Less than a day after two Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies were shot and wounded as they sat in their police cruiser outside a transit station in Compton, Darnell Hicks cellphone began to light up with messages from friends: He was identified as the alleged gunman in an alert circulated on social media.

Hicks, 33, a father of two and youth football coach from Compton who lives with his 93-year-old grandmother, then saw screenshots of something that seemed to be an official be on the lookout alert. It included his drivers license photograph, name and address and associated him with a Los Angeles gang.

A Twitter post characterized Hicks as wanted for attempted murder in connection with the shooting Saturday evening. The suspect has vowed to shoot more law enforcement officers, the fake alert added.

At first, Hicks said, he thought it was a prank. But then threats starting coming in as the post spread on social media.

It was terrible, he said. I feared for my familys safety.

He said he was dirt-biking in Compton all day Saturday, but that didnt stop people from questioning him.

I got so worried, I called in to the sheriffs station, he said.

Hicks said he didnt know who was behind the accusation and had no connection whatsoever to the shooting.

The post was retweeted and shared by bloggers. One Malaysia-based, conservative, self-styled independent journalist with more than 250,000 followers claimed he learned from sources that Hicks was the prime suspect.

The wounded 31-year-old female deputy and 24-year-old male deputy were on patrol Saturday evening, sitting in their SUV, when a man walked up to the vehicle, pointed a gun at the passenger window and fired multiple times. The deputies were hit in the face, head and arms. The suspect fled on foot and remains at large.

Hicks attorney, Brian Dunn, said the false accusation couldnt get much worse.

It is a sign of the times. We have drifted far away from rational thought, Dunn said.

He said that people were willing to make such accusations without a thought to the consequences and that he was still investigating the origins of the false report. The original poster removed it from Twitter. But others also claimed to have heard the information.

The Sheriffs Department took to Twitter on Sunday, calling the report erroneous and saying, There are no named or wanted suspects at this time.

Sheriff Alex Villaneuva said that his department never issued an alert and that the one on social media was fake news.

There was some bad information floating around yesterday about a suspect, he added in a briefing Monday. All that information is false.

Dunn said that it was impossible to undo the damage and that nobody has taken responsibility for it.

Hicks said he wanted to send my prayers to the two deputies. But he also worried about other young Black men, with such a generic description of the perpetrator floating around.

Community activist Jasmyne Cannick said the departments initial description of the suspect as dark-skinned and, then, as a Black male, age 28 to 30, opened the door to profiling.

Cannick, who works as a political strategist, became involved after she received calls from a friend of Hicks asking for her help.

What if he would have been killed? What if anybody would have thought he was the wanted suspect? she said. His kids, his 93-year-old grandmother could have got hurt.

Read more from the original source:

Man falsely accused of shooting deputies received threats - Los Angeles Times

New Delhi: The problem of fake news can have dangerous consequences and its impact was witnessed during the lockdown when a panic situation was created through social media. The fake news can now make or mar the fate of a country or a society, affecting the lives of millions of people. The DNA analysis looks at different aspects of this menace that can trigger riots or even create a war-like situation between the two countries.

Talking about its impact, MoS Home G Kishan Reddy told Parliament on Tuesday that the migration of a large number of workers was triggered by fake news during the lockdown. We can recall that thousands of people left from Delhi to their native place despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's advice to stay wherever they are.

Kishan Reddy told Lok Sabha that caused panic among workers who were forced to flee as they felt that if they stay in their house, they will not get food and water. The fake news was spread that the lockdown would last be too long.

In reply to TMC MP Mala Roy, who had asked the reasons why thousands of these labourers ended up walking home post lockdown, Reddy said, The migration of a large number of migrant workers was triggered by panic created by fake news regarding the duration of lockdown. And people, especially migrant labourers, were worried about an adequate supply of basic necessities like food, drinking water, health services and shelter."

Regarding the number of people who died during the said migration, Reddy said the Centre does not have the data as it is not maintained centrally.In the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, however, said that the Centre was 'fully prepared' in this regard. It had taken necessary measures to provide food and water to the poor, but due to rumour, the labourers thought it better to go home.

It may be noted here that on 28th and 29th March, thousands of migrant labourers gathered at Anand Vihar in Delhi. The topic of migrant labourers became the most preferred subject for politicians and intellectuals during the COVID-19 induced lockdown. A similar picture was also seen at Mumbai's Bandra railway station on April 14. The migrant labourers reached the railway station to catch a train for their native city.

Even after the lockdown was imposed, pictures of migrant labourers were seen across the country. It seemed as if the state governments were not trying to stop these people. Perhaps, the states too wanted that the migrant labourers should return to their native places. In such a situation, fake news has created a worse situation for the migrant labourers.

In India, there are about 4 crore migrant labourers who go away from their homes and work in another state. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, about 75 lakh labourers returned to their homes till May this year. It means one in every 5 migrant labourers went back to their state. There is a possibility that all these people become victims of fake news.

The fake news not only causes riots it can also harm the economy and society of a country. Nowadays, big countries are adopting this method to fight against their enemies. This can also be termed a hybrid war.

Fake news was recently spread on social media on the 4th September, claiming that a Chinese fighter jet Sukhoi-35 was shot down by Taiwan's air defence system as it was entering into the Taiwan border. A 15-second fake video was also shared with this claim. This fake news spread like a wildfire across the world in a few hours, but neither China nor Taiwan confirmed this news. The website which published the denial of this news had also crashed.

Last month, a journalist tweeted fake news about the death of former President Pranab Mukherjee, and it was retweeted by many in a few seconds without confirming it. Later, Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijeet Mukherjee tweeted to deny this and the fake news was deleted.

During anti-CAA protests also, fake news was used to create an atmosphere in the country against the ruling dispensation. Due to the increasing trend of fake news, this has been formally incorporated into the Oxford Dictionary last year. It says that term was first used in the year 1890.

The first case of fake news in modern times is believed to have appeared in the year 1835. The then American newspaper, The Sun, claimed to have found life on the moon, and it also published some photographs.

Perhaps the world's first fake news is associated with the Mahabharata period when Yudhishthira had disclosed the fake new of Ashwathama's death before Guru Dronacharya, who then decided not to fight and was beheaded by Draupadi's brother.

Now the question arises how to ascertains the truth behind any fake news. You just need to take some precautions. There are three sides to fake posts on social media. One who posted, the other service provider, and the third segment is of those who liked or shared the post.

To identify fake news, you should see from where the news has come, and from where did it start. After that, you should check the veracity of the news with the help of a search engine. Don't share any news until you are confident about it. The sharing of fake news may put you behind the bar for 3 years under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act 2000.

See the original post:

DNA Exclusive: Fake news may trigger riots or create war-like situation between two nations - Zee News

Last weekends anti-lockdown protest in Auckland provided a snapshot of the various conspiracy theories and grievances circulating online and within the community: masks, vaccination, QAnon, 5G technology, government tyranny and COVID-19 were all in the mix.

The freedom rally also featured Advance NZ party leaders Jami-Lee Ross and Billy Te Kahika, who has previously described COVID-19 as no more serious than influenza.

The same scepticism about the pandemic was reportedly behind the Mt Roskill Evangelical Church cluster and spread, which prompted Health Minister Chris Hipkins to ask that people think twice before sharing information that cant be verified.

