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Technology brought us fake news — and it will
help us kill it
“Fake news” - websites disseminating news stories
that are false but are believed to be true – was a major
feature of the U.S. election season. Some observers
believe that it determined the outcome of the election,
although there is no way to definitively ascertain its
effect on voting.
Fake news is news that affects the digital universe
profoundly. Fake news grew because of the ease
of creating and disseminating websites and stories
that look and read as credible as real news sites
(at least to many people). It is disseminated on
social media platforms just because dissemination
of information without vetting has always been a
feature of those platforms. This was designed to
facilitate communication - no one removes a negative
comment about a restaurant on Facebook.
On the positive side, this means that everyone’s
opinion can be disseminated. The awareness of fake
news, though, reveals a downside – or perhaps a loophole
– of the freedom to post. And fake news may beget1
fake news. Facebook is not the only media company
to be an inadvertent host for fake news, but it is by far
the largest, with roughly 2 billion users each month.
Forbes indicates that the fallout2
from fake news
during the election cycle may cause advertisers to
pull back from Facebook, as it is less “brand safe” than
formerly. If unchecked, fake news could impact the
perceived credibility of online sites where fake news
runs. Since the election, Facebook has announced
plans to refine and increase automated detection of
fake news and to make reporting of suspected stories
easier for Facebook users. It has also indicated that the
current ad system will be changed, to interfere with
fake news sites receiving revenue from Facebook.
<https://tinyurl.com/y8jfq2t4> Acesso em: 07.11.2017. Adaptado
Glossário
beget ¹: gerar, criar, produzir.
fallout² efeitos negativos.