NicoPark

ProfessorTurgeon

UWRT1101008

27March2017

ArgumentativeEssay

Whenitcomestocurrentevents,asoflateitseemsthatwhateveryourviewmay

be,itmightberight.Whentheinformationsuperhighwayknownastheinternetfirst
cameabout,itwasthoughtthatthecollectiveknowledgeoftheworldbeingsharedwould

leadtoaneducationalrenaissance.Butmasscommunicationwithoutafiltermeantthat

falsehoodsandliesspreadasfastasfacts.Inrecenttimes,therehasbeenapushagainst

misinformationinthetermsoffakenews.Whilecrackingdownonfalsefactsand

newsstoriesisanobjectivelygoodthing,thereareproblemsquicklyemerging.Thekey

issueliesinthatthetermfakenewsisnowagotophrasetoexplainawayorignore

factsorstoriespeopledisagreewith.Thisphenomenonhasbeengrowingasexternal

forcessuchasarapidsocietalchangeandgeneralshakeupofthestatusquohasledmany

peopletodistortfactseitherintentionallyoraccidentally.Therehavebeenseveral

proposedsolutions,butkeyamongthemiseducation,filtering,andbetternewscoverage.

EducationisakeypartofmodernsocietyandakeyareainwhichAmericahas

beenlacking.Italsomaybeinstrumentalinhelpingcurbthespreadoffakenews.

Teachersnationwidehavebeentryingtohelpteachtheirstudentshowtothinkcritically

andbeabletodiscernrealandfalseinformation,butthetaskhasnotbeenaneasyone

(1).Ithasbeenshownthatfromayoungageallthewaytocollege,studentsareproneto

believingfalsehoodsandhavetroubleidentifyingwhatisrealandfakeontheinternet.

Studentstendtoreadilybelieveinformationpresentedtothem,andpassitalongwithno

furtherthought.Ithasalsobecomeapparentinrecentstudiesthatstudentshavetrouble

detectingbiasandverifyingcredibility,showcasingalackofcriticalliteracyskills(2).
ThisproblemhasbecomerampantenoughthattheOrganizationforEconomicCo

operationandDevelopment(OECD)hasaddedanewcategorytoitsglobaltests.This

category,knownasglobalcompetency,isbasedaroundstudentsabilitytothink

criticallyaboutinformationonsocialmediaanddetectdubiousclaims.(3)Thisis

especiallynotable,asoftentheOECDinformseducationalpolicyforseveralmajor

nations.AndreasSchleichersuggeststhatsocialmediacreatesanechochamber,

meaningthatgettinganobjectiveorpurelyfactualviewmaybecomeincreasingly

difficult.Aneffectivesolutiontothisproblemisforschoolstoeducatestudentson
detectingfakenews.Byeducatingstudentsatanearlyage,theycanhelpcurbthespread

ofliesasthestudentsgrowupandusesocialmedia.Oftentimes,thisisassimpleas

informingthestudentswithbasicknowledge,suchaswritinganalysisandfactchecking,

tomorecomplicatedtechniquessuchascheckingforhintsintheURLandformatting.(4)

Whilethisisagoodwaytohelpminimizefakenews,ithighlightsanotherkeyproblem.

Ideally,havingtoconstantlyfactcheckshouldntbeanissue.Butunfortunately,

thisisnotthecase,asthereisalreadyavastamountofmisinformationoutthere.The

internet,forbetterorworse,hasarelativelackofregulation.Whilethishasitsbenefits,it

hasalsoledtofakenewsbeingabletospreadwithincrediblespeed,regardlessifits

blatantlyfalse.Peoplehaveusedthesefalsenewsstoriestopushtheiragendaorviews,

andtherelativelackofregulationmeanstheycancatchonlikewildfire.Ofcourse,these

fraudulentstoriesarespreadthroughoutsocialmedia,byandlarge.Butwhatismost

concerningistherelativelackofactionontheseplatformspartinaidingthepushto

eradicatefakenews.Facebookisparticularlynotoriousofthis,astheiralgorithmis

ineffectiveanditsprominenceasasocialmediaplatformguaranteesthespreadof

purposelyinflammatoryarticles.Facebooksfeaturesmakeitveryeasytosharedubious

articlesonawhim,andlikeavirusitspreadsthroughoutthewebsite,makingthefalse

claimsmorelikelytobebelieved.(5)ItisonlyafterintensescrutinythatFacebookhas

recentlytakenstepstohelpcurbthespreadofthesestories,buteventhatstillhasalotof
problems.Despiteputtingtagsthatallowittobemarkedasfalseordisputed,itisstill

abletobespread.(6)Twitter,despiteitsrulesclearlybeingagainstthespreadoffake

newsandfalsehoods,hasdoneverylittletocurbit.Intermsofsolvingtheseproblems,

Germanyhasalreadysetafascinatingprecedent.Germanyhasbeenregulatingcontent

foryearsinordertostopthespreadofliesandhate.Theyregularlyremoveandcensor

articlesthatdenyfactsorargueconspiracy.Theyareoneofthedrivingforcesrecently

thathavebeenarguingforregulationstobeplacedonsocialmediatohelpcurbthemany

problemsaffectingthemajorplatforms.JustrecentlyGermanyhasstartedtotakeamore
activeroleinthefightagainstfakenews,draftingalawtocrackdownoncriminal