Hipkins also refused to rule out punitive measures for anyone found to be deliberately spreading lies.

Its not a new problem. As far back as 1688, the English Privy Council issued a proclamation prohibiting the spread of false information. The difference in the 21st century, of course, is the reach and speed of fake news and disinformation.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has even spoken of a massive infodemic hindering the public health response to COVID-19: an over-abundance of information some accurate and some not that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it.

This is particularly dangerous when people are already anxious and politically polarised. Disinformation spreads fastest where freedom is greatest, including in New Zealand where everyone has the right under the Bill of Rights Act to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form.

This leads to an anomaly. On the one hand, people using misleading or deceptive information to market products (including medicines) can be held to account, and advertising must be responsible. On the other hand, spreading misleading or deceptive ideas is not, as a rule, illegal.

Read more: The Facebook prime minister: how Jacinda Ardern became New Zealand's most successful political influencer

However, there are restrictions on free speech when it comes to offensive behaviour and language, racial discrimination and sexual harassment. We also censor objectionable material and police harmful digital communications that target individuals.

So, should we add COVID-19 conspiracies and disinformation to that list? The answer is probably not. And if we do, we should be very specific.

Deciding who gets caught in the net and defining what information is harmful to the public is a very slippery slope. Furthermore, the internet has many corners to hide in and may be near impossible to police.

Given those spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation tend to believe already in government overreach, we risk pouring petrol on the fire by attempting to ban their activities.

The exception, where further restraint is justified, involves attempts to use misinformation or undue influence (especially by a foreign power) to manipulate elections. This is where a more focused approach to who and what is targeted makes sense.

Countries such Canada, the UK, France and Australia are all grappling with how best to protect their democracies from manipulation of information, but these initiatives are still in their infancy.

Read more: NZ's cyber security centre warns more attacks likely following stock market outages

In New Zealand we have a law prohibiting the publishing of false statements to influence voters, and the Justice Committee put out an excellent report on the 2017 general election that covered some of these points and urged vigilance.

While tools such as Netsafes fake news awareness campaign and official COVID-19 information sources are excellent, they are not enough on their own.

The best line of defence against malicious information is still education. Scientific literacy and critical thinking are crucial. Good community leadership, responsible journalism and academic freedom can all contribute.

But if that isnt enough, what can we do about the platforms where disinformation thrives?

Conventional broadcasters must make reasonable efforts to present balanced information and viewpoints.

But that kind of balance is much harder to enforce in the decentralised, instantaneous world of social media. The worst example of this, the live-streamed terror attack in Christchurch, led to the Christchurch Call. Its a noble initiative, but controlling this modern hydra will be a long battle.

Read more: Survey shows 1 in 4 New Zealanders remain hesitant about a coronavirus vaccine

Attempts to control misinformation on Facebook, Twitter and Google through self-regulation and warning labels are welcome. But the work is slow and ad-hoc. The European Commission is now proposing new rules to formalise the social media platforms responsibility and liability for their content.

Like tobacco, that content might not be prohibited, but citizens should be warned about what theyre consuming even if it comes from the president of the United States.

The final line of defence would be to make individuals who spread fake news liable to prosecution. Many countries have already begun to make such laws, with China and Russia at the forefront.

The risk, of course, is that social media regulation can disguise political censorship designed to target dissent. For that reason we need to treat this option with extreme caution.

But if the tolerance of our liberal democracy is too sorely tested in the forthcoming election, and if all other defences prove inadequate, new laws that strengthen the protection of the electoral process may well be justified.

Originally posted here:

With the election campaign underway, can the law protect voters from fake news and conspiracy theories? - The Conversation AU

Cleansing the internet of lies and propaganda starts with being a better and more proactive information consumer. Sponsored by AARP Washington.

SEATTLE Disinformation and misinformation run rampant on the internet, muddling the discourse in maddening, sometimes dangerous ways. Combating this tidal wave questionable information is a difficult, but necessary, task facing all of us.

If you gave me a magic wand, one of the first things I would do would be to inject media literacy into every single classroom not just in high school, not just at universities, but all the way down to elementary school kids, said Jevin West, director of the nonpartisan Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington. Everyone is susceptible to this and if we can improve the information consumers, that to me is one of the best antidotes that we have.

For the adults out there, West says there are ways to self-improve your online discourse, and that its never too late to be better in cyberspace. His biggest piece of advice? Think more, share less.

There's this idea that we simply just need to share and like on things that we immediately see and get an emotional reaction for. If the world would slow down the spread of information in general, it would definitely give us all a chance to try and vet the information that's coming.

Learning to evaluate sources of what may seem like too-good-to-be-true (or worse, too-bad-to-be-true) stories is an important part of weeding out the garbage. He explained doing further research on new sites is vital to determining accuracy: learn about a site's history, their owners and their political leanings.

Curating a network of respected, trusted sources can help you evaluate some of the more outlandish things you encounter on social media. Fact-checking sites like Snopesand PolitiFactare two examples that work to ferret out mis- and disinformation.

Additionally, supporting local news-gathering efforts staffed by local journalists who know your community is a crucial part of maintaining an informed democracy.

I think it's one of the saddest stories right now, West said. Across America these news deserts that are popping up these places that used to have local papers that don't have them, used to have local stations that don't have them it's one of the most important things we can do because people are going to trust local media better.

And unfortunately that's just all going away and people are going to the internet and just finding a lot of pollution and garbage.

Finally, West says one of the easiest ways to be a better consumer and sharer of information online is to admit when you are wrong.

Don't double down. That seems to be the trend of everyone on the internet now it's to double down. Admit mistakes, do your best to let those that you spread this to know that it was a mistake. But simply admit the mistake and don't double down. I think we need to do more of that our leaders need to be doing more of that and we can at least start with ourselves.

To help Washingtonians better sort fact from fiction, AARP, the Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington and BECU are offering a four-part series of free online events called Sorting Fact from Fiction: Finding truth in an infodemic. The event is open to everyone. Pre-registration is required. Sign up now at AARP.org/factfromfiction.

KING 5'sNew Day Northwestpresents Sorting Fact From Fiction. Sponsored byAARP Washingtonin partnership with theCenter for an Informed Public at the University of WashingtonandBECU. All segments available atking5.com/factfromfiction.

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Think more, share less: How to avoid falling for misinformation, disinformation and fake news - KING5.com

If you havent heard of it yet, The Social Dilemma is the new Netflix documentary that launched this August 2020 to an eager audience, after being selected for the Sundance Film Festival 2020.

You probably think that youve heard it all before when it comes to the subjects of social media addiction, personal data protection and fake news, but this documentary offers something different. Its led by interviews with the great minds of Silicon Valley that actually created Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, such as the co-inventor of the Facebook Like button, Justin Rosenstein, and the former President of Pinterest and former Director of Monetization at Facebook, Tim Kendall, to name just a few. Its this element that makes us sit up and listen.

The world has long recognised the benefits of social media, from connecting families across borders, to acting as an organisational tool for activists. However, the dark side of social media has also reared its ugly head, exasperating issues such as mental health, bullying, political polarization, fake news and misinformation, and even riots and conflict.

Lets go back to how social media platforms work. Its clear that by being free for users, social media platforms are built to treat our attention as the product, which is then sold to advertisers. Its the goal, therefore, of social media platforms to take the most addictive elements of human psychology and pair them with deep personalisation technologies, in order to present us with exactly what we want to see, cause us to use up more and more of our time, and sell our attention to advertisers.

