Did you know that getting COVID-19 can make women infertile? That former U.S. president Barack Obama was arrested? Or perhaps you were too busy reading how Amazon now sells black toilet paper out of political correctness or Greeces red light districts will limit patrons to 15-minute visits each as a COVID-19 precautionary measure.
Had enough yet? How about this one? U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is Hunanese, his father was a renegade bandit and a landlord, and thats why he hates China.
Those are just some of the headlines and reports Ive seen over the past couple months, scrolling through my parents social media posts, chat groups of secondary school classmates, microblogging platform Weibo, and Jinri Toutiao Chinas most popular news portal. A few were brought to my attention by my 9-year-old daughter.
They have, without exception, garnered widespread readership, been shared across social media, and generated significant discussion.
And they are, without exception, fake.
There is a real demand in China for international news. If anything, the countrys growing international influence and engagement has made the subject more attractive, not less. But increasingly, this massive demand for news about the outside world exceeds what traditional channels alone can deliver, leaving the countrys media environment overrun with disinformation.
Fabricated or false new stories about international events rampage across the Chinese internet partly because of its hermetic environment, which limits readers ability to visit foreign websites and find out for themselves what is true or false. Language is another barrier. English may be a compulsory class in Chinese schools, but only a minority of people can fluently read foreign language news. Most simply read secondhand compilations and rundowns instead.
Then there is the countrys dearth of qualified foreign correspondents. Having failed to become true centers of knowledge production, staff at Chinas news agencies abroad struggle to bring their understanding of other countries back to China and enrich peoples worldviews.
In shattering the monopoly on information once held by these news agencies, the internet has democratized content creation and dissemination. But it didnt take long for some to realize that disinformation and conspiracy theories reeled in as much, if not more attention than more sober reporting and ad revenue to boot. And whereas coverage of domestic issues is tightly regulated in the interests of maintaining social stability, regulators and the public alike take a far more relaxed stance toward international issues, especially as the public opinion climate increasingly turns against the West and its white liberal compradors.
Above: The screenshot on the left shows a fake report about Obama being arrested; The screenshot on the right shows a similar fake news report about Gina Haspel. Below: A screenshot of the original video shows it was taken out of context. From the website of China Fact Check
The trend has only become more prevalent this year with the explosion of what the World Health Organization termed an infodemic of disinformation about the coronavirus. The combination of information bubbles, selective or distorted reporting, and manipulation has only reinforced our distrust of neutral outlets. Today, many readers prefer to judge media on their standpoint, not the quality of their reporting, and polarization overwhelms levelheaded discussion.
Disinformation and political polarization are hardly unique to China, but those working in the Chinese news industry need to shoulder more responsibility for our failure to give diverse, varied perspectives on stories. This will become more pressing as China grows more powerful, if only because the citizens of an emerging superpower should have an understanding of the world that befits their status. Having accurate information about other countries is essential to adopting a rational, open-minded, tolerant worldview. Otherwise the barrage of disinformation will gradually distort the Chinese peoples knowledge of the world and hinder constructive dialogue between China and other nations.
So what can we do? As a former editor in Chinese media myself, I know from experience that traditional fact-checking methods, which rely on teams of specialized workers painstakingly querying each claim made in an article, are wholly inadequate for the tidal wave of misinformation flooding our social media feeds. Instead, I decided to try something new. This year I launched China Fact Check, which takes a digital, new media approach to the issue. The idea is to create an online platform to foster collaborative relationships between three parties key to stopping fake news: universities, the media, and social media platforms.
My rationale for including the first party, universities, is simple: Fact-checking should start with young people. Theyre at a crucial stage in their intellectual development, and its important to encourage and support them in improving their media literacy and cultivate their ability to differentiate between the trustworthiness of different sources.
Theyre also extremely helpful volunteers. College students possess a natural familiarity with the internet, and many of them are also fluent in foreign languages, allowing them to check the sourcing on reports in the original.
Supplementing their youthful enthusiasm, I have been joined in my project by a group of veteran international news reporters and editors, who have volunteered to form and run a quality audit committee to ensure fact-checking standards and quality. Despite the stigmatization of the mainstream media both domestically and globally, professionally trained media professionals still have the responsibility to act against fake news and disinformation.