misinformation.Thoughthismostlyappliestofakenewsstoriesthatspreadhateand

slander,itisastepintherightdirection,albeitflawed.(7)Properlydebunkingand

removingarticlesrequiresalargeamountofhumaneffort,butsmarteralgorithmscould

bethekeyinkeepingmisinformationfromspreadinginsocialmedia.Aninteresting

experimentwasconductedbytheselfnamedcollaborationFIB.Thesefourstudents

garneredattentionwiththeirimpressivealgorithmwhichwasabletocategorizefake

newsbasedonsourcesandcontent.(8)Applyingsuchanalgorithmtosocialmedia

platformsisanothervalidsolution,thoughwithitsowndrawbacks.Asseenintherecent

YouTubecontroversy,lettinganalgorithmhandlecensoringcontentcanunintentionally

censorinaneorimportantcommentaryonsocialevents.Thereisalsothevalidquestion

ofwhatexactlydoesdeservetobecensoredandwhatissimplyananalysisortakeon

things.Forexample,intheYouTubescandal,alotofvideosdiscussingthingslikebeing

gay,sexism,andotheruncomfortabletopicswerefilteredoutbyYouTubessafe

mode.Peoplewereoutragedbecausetomanyitwasdeemedunnecessarycensorship,as

itstigmatizedLGBTcontent.(13)Yetontheflipside,YouTubeslackofalgorithm

censorshipalsomeansvideospromotingfakefacts,heavybias,andterrorism,andfake

newscanbemonetizedandactivelysupportthepeoplewhoareresponsibleforthem.

Thisindirectsupporthasalsocausedalotofrecentcontroversy.(14)Thishighlightsthe
factthatanyalgorithmbasedfilterwouldhavetobeheavilyadjustedinorderto

effectivelycurbthespreadoffakenews.

Butanotherproblemisthatevenreliableormajornewssourcesgetitwrong

sometimes.Whilethenewsisn'ttryingtospreadlies,theydograbpeople'sattention

usingeyegrabbingandmisleadingheadlines.Thishaslongbeenthecase,astheyare

attemptingtodrawpeoplesinterestandgarnermoreviews.Theproblemisthatthese

subtlemanipulationscanhavebiggereffectsonpeoplethanmoreobviousbiasor

falsehoods.Peopleonlyskimheadlines,ortheheadlinesthemselvesaltertheirperception
oftheinformationpresented.(9)Whilethisdoesntappeartobethatmuchofaproblem,

itdoesalottoerodethepublicperceptionsofcredibility.Thenewsalsostrugglewhenit

comestoanchorsandtalkshowsspreadingmisinformationorembellishinginorderto

gainviews.SuchexamplesastheBrianWilliamsdebacle,inwhichthefamousnewshost

wasrevealedtohaveastringofembellishments.Thishadbeenabigstringoffalsehoods

thathadgoneonforquitesometime,andthepubliclostalotoftrustinNBCsreporting.

(10)Inamorerecentexample,FoxsJudgeNapolitanoisbeingkeptoffairindefinitely

forhisspreadingofadebunkedclaim,aswellaspreviousoffenses.(11)Hisdismissal

wasinpartduetoincreasedscrutinyonthenewsmedia,sincenomajornetworkwantsto

bebrandedasfakenews.Theseexamplesshowcasethefactthateventherealnewsgets

itwrong,andcanbepartoftheproblem.

Theeasiestsolutionwouldbetocutdownonsensationalism.Havingnewsmedia

nottryandgrabpeoplesattentionwithexaggerationsorbymisleadingtheminexchange

forsacrificingtheintegrityofthenewswouldgoalongway.Verifyingclaimsand

sourcesmorethoroughlyalsowillhelpcreatebetterjournalisticstandardsinthenews

media.Analternativeandambitioussolutionistheideaofanindependentregulatory

board.TheUKhasattemptedthiswiththeformationoftheIPSO.TheIPSOismeantto

regulatethenewstomakeitasreliableandaccurateaspossible.(12)Havingasimilar

boardandlearningfromtheIPSOsflawscouldbeaviablesolutionformakingsurethat
thenewsisalwaysatrustworthysource.IPSOsufferedintheregardthatitfailedto

properlyenforcethestandardsitwasmeanttopromote.Thegeneralineffectivenessled

toapublicbacklashandamyriadofotherproblemsthatledtoitsfailures.

Insummary,fakenewsisacomplexissuethathasgainedalotofattentionand

criticisminrecenttimes.Itsproliferationcanbeattributedtomanysources,includinga

lackofregulation,underdevelopedliteracyskills,andmistrustintheactualnews.While

theproblemsmayseemdaunting,therearefeasiblesolutions.Simplethingslike

education,regulation,andthenewsholdingitselftoahigherstandardwillhelpcombat
theproblemoffakenews.Evenmoreradicalproposals,likeadvancedalgorithms,still

showpromiseinmakingsurepeoplearebetterinformed.Peopleshouldnthaveto

secondguesswhattheyseeinthenews,andhopefullywiththesesolutionsfakenews

willbecomeathingofthepast.

WorkCited

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/02/13/fakenews

101/97846922/

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwoway/2016/11/23/503129818/study

findsstudentshavedismayinginabilitytotellfakenewsfromreal

http://www.bbc.com/news/education39272841

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/02/13/fakenewshowto

tell/97846900/

http://fortune.com/2016/10/12/facebookfakenews/

http://www.vox.com/culture/2017/3/24/15020806/facebookfakenews

alertfactchecking

https://www.ft.com/content/d50573faf6d43083a8d552eb4537de85
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/38013285/studentssolve

facebooksfakenewsproblemin36hours

http://www.newyorker.com/science/mariakonnikova/headlineschange

waythink

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/nbcnewsfindsbrian

williamsembellishedatleast11times/2015/04/25/467e7c74eafb11e4

97676276fc9b0ada_story.html?utm_term=.ede524fa96dd

http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/lafictnapolitanofoxnews
20170320story.html

https://www.ipso.co.uk/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/03/20/youtube

creatorsupsetovernewrestrictedratings/99407886/

http://www.nbcnews.com/card/companiespulladsgoogleyoutubeover

racistterroristcontentn735971