However, what this documentary also highlights is that fake news spreads 6 times faster than true news, making this the king of online content. What this means is that social media platforms are perpetuating an online (and now offline) world where truth is irrelevant, as long asthe content getsas many views and likes as possible. When you add to the mix the fact that Facebook has found that they can actually affect real-world behaviours and emotions, without users even being aware of it, this all results in real-life (offline) effects such as governments and other organisations weaponising social media to incite political polarisation, conflicts, riots, and even violence.

What we also learn through this documentary is that even the people that created these social media platforms are not immune to the negative side effects of these apps, and feel powerless as they watch them not only suck away hours of our personal lives for profit, but on a wider level cause mass conflict and political unrest.

But what does this have to do with startups? Well, a lot, actually. Lets jump into it.

Paying for reach

If you didnt know that the monetisation strategy of Facebook is to sell advertising to companies, then this may explain why your startups business accounts are not reaching many people when you post free (organic) posts. Increasingly, companies like Facebook are reducing the reach of organic postings made by business accounts, in order to entice companies like yours to spend money on promotions. What can you do about it? Set aside a paid media budget for the future. A well-timed piece of content sent to the right audience can be incredibly effective, but make sure that you have a strategy to avoid wasting your cents.

Market dominance

What this documentary also highlights is that big tech companies simply have too much market power. A power imbalance such as this means that large tech companies are not only influencing our personal and political environments, but also single handedly determining how the internet of the future is being shaped. This is restricting innovation across areas such as news, visual media, cloud storage, communication like calls and messaging, and more. A fairer competitive environment would see more opportunity for Europes startups to develop and grow their innovations. How could this be achieved? Regulations. The challenge is that, with national and supranational bodies (like the EU) adhering to lengthy approval processes, oftentimes technology out-innovates any new regulation that comes in.

Reduced productivity at work

As explained in the documentary, social mediainherently turns your psychology against you so that you stay stuck to the screen,and is now classed as anaddictive activity. While will power has a large part to play in staying focused at work, founders and team leaders at work should recognise that users are battling some pretty powerful forces here. If youre leading a team in your startup, it could be worth having a think about starting an open and non-judgmental dialogue with the team to share useful tips (such as downloading an app that restricts your daily use), or agree on any measures like turning off notifications on desktop. The challenge here is to not assume the worst (as many team members may have already got it under control) and to focus on mental health where appropriate.

Founder and startup profiles

While its tempting to panic and just delete all of your accounts having watched the documentary, its worth remembering that businesses nowadays need to have a presence on social media to maintain visibility in front of customers and partners. For your startup, think about whether you really need all of your accounts and where your customers are hanging out online. For instance, a B2C foodtech startup might require an Instagram account to promote their product to customers, however a B2B AI startup might not find their target on this platform. Founders could consider whether its worth it to have personal and professional accounts on all platforms, and where they lose the most time scrolling.

Opportunity for fake news startups

Finally, a silver lining. With big tech companies like Facebook failing to curb fake news and misinformation, a market opportunity has popped up for startups to fill the gap. Whether its fake news, deep fakes, disinformation or the deliberate spreading of false information, European startups are already at the forefront of the fight. Check out this list that we published recently to meet the rising stars of this sector and even use some of their products yourself: 10 European startups fighting fake news and disinformation.

Will you watch the documentary? Let us know how your startup manages the opportunities and challenges presented by social media, and check out these articles for more tips: 10 useful social media tips for early-stage startups and 10 steps to your startups first influencer marketing campaign.

See the original post:

'The Social Dilemma': Netflix's documentary and what it means for startups - EU-Startups

Fake news is already hitting New Zealand's election campaign, with a weekly research group pointing to NZ Public Party and the New Conservatives as the main offenders so far.

Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Koroi Hawkins

Victoria University researchers Dr Mona Krewel and Professor Jack Vowles have joined a project monitoring social media during election campaigning, identifying fake news.

Part of the challenge is to assess if techniques such as data mining or misinformation has intruded onto the campaign trail here as has been identified in some overseas elections and referenda.

Dr Krewel told RNZ Morning Report's Corin Dann that, backed by an army of coders, they would be publishing findings on a weekly basis starting this week.

"We have our coders and they have a huge thing which we call a codebook and they go through all the Facebook posts and have a definition of what fake news is.

"We also ask the coders to fact check, so if they are not fully sure that something could be fake news we ask them to actually kind of Google this, go to traditional media, to reliable sources like your radio station for example, and look if this has already been called out as fake news."

She said they had defined fake news as "stories that are completely or for the most part made up and intentionally and verifiably false to mislead voters".

"On the fake news half-truth side, I would say it's mostly the New Zealand Public Party and New Conservatives that engage in a little bit of that."

Many other metrics would also be examined, including looking at misinformation, negative versus positive campaigning, inclusion of Mori, and many more things, presented in interactive graphs.

"If it's flying below the radar of fake news ... If it's not entirely or for the most part made up, does it still contain some half truths or somewhat questionable regarding its factual accuracy," Dr Krewel said.

She says the coders are already training and have some initial results.

"My current impression is that they are campaigning very fair ... a little bit of negative campaigning we are starting to see."

She said New Zealand was a very different landscape than the US, and was more likely to see New Zealand-made fake news than high volumes of Russian bots and articles created by state actors.

"It's definitely the other end ... I would imagine that for the US and particularly the upcoming presidential election we would see a very high bar for fake news and negative campaigning, this is also due to the electoral system, it's a two-party system so you have a clear antagonist who you attack, which is different from the multi-party system.

"We still see high-quality democratic campaigning in New Zealand overall."

Dr Krewel said this New Zealand project was based on the Campsource group that had followed other elections overseas, but would be different in that results would be published weekly during the election campaign, instead of afterwards.

See the original post:

Election fake news weekly report to monitor New Zealand campaigning - RNZ

Taking apathetic view toward migrant crisis once again, the government told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that panic, sparked by fake news, triggered the exodus of poor, jobless, and hungry laborers who walked thousands of kilometers to their homes.

This statement came after the government denied having information on how many workers died en route, saying in the absence of data, there's no question of compensation.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government was asked two separate queries.

TMC member Mala Roy asked why migrants were forced to walk for thousands of kilometers.

Blaming misinformation, MoS (Home) Nityanand Rai said, "People, especially migrant laborers, were worried about an adequate supply of basic necessities like food, drinking water, health services, and shelter."

This panic forced them to take difficult journeys.

"However, Central government was conscious of this, and took all the necessary measures to ensure that during the period of the inevitable lockdown, no citizen should be deprived of basic amenities of food, drinking water, medical facilities, etc.," Rai said on Monsoon Session's second day.

Thereafter, Congress MP Manish Tewari asked why only a four-hour notice was given for the lockdown. To recall, India went into a complete lockdown on March 25 to curtail the coronavirus transmission.

In a written reply, Rai said various measures, like curbs on international travel, advisories for the public, setting up quarantine facilities, etc., were taken after the outbreak on January 7, 2020.

Rai added that any movement of masses would have emboldened the disease's spread.

So considering the experience in other countries and various containment measures, the lockdown was announced on March 24, 2020, he added.

The BJP minister said many states and Union Territories had announced partial curbs between March 16 and 23 itself, based on their assessment of the problem.