The third piece of the puzzle is the trickiest. A 2019 study of 10 Chinese cities found that 99.82% of respondents got news from their smartphones. Roughly 75% listed chat groups on messaging app WeChat as a news source; 20% listed Weibo. Television and print media accounted for only 6.5% and less than 1% of respondents news consumption, respectively.
In short, companies like ByteDance, Sina, and Tencent are not just tech firms; theyre major media outlets as well. But compared with their international counterparts like Facebook and Twitter, they have yet to come under intense public pressure over disinformation. Meanwhile, as algorithms mature and become more accurate, the mutual dependence between users, content creators, and those platforms has only deepened. Users get a rush from reading their tailored news feeds, while the latter two groups reap the profits.
Its not always that Chinese social media platforms fail to give due attention to disinformation; its just that they typically attempt to solve the problem the way they approach everything else: with messy, opaque regulations and conflicting standards. They remove some posts really quickly while leaving more radical content untouched. Tencent runs a database of rumors and fake news that will automatically alert readers if theyve read articles on WeChat later flagged as misinformation. Yet, because platforms opt first and foremost to work with government agencies and mainstream media outlets, its difficult for third-party fact-checking agencies to get their work noticed or included in these databases.
Still, its not completely hopeless. Disinformation is its own ecosystem, with mature mechanisms of production, sharing, and consumption. We have to acknowledge the collapse of our traditional media infrastructure and take an active role in building something new an ecosystem for truth. That will require active participation from society; more responsible, engaged media outlets; and platforms willing to sacrifice revenue to ensure that the most widely shared news is also the most accurate.
I dont want my child growing up on fake, skewed information that then shapes her outlook of the world. Who would?
Translator: Katherine Tse; editors: Cai Yineng and Kilian ODonnell; portrait artist: Wang Zhenhao.
(Header image: DigitalVision Vectors/People Visual)
Read the original here:
Mike Pompeo's Dad was a Hunanese Bandit and Other Real Fake News - Sixth Tone
- The Phony Debate About Political Correctness ThinkProgress - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- Political Correctness Watch - December 12th, 2016 [December 12th, 2016]
- The Origins of Political Correctness - academia.org - January 13th, 2017 [January 13th, 2017]
- Spicer says 'political correctness' infringes on 'freedom of religion' - Washington Post - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Political correctness exists to build respect for the oppressed - Kenyon Collegian - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Letter: Political correctness has gone too far - The Herald-News - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Boy Scouts ruined by political correctness: Your Say - USA TODAY - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Spicer Says Religious Liberty Is Getting 'Pushed Out' By Political Correctness - TPM - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Lawrence Modisett: Need for political correctness still holds true - The Providence Journal - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Trump's right-wing political correctness makes us less safe - Daily Kos - Daily Kos - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Authoritarian political correctness - Dailyuw - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Fixing political correctness - The Stanford Daily - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- The Politically Correct Presidency of Donald Trump - The Atlantic - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Letter: Political correctness is akin to golden rule - The Buffalo News - Buffalo News - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Pro-Trump priest casts political correctness aside and creates quite the stir on social media - BizPac Review - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Slamming 'political correctness,' Casper scraps recycling program ... - Casper Star-Tribune Online - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Political correctness is life and death on a hilarious It's Always Sunny - A.V. Club - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Too PC? - Two Views on Political Correctness - Huffington Post - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Foregoing Political Correctness, The Senate Should Have Let Warren Speak - Daily Caller - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- To a Collegian columnist: Disregarding political correctness hinders social justice causes - Kenyon Collegian - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Political correctness | The Economist - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Netflix Boycott Over 'Dear White People' Is Right-Wing Political Correctness in Action - Heat Street - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Salman Rushdie's New Novel is About Political Correctness and the ... - Heat Street - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Letter to the editor: The truth doesn't require political correctness - Anniston Star - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Trump's Right-wing Political Correctness Makes Us Less Safe - Huffington Post - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- When Will They Purge Indian History Of Political Correctness And Teach Us As It Is? - Swarajya - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Editorial: Brown puts political correctness above jobs - Daily Astorian - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Slamming 'political correctness,' Casper scraps recