an algorithm that can distinguish between real and fake news articles.
To one scholar of the post-truth era, tuning in to Robert Mueller’s testimony Wednesday was to hear a duel over the facts. Not what the facts imply – but what the facts are.
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau on March 14, 2018. The same Russian online troll farm that meddled in the American presidential election has also taken swipes at Canadian targets.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang" caption="Prime Minister Justin Trud
An examination of the Twitter activity after the Québec mosque murders reveal that the majority showed sympathy towards the victims, but Russian trolls worked to spread antagonism and fake news.
A recent study has found that many Obama supporters didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US election because of the spread of fake news.
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Human rights activists, legal experts and others fear these laws have the potential to be misused to stifle free speech or unintentionally block legitimate online posts and websites.
Inheritors of an order we did not build, we are now witnesses to a decline we did not see.
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We are, as Snyder is urgently reminding us, perilously close to the edge of the fascist cliff
Media critic and educator Neil Postman’s 1985 book ‘Amusing Ourselves to Death’ warned of the dangers when all media is entertainment, especially when people lack critical media literacy skills.
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Students – and indeed all of us – must learn to ask questions about what stories are told, and the implications of what stories are not being told.
Facebook’s Mia Garlick says, ‘we’re frequently seeing politicians use the Facebook Live tool to augment a press conference or to directly speak to voters about the issues of importance of the day.’
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Facebook’s Mia Garlick on how Australian politicians are using social media
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Today's Media Files podcast examines the role of social media in election campaigns, including the spread of 'fake news' and foreign political interference.
The president’s blame-the-press rhetoric is, to the news media, calculated to score political points. But are there real problems US journalists need to address in their work? Yes, says one scholar.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces the election at a press conference on April 11. The election campaign so far has thrown up many challenges for those covering it.
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