Rai further said that the federal government permitted states to put the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to use on March 24 itself.

This fund was meant to provide temporary accommodation, food, clothing, and medical care to the laborers.

He also claimed the Centre released an advance Rs. 11,092 crore from SDRFs on April 3.

On migrants' deaths, he reiterated the Centre's earlier position.

Meanwhile, the government's response to the crisis, which tore apart the nation's conscience, didn't find many takers in the opposition.

On Monday's response, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi asked, "If you didn't count, does that mean no one died."

CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury said the government's response was shameful and irresponsible, whereas Kerala's Finance Minister suggested Centre to acknowledge at least the tentative deaths.

The exodus, one of the worst episodes of India's modern history, was triggered after the lockdown shut everything. Left with no money, the laborers walked toward their homes.

Some hitched rides on highways, but it proved risky; some died due to unforgiving heat.

The government ran Sharmik Special Trains from May, but due to poor arrangements, at least 80 migrants died in Railway's premises.

Read more here:

Now, Modi government says fake news forced migrants to walk - NewsBytes

Disinformation successfully obscured the real causes of Australias catastrophic bushfire season. Now the same thing is happening around me, as I report on a disastrous wildfire season in the American west.

In both countries, the response to a pandemic is also being complicated by disinformation, as conspiracy theorists refuse isolation, refuse masks, and ready themselves to refuse vaccines.

A lot of the fundamental problems are the same, but there are differences in detail.

In the western United States in recent days, backroads vigilantism has seen civilians set up armed road blocks, and journalists held at the point of loaded assault rifles.

Australia does not have the complication of American gun culture, which is itself one marker of the clash of ideologies and identities in a deeply divided nation, and also raises the stakes on every other social conflict.

Many Australians like to congratulate themselves on their highly restrictive gun laws, figuring that it is the mark of a more civilised society.

That may be, but its easy to forget that one of the major stumbling blocks to stricter gun laws in the United States is a bill of rights.

We can argue whether the right to bear arms is a sensible thing to constitutionally enshrine, but Australia has no such constitutionally defined individual rights, beyond those that the high court has seen fit to torture from the document.

The absence of such rights also contains the real world effects of conspiracy theories the people recently arrested for incitement in Victoria over the promotion of Covid conspiracy theories and anti-lockdown protests would likely enjoy first amendment protections in the US. Whether or not people ought to have the liberty to promote ideas which are, frankly, insane, and a threat to public order, is beyond the scope of this article.

In other ways, Australia is worse off. It is easy to make the mistake of thinking that Fox News, or other skewed or tabloid media, is representative of US media as a whole.

But Americas media is vast. Conservative media is mostly enjoyed by those who have already committed the necessary cognitive self-mutilation to mistake its output for information, and, speaking very generally, although other corporate and local media may be excessively narrow, and TV networks such as Sinclair do skew right, the country does not suffer under the hegemony that News Corporation has achieved in its country of origin.

With its stranglehold on daily newspapers and online news, News Corp in Australia has created the most rightwing media culture in the English speaking world, and they arent really accountable to anyone.

Their columnists, and even their news writers, played a big, unconscionable role in pushing horse-hockey about arson and hazard reduction burning. In the western United States, its simply inconceivable that local mainstream media outlets would deliberately mislead their audience in this way. (Fox News has, but those who take the network seriously are already lost.)

News gave the conspiracy theories momentum, while other outlets such as Seven also entertained the idea that vandals, greenies, or anything but climate change might have set the country on fire.

If there is a posterity to judge them, it will damn them all.

The last, and biggest point of difference is that Australias bushfires struck at the beginning of 2020. As we draw to the end of September, the conspiracy culture that fuels wildfire denialism has had nine more months to incubate in the bowels of its principal host, Facebook.

Facebook is also the place where we see the two disinformation crises overlap.

That website is now nothing short of a threat to civilisation. But the nature of that threat is not easy to see for those who simply use it to keep up with family and friends, post pictures of their dog, or monitor old flames.

In 2016, the Facebook newsfeed was flooded with fake news. Scandals followed when it emerged how easily the newsfeed had been manipulated by propagandists like Cambridge Analytica (much of that was first revealed by reporting in the Guardian).

In response, Facebook first tweaked its algorithm to de-emphasise content from publishers except where it sparked interest from users friends. Then, last year, it tweaked its app to emphasise groups.

Ask anyone who professionally monitors the far right, as I do, or conspiracy culture, as I do, and theyll tell you that the action is all happening in private groups either those associated with movements like QAnon, with anti-lockdown or anti-mask or anti-vaccine protests, with far right street protests, and lately, with localities affected by natural disasters.

To a large extent, now, all of these form one big gumbo of conspiracy culture, anyhow. Facebook will tell you that they have cracked down on QAnon, the Boogaloo movement, and wildfire disinformation. To the extent that they have tried, they have failed. Conspiracy culture continues not only to survive, but thrive on the platform.

In the last week, the idea that antifa activists were starting fires was bedded down as settled fact and common sense in rightwing groups, and those associated with many affected rural communities. The idea was impervious to attempts by federal and local law enforcement authorities to debunk it.

Thats the most proximate reason that armed men were sticking up journalists, and setting up roadblocks in rural Oregon.

There will be future bushfire seasons like 2020s in Australia, and the American west. The Covid crisis has a long way to run, and it may worsen, and give way to future pandemics which are even more unforgiving.

The disinformation will also likely be worse, as will its consequences, because those whose safety is threatened by disinformation cannot, and those who could will not deplatform the conspiracy theorists producing lies at an industrial scale.

In Australia, and the US, the prospects of facing up to the underlying cause of longer, more severe, more catastrophic fire seasons climate change will be remote unless regulators act against the websites where truth goes to die.

Link:

Just like Australia, disinformation is thriving during the US fire crisis - The Guardian

As wildfires were burning across Oregon and California this week, conspiracy theories about how the fires started were moving nearly as rapidly on Facebook. Posts falsely blaming members of antifa or Black Lives Matter spread across the platform nearly unchecked, causing calls about antifa arsonists to clog emergency phone lines. Local and national law enforcement had to spend precious time and resources rebutting the false claims, instead of rescuing residents and aiding in evacuations.

Facebook said last Saturday that it was banning fire-related conspiracy talk from the platform. But, according to research by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the misinformation continued to circulate for days afterward, eluding whatever mechanisms Facebook had put in place to end it.

Facebook had time to prepare for such a contingency; it is certainly not the first time the company has been called upon but unable to quell conspiracy-mongering around major national events. For example, following the killing of George Floyd in May and the ensuing protests, Facebook posts falsely alleging that Floyds death had been faked, or that the entire protest movement was organized by the CIA, were being spread on the platform. Facebook pledged to crack down on the spread of vile nonsense, but its efforts, never made fully transparent, were similarly ineffective.

Why does Facebook find itself, over and over, unable to cope with the exploitation of its platform to spread conspiracies, misinformation and propaganda? Because sensationalized content is how Facebook makes money. So, until its business model changes, the problems it aids wont stop.

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Facebook turns a profit by surveilling its users and monetizing their attention: It uses its huge user base and its dominance of social networking both through its main site and others that it owns, such as Instagram to collect a massive amount of data, which is sold to advertisers. In other words, Facebook and Instagram are only free services to you because you are the product Facebook and Instagram sell to other entities.

The longer you stay on Facebook, the more ads Facebook shows you, and the more money it pockets from various advertisers for having shown you those ads. The way to get you to stay on Facebook longer, scrolling through your feed, is to hook you on addictive content, which enables Facebook to collect ever-more data that can be sold to third parties a vicious cycle that entrenches its dominance.

It turns out that, far more than jealousy-inspiring vacation photos or family updates from long-lost high school friends, the most addictive content for users is sensationalized versions of the news, some of which involves conspiracy theories and memes. So rather than having an incentive to eliminate conspiracy-laden content, Facebook is incentivized to keep serving it to you in the interest of profiting off of your attention.

It is then no coincidence that people who wind up joining extremist groups on Facebook do so because Facebooks algorithms suggest doing so, according to Facebooks own internal investigation. Facebooks programming knows such people are likely to get hooked by that sort of organization and thus use Facebook more than ever and so it helps reel them in.

And so, as with many of the problems Facebook causes, potential solutions run up against its profit motive, with the latter winning out.

Expecting Facebook to then solve a problem that is an inherent part of its business model is akin to expecting poachers to implement measures to protect rare wildlife: Doing so would put them out of business.

Adding insult to injury, the local news sources that might have been able to spring into action and rebut some of whats peddled on Facebook have been decimated by Facebook (and Google) both charging them to reach their own readers and hoovering up the bulk of the available digital ad dollars, leaving the local journalism industry a shell of its former self. Hyper-partisan web sites (which are often more willing to buy ads to reach eyeballs) masquerading as local news have instead taken their place and extended their audience via Facebook another feedback loop making it ever-more difficult for people to access good local information.

While this problem is most acute during crises, it plays out all the time in ways large and small. In Holyoke, Massachusetts, for instance, the decline of the local journalism industry led to the loss of several papers. So, when a ballot initiative was put forward in 2019 that would have approved a bond issue for new middle schools, information about it was spread by commenters in a Facebook group instead of by local reporters; locals received misinformation about the citys finances instead of the truth.

As one city employee told me, officials wound up playing whack-a-mole with every little conspiracy theory out there, instead of spending their time thinking about fixing potholes or opening health clinics.

The response to this repeated, ongoing problem has generally been for politicians, regulators and enforcement agencies to politely request that Facebook change its ways. But that will never be good enough because, until the way in which Facebook makes its money changes, Facebook will not change.

There has been some encouraging movement on that front recently, though: The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the Federal Trade Commission is considering opening an antitrust case against Facebook. And, in July, the antitrust subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee held a major hearing on the market power of big tech platforms, including Facebook, and will be issuing recommendations on how to address them soon.

In the end, though, truly making social media safe for democracy means breaking up Facebooks many businesses, which include Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and then changing the way it makes money by both altering its liability for user content and changing its ability to microtarget advertising to specific users. Until such structural and regulatory changes are made, Facebook conspiracies will continue to circulate, and the world will continue to be a more dangerous place in which to live, work and vote.

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Facebook spread rumors about arsonists setting fires in Oregon. It's part of their business model. - NBC News

The Russian agency that interfered in the 2016 US election created a fake leftwing news publication, staffed it with fake editors with AI-generated photos and hired real freelance reporters as part of a fresh influence operation detected and removed by Facebook, the company said on Tuesday.

The latest operation by the Internet Research Agency (IRA) was still in its early stages when it was detected thanks to a tip from the FBI, according to Facebooks head of security policy, Nathaniel Gleicher. The network had 13 accounts and two pages, with about 14,000 total followers.

The Facebook accounts and pages were designed to bolster PeaceData.net, an English- and Arabic-language website that claims to be a global news organization, but whose editorial staff are fictitious. Headshots of PeaceDatas staff were created using Generative Adversarial Networks, a type of AI that can produce lifelike images of faces, according to Graphika, a social media analysis firm that produced a report on the IRA operation.

They put substantial effort into creating elaborate fictitious personas, trying to make fake accounts look as real as possible, Gleicher said.

Many of the characters had profiles on Twitter and LinkedIn. Twitter said on Tuesday that it had suspended five accounts associated with PeaceData for platform manipulation that we can reliably attribute to Russian state actors. The company said tweets from the accounts were low quality and spammy, and that it would block links to content from PeaceData. LinkedIn did not immediately respond to a query.

Much of PeaceDatas content was copied from other websites, though some was produced by unwitting freelance reporters. Advertisements on Upwork and Guru.com offered a flat rate of $75 to entry-level writers. Major topics for the site included armed conflict, human rights abuses (especially by the US and UK), corruption, and the environment, as well as WikiLeaks, the coronavirus pandemic and the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory.

Four freelance journalists who wrote for PeaceData told the Guardian that they had been approached by one of PeaceDatas editors on Twitter, LinkedIn or by email with an offer to write for the site. Two were early-career writers who had recently been laid off and were eager to establish themselves; two were more experienced writers. The Guardian agreed to let them speak anonymously because they were concerned for their careers.

The writers only learned of the deception from news reports or reporters inquiries. One of the experienced journalists said that PeaceData had paid $250 up front, which was unusual, then ghosted her after publishing one piece. I didnt imagine a scam would have paid me up front like that, she said.

Another writer said he was approached via direct message on Twitter and offered $200-$250 a piece, more than he was usually paid for writing.

I was just trying to get more bylines and get paid to do what I want to do, he said. Ive interacted with editors who do far less than what they were doing, and they paid faster than some publications ... Im a freelance writer Im used to being taken advantage of.

PeaceDatas coverage of the US portrayed the country as war-mongering and law-breaking abroad while being racked by racism, Covid-19, and cutthroat capitalism at home, according to the report. The outlet was negative toward Donald Trump, but Graphika found that its treatment of his Democratic rival Joe Biden and vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris was noteworthy for its hostile tone.

The US-focused content of PeaceData appeared designed to build a leftwing audience and steer it away from Bidens campaign, according to the Graphika analysis. UK-focused content similarly appeared to appeal to leftwing audiences with attacks on the Labour party leader, Keir Starmer, for being too centrist.

The operation targeted supporters of Bernie Sanders and democratic socialists in the US and supporters of Jeremy Corbyn in the UK by having one of the fake accounts, the fictitious Alex Lacusta, post links to PeaceData articles in affiliated Facebook groups.

The IRA also used unwitting users to attempt to obtain authorization from Facebook to run political ads in the US, the company said. Facebook implemented the authorization process for political advertisers after the 2016 election, when the IRA was able to spend about $100,000 some of it in rubles on ads that targeted US voters with divisive messaging.

An unsigned statement posted on PeaceDatas website said allegations the site was a Russian propaganda tool were an ugly lie.

Both Facebook and Graphika concluded that the operation had been detected and taken down before causing significant damage.

It follows a steady pattern where particularly Russian actors have gotten better at hiding who they are, but their impact is smaller and smaller and they are getting caught earlier, Gleicher said. These actors are caught between a rock and hard place: run a large network that gets caught quickly or run a small network that has limited reach.

The operations greatest success to the extent that it had any lay in its ability to co-opt unwitting authors to write its content, the Graphika analysis concludes. The IRAs 13 accounts managed to deceive that pinpoint audience; they do not appear to have reached a substantially larger one.

Twitter appealed to governments around the world to stop attempting to deceive users through similar operations.

Regardless of the low-level impact in this case, governments around the world must stop these practices, the company said in a tweeted statement. Theyre antidemocratic. Attempts to manipulate our service to undermine democracy by both foreign and domestic actors will be met with strict enforcement of our policies.

Agencies contributed reporting

Original post:

Russian agency created fake leftwing news outlet with fictional editors, Facebook says - The Guardian

Posted: Sep 3, 2020 / 04:31 PM CDT / Updated: Sep 3, 2020 / 04:31 PM CDT

A warning from Facebook tonight: Russians are already trying to interfere in the upcoming presidential election. And you may unwittingly be helping them. We take a closer look at the tactics Russian operatives are using your Facebook friends to influence who wins in November

We heard it four years ago, how Russia interfered in our election. Facebook and Twitter say theyre at it again. How does Russian interference work though? Jamey Tucker spoke with Cyber-security expert Joseph Steinberg who told me, it has nothing to do with voter fraud.

The Russians are masters of putting out news thats false that looks like its real, looks like its coming from American sources and people dont understand that this isnt a newspaper. Its Russian propaganda.

This is one such site pointed out by Facebook and Twitter: peacedata.net. Facebook says it was launched by the Russian Internet Research Agency backed by the Kremlin. The same organization that was found to have reached millions of Americans through social media four years ago.

There was a story in the last election cycle that the Pope endorsed Donald Trump. It sounds ridiculous but it did go quasi-viral.

Facebook deleted the Peace Data Facebook page. The people behind Peace Data posted to its website that the claims are false. Steinberg says, its nearly impossible to stop it with an algorithm.

In the end there is no way to filter, 100% of everything that could be potentially problematic. So people should use, I would say due diligence, but its really just common sense.

A few tips: Dont be too quick to share wild content you see somewhere else. Check the name of the news organization. Is it legit? Have you heard of it before? Are any reputable news outlets reporting it? If not, its probably not true. Steinberg said, by sharing it with your Facebook friends and followers, youre helping to cause the problem.

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What the Tech: Russia, Facebook, Fake News - KFDX - Texomashomepage.com

So, yeah. For all the speeches and all of the spin of the last two weeks, the race on September 3 is pretty much where it was on August 3.

Trump, um, doesn't agree.

Like many of Trump's tweets, these two should be read as a bit of overcompensation. Because he knows, somewhere deep down, what I've just laid out is right. And he knows that is bad news for him.

That wasn't the case for Trump. He entered his own convention in a historically weak position for an incumbent president -- with approval ratings stuck in the low 40s and running well behind Biden in most national polling. Trump's convention then needed to change things, whether the entire arc of the race or, at a minimum, voters' perceptions of him.

Trump's campaign clearly understood that imperative. Speaker after speaker -- from Trump family members to average Americans -- took the stage to extol the softer, more empathetic side of Trump. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has sickened more than 6 million Americans and killed more than 185,000, was virtually nonexistent. In its place was an emphasis on "law and order," driven by scare tactics designed to make suburban women especially fearful of what America might look like if Biden is elected.

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It's official: There's no Trump bounce out of the conventions - CNN

PayPal has terminated multiple accounts linked to a recently uncovered Russian influence operation that is said to have paid US and British writers for content aimed at influencing progressives and sowing discord in the West, Business Insider has learned.

On Tuesday, Facebook announced it was suspending a page linked to the website Peace Data following a tip from the FBI. In a statement, the company linked the site to "individuals associated with past activity by the Russian Internet Research Agency," a troll farm that the Senate Intelligence Committee concluded sought to sow discord in the US and aid the 2016 Trump campaign.

The site published an array of content from established freelance journalists, some of it pushing an obvious geopolitical agenda, including a piece portraying the popular uprising in Belarus, a Russian ally, as little more than a "regime change puppet" of the West.

A writer for the site told Business Insider on Tuesday that he was duped by the promise of a steady platform and decent money: $200 an article, or so was the promise delivered in a direct message on Twitter.

In actuality, the site's operators paid only $100 an article, the writer said, providing Business Insider a screenshot of PayPal transactions. Another writer also confirmed receiving $100 via the online-payment website. Each transaction was linked to a separate Gmail account.

PayPal, after being provided a list of accounts on its site linked to Russian activity, said it had picked up on suspicious activity associated with the accounts, which have now been terminated.

"PayPal has been actively investigating this matter and we have taken swift action to restrict the accounts in question," a company representative said in a statement to Business Insider.

The company has an internal team that works "to detect, investigate, and act to prevent potentially unlawful activity on our platforms," the person said, and "remains committed to working with law enforcement in support of their efforts to combat global illicit activities."

In a post following its outing, Peace Data said it was "shocked and appalled" by the suggestion now leveled by the FBI, Facebook, and PayPal that it is part of a Russian influence operation.

The site's purported editor, "Jake Sullivan," the name of a former adviser to Hillary Clinton, did not respond to a request for comment. His photo appears on just one other website: a Russian shipping company, where he is identified as a satisfied customer named "Sergey."

Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.com

Link:

PayPal terminating accounts linked to Russian influence operation - Business Insider - Business Insider

On 8 July, I was contacted via direct message on Twitter by a man who introduced himself as an associate editor for PeaceData. @Alex_Lacusta described his organization as a young, progressive global news outlet that was seeking young and aspiring writers and was looking to grow its presence on social media. Would I want to write a weekly column and be paid $200 to $250 per piece?

My interest was piqued. I had lost my part-time job in the food industry amid the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, and I was in need of income and an outlet to build my portfolio. The opportunity to write a column could be the break I was hoping for.

Yes, I thought it was odd that an international media group would be reaching out to me since I had limited national exposure in the media. However, one of my pieces for the non-profit news organization Truthout on the Trump administrations response to Covid-19 had gained traction on social media. I assumed this was how I was discovered.

In his initial email introduction, Alex reduced the rate to between $80 and $150 per piece, but he argued Id be able to write columns about topics I was interested in as long as the pieces were focused on anti-war, anti-corruption, abuse of power, or human rights violations. Given my prior work, I was comfortable with these issues, and I wrote on similar issues for reputable outlets.

Before accepting, though, I read the articles that had been published on the site and researched a couple of their editors and writers. At a glance, the articles seemed up my alley. They were critical of US foreign policy and the Trump administration. Other contributors appeared to have verified Twitter accounts with tens of thousands of followers. That PeaceData had writers with verified Twitter accounts appeared to legitimize the operation.

Id end up writing three articles for PeaceData, and there were some oddities in the process.

On 22 July, I noticed Alexs Twitter account and the account of another PeaceData editor, Albert Popescu, had strikingly similar profile pictures and were recently created. At the time I recall thinking this was bizarre, yet chalked it up to coincidence and the fact this was a new publication. In my email correspondence with editors, words that should have been singular were plural or a preposition would be occasionally omitted. The errors werent widespread, and it wasnt the first time an editor had sent me a note with typos. And unlike other writers for PeaceData, I didnt experience suspicious editorial suggestions and the editors thoughts on angles for my stories seemed reasonable.

One occurrence did shake me, though, and led me to distance myself from PeaceData. By this time I had been paid by two separate PayPal accounts about $100 per article. I was told my first article was republished by GlobalResearch, a site I was unfamiliar with. About a week later between the launch of my second article and my final submission I was torturing myself by reading incoherent QAnon conspiracy theory posts on Twitter and noticed that QAnon-related accounts were sharing links from GlobalResearch.

On the GlobalResearch home page, I found several conspiratorial articles promoting hydroxychloroquine as a Covid-19 treatment, as well as 9/11 truther articles and pro-Vladimir Putin content.

I started looking into other articles posted by PeaceData and noticed one defending Belaruss dictator, Alexander Lukashenko. It was disturbing and didnt align with my values. I realized that the opportunity with PeaceData was too good to be true and decided not to write for them any longer.

On 25 August, the day my final piece for PeaceData was posted, I learned that Twitter had suspended the editors and the main account. It made me start connecting the dots. But I hoped for the best that they were just sloppy or disorganized.

One week later, I received another DM on Twitter, this time from a reporter telling me that PeaceData was potentially part of a Russian disinformation campaign. According to Facebook, US law enforcement had provided a tip that PeaceData was connected to individuals associated with past activity by the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA). (In a post on its website, PeaceData says Facebook baselessly accused it of working with Russia.)

I was shocked and confused, but as soon as I read about it and talked to reporters, the red flags and weird occurrences began to add up. I had been completely unaware of PeaceDatas links to the IRA and Russian oligarchs. I wish this had never happened and Im not proud to be associated with it. Ive lost sleep because of it. I have been confused, embarrassed, and frankly angry at myself for letting the potential for a break get the best of my judgment. It isnt flattering being linked to an authoritarian regimes media operation. Its even quite ironic for a progressive anti-authoritarian committed to transparency who has argued that Trump and Putin are cut from the same reactionary cloth.

This has been a defining event that I do not intend to repeat. Its given me an up-close understanding of how easy it is in journalism today for entities to exploit underpaid workers, making them unwitting agents for nefarious or unclear interests. My initial advice to media consumers is to always be on guard when interacting with content and users on social media. I would have never guessed I would be caught up in a dubious media campaign. And as I process this, I cant help but think that its important to recognize that in this competitive, politically charged and consolidated political and media environment, this probably wont be the last time something like this will happen.

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I'm a freelance writer. A Russian media operation targeted and used me - The Guardian

A screenshot of a supposed tweet by Journalist Rana Ayyub is viral on social media. It is being claimed that Ayyub put out an insensitive tweet on former President Pranab Mukherjees death. The alleged tweet reads, The man who rejected martyr Afzal Gurus petition has died today. Afzal Guru is at peace today. Twitter user Jyotsna Varma, who is followed by PM Modi, posted the screenshot. In her tweet, Varma demanded action against the journalist while tagging Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Several people have targeted Ayyub while posting this screenshot. Murali, Jai Shree Raam, and #IamSushant were some of the Twitter handles that targeted the journalist.

We compared a genuine tweet put out by Ayyubs handle with this screenshot. The tweet used for comparison carries an image along with the text as in the case of the viral screenshot. A comparison reveals stark differences between the genuine tweet and the screenshot of the alleged tweet.

It is also noteworthy that all the screenshots shared on social media are identicalthey have the same number of retweets, comments and likes.

Rana Ayyub also tweeted about the fake screenshot, Hello @TwitterIndia this photoshopped tweet is being circulated and shared by thousands on all social media leading to targeted abuse and harassment, she wrote. Ayyub also quote-tweeted Jyotsna Varma and said, Hello @TwitterIndia @instagram, this concerted attack using photoshopped tweets has begun yet again. This is not the first time, will not be the last. You dont know who photoshopped it but you do know who is spreading this fake news to threaten and target me. In the past as well, Rana Ayyub has been at the receiving end of misinformation on social media.

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Journalist Rana Ayyub targeted with fake tweet in her name on Pranab Mukherjee's death - Alt News

It is one of the earliest examples of a politician accusing the media of fake news. And it illustrates that, despite having been a journalist himself, Winston Churchill had an ambivalent relationship with the press, praising it on occasions, attacking it on others.

Churchill had been incensed by a picture published on the back page of the Daily Herald on 4 June 1929, that showed him outside 11 Downing Street carrying a book with the title War clearly visible. The caption suggested that war was one of his favourite subjects.

Churchill insisted the photograph was a fake and ordered Edward Marsh, his private secretary, to write to the Heralds editor, William Mellor, expressing his outrage.

Marshs letter complained: Obviously your photographer, or someone at your office, has deliberately faked or forged a copy of the photograph which was published in the Daily Herald for the purpose of sustaining a prejudicial caption.

In response to the complaint, the Herald appealed to a rival, the right-wing Morning Post, which had employed a young Churchill as a correspondent three decades earlier.

The Posts experts examined the materials submitted to them and were unanimously agreed that they can find nothing in the negative to suggest that it is not perfectly genuine.

Other newspapers photographers had taken similar pictures of Churchill from slightly different angles and, although the lettering was not quite as legible as in the Herald, the title, on close inspection, was visible enough to corroborate the newspapers claim that it was genuine.

His refusal to back down when proven wrong is reminiscent of todays politicians who label criticism as 'fake news

The book Churchill was photographed with was in fact a recently published anti-war novel. It appears he casually picked a copy up and had forgotten ever having done so.

Churchill declined to apologise for his wrongful allegation and merely thanked the Herald for its assurance that the photograph had not been tampered with.

But this was not enough for Mellor, who demanded a complete and categorical withdrawal and apology. Churchill refused to give ground, arguing that the Heralds abusive campaign against him meant there was no need of making any further amends. The Herald, however, had the last word, with a cartoon depicting the book it suggested Churchill should read next, entitled The Manners of Gentlemen.

The row between politician and publisher is revealed in a new book, Winston Churchill, A Life in the News, by Professor Richard Toye of the University of Exeter, which shows that bad blood had existed between the two parties for the previous decade.

The left-wing paper had passionately opposed Churchills support for the White anti-Bolshevik forces in the Russian civil war, when he was secretary of state for war and air.

Churchill, in turn, had issued orders that the War Office was no longer to accommodate the Heralds journalists because their paper published propaganda of an essentially disloyal and subversive character.

Churchills cry of fake or forgery, and his refusal to back down when proven wrong, is reminiscent of todays politicians who label criticism of them as fake news, Toye said.

Of course, throughout his career Churchill did, periodically, praise the press as a healthy factor in politics because it drew attention to governments shortcomings. But his attack on the Herald was no one-off lapse.

Toyes book shows how, as an instinctive showman, and one of the first politicians to be a true global celebrity, Churchill exploited the media to spectacular effect. However, at times he wanted to silence dissent, not always on legitimate national security grounds, because he was nettled by criticism.

The relationship between Churchill and the Herald later improved. In 1936 the paper published articles revealing that Germany was importing huge quantities of materials used to make weapons. Churchill felt that this proved his suspicions about the Nazi regime and referred to the revelations in the Commons, praising the paper for refusing to shield its readers from unpleasant truths.

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Winston Churchill waged war on paper over 'fake news' photo caption - The Guardian

PUBLISHED: 10:00 06 August 2020

Peter Crumpler

Coronavirus, racism and climate change have been named as the three pandemics of our time.

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But there is a fourth disinformation that makes countering the other three increasingly hard.

The rise in fake news has reached epidemic levels with mounting concern about its negative impact. Respected newspapers like the Herts Advertiser play an important role in fighting back.

Without truths and facts that are widely agreed, it is hard to set out a level playing field for debate and argument. Instead, we end up shouting at each other from our dug-in positions. Or simply giving up.

In a new book, Responding to Post-truth (Grove Books), I set out a Christian reponse.

As Christians, we place a high value on the truth. We worship a God of truth who calls for honesty and integrity from all those who follow him.

The Church and her members have not always lived up to this high calling. We need to repent of whenever our leaders and institutions have covered up wrongdoing or been economical with the truth.

Yet Christians and other people of faith and good will could help to push back the tide of disinformation and fake news.

Places of worship can encourage dialogue across political, social and racial divides, bringing people together to air diverse views. We can build on our strong and enduring commitment to local communities.

At a time when trust in national politicians is low, supporting the local is vital. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people have regained an appreciation of the community on their doorstep.

We can each engage with views we may not agree with, pause and think before we share anything on social media, challenge our own inbuilt worldviews, refuse to succumb to conspiracy theories, engage sensibly in social media, support independent journalism and be wary of how much news we consume and where it comes from.

It can seem that we are powerless in the face of the onslaught of fake news and disinformation. But as individuals or communities we can take small steps to bring truth back into the centre of public life.

Rev Peter Crumpler is Associate Minister at St Pauls Church, Hatfield Road, St Albans.

If you value what this story gives you, please consider supporting the Herts Advertiser. Click the link in the orange box above for details.

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Rev Peter Crumpler on the fight against fake news - Herts Advertiser

Late celebrity manager Disha Salian's father, Satish Salian, has written a letter to the Mumbai Police, accusing journalists and a section of the media of causing mental harassment to his family.

In his letter, Satish also bashed the rampant rumors and speculations around Disha's death and urged cops to take appropriate action.

Disha died by alleged suicide on June 8.

Here's more on this.

Backstory

On June 8, Disha (28), who formerly managed Sushant Singh Rajput's work, died by alleged suicide after reportedly jumping off the 14th floor of an apartment in Mumbai's Malad area.

Barely a week after that, Sushant (34) was found dead at his apartment in Bandra. The police said he died by suicide.

Several media reports have since linked their untimely deaths.

Letter

It is imperative to note that several media reports and conspiracy theories have recently suggested that Disha was raped and murdered. In fact, a fake post-mortem report has also been doing the rounds.

Bashing these reports, Disha's father Satish told police that these stories are untrue and that they are tarnishing the reputation of his deceased daughter and his family.

Details

Satish wrote in the letter, "News about her involvement with any politician or attending parties with big names of film fraternity, rape, murder are all the stories cooked by these media people just to sell it to channels (sic)."

"These stories hold no truth. These are misleading the people and tarnishing my daughter's reputation and my family's reputation," he added.

Appeal

Adding that they don't suspect foul play and are satisfied with the investigation being carried out by Mumbai Police, Satish urged cops to take action against such journalists and politicians who are spreading rumors and fake news.

"Through this letter, I would request you to take reasonable action against the concerned journalists, influencers, politicians and media for their insensitive act towards us," he urged.

Statement

In a similar statement released last month, Disha's family had urged everyone to refrain from spreading rumors and conspiracy theories about her death.

"The loss is too deep and grave to be processed. It's a difficult situation for us...Empathy is the basic quality that makes us human. So let's be human first. Please let her rest in peace and let's spread kindness," they said.

Information

On a related note, Smita, a friend of Sushant, recently claimed that Sushant was doing fine until Disha's death. He, however, grew anxious after the news of her death surfaced.

The Mumbai Police has also said that Sushant had searched Disha's name, and that media reports linking him with her death might have upset the actor.

Sooraj

Various media reports have also suggested a connection between actor Sooraj Pancholi and Disha's sudden death. Notably, Sooraj was earlier involved in the infamous suicide case of actor Jiah Khan.

However, he has vehemently denied the allegations.

Bashing one such report, Sooraj said, "Please stop harassing me and dragging me into this... Start being responsible of your actions as it can ruin someone's life."

Suicide helpline

In case you need help or know someone who does, you can reach out to AASRA for suicide prevention counseling. Their number is 022 2754 6669 (24 hours).

You can also contact the Hyderabad-based Roshni NGO at +914066202000 or COOJ at +918322252525.

Sneha India Foundation, which works 24X7, can be contacted at +914424640050.

Vandrevala Foundation has trained counselors, and their number is 18602662345.

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Alleging harassment and fake news, Disha's father writes to cops - NewsBytes

Actor Rhea Chakraborty approached the Supreme Court on Monday with plea alleging unfair media trial in boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajputs death. Actor Swara Bhasker welcomed the move and said that she hopes the apex court will take an action on the fake news spinners and conspiracy theorists.

Swara tweeted, Rhea is being subjected to a bizarre & dangerous media trial fuel led by hugely problematic impulses of mob justice. I hope the Honble #SupremeCourt will pay heed & take fake news spinners & conspiracy theorists like Repooplic, Poopindia & others to task. Let the law decide.

Sushants father K K Singh, had on July 25 filed a complaint with the Patna police against Rhea, her parents, brother Showik, Sushants manager Samuel Miranda, Shruti Modi and unknown persons accusing them of cheating and abetting his sons suicide. The CBI had re-registered this FIR as a fresh case on Thursday and named as accused the same people. Singh also alleged financial irregularities in bank accounts of his son.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) began a fresh round of questioning of Rhea and her family members in connection with its probe in a money laundering case linked to Sushants death. Shruti Modi, the business manager of Rhea and Sushant, was also questioned. They were earlier questioned on August 7.

Also read: Swastika Mukherjee shares video of Sushant Singh Rajput asking his fans to let him go: I will come in a day or two. Watch

In the complaint, Sushants father alleged that an amount of Rs 15 crore was siphoned off from Sushants bank account in one year to accounts of persons not known or connected to the late actor. Under the EDs scanner are at least two companies linked to Sushant and some financial deals involving Rhea, her father and Showik, who are stated to be directors in these companies.

(With PTI inputs)

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Swara Bhasker says Rhea Chakraborty subjected to dangerous media trial led by impulses of mob just... - Hindustan Times

Music producer and rapper Badshah has issued a statement after he was questioned by the police in the fake followers scam. Badshah said he did his part by aiding the investigation and was never part of the scam.

Following the summons, I have spoken to the Mumbai Police. I have aided the officials in their investigation by cooperating and carrying out the due diligence on my part. Ive categorically denied all the allegations levelled against me and made it clear that I was never involved in such practices, nor do I condone them, he said.

The investigation procedure is being executed in accordance with the law and I have complete faith in the authorities, who are handling this matter. Id like to thank all those who have conveyed their concern to me. It means a lot to me, he added.

Badshah reached the office of the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) around 12.30 pm on Friday. He stepped out of the CIU office around 9.45 at night, an official told PTI.

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The CIU started probing the racket after Bollywood singer Bhumi Trivedi found that somebody had created her fake profile on social media and complained to the police. During the probe, the police unearthed the racket which creates fake social media profiles and sells fake followers and likes to celebrities and `influencers.

The police have recorded statements of nearly 20 people in the case. Senior police officials had said earlier that this was a serious issue as fake profiles are also used to spread fake news or misinformation.

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Badshah on being questioned by police in fake followers case: Ive categorically denied all the al... - Hindustan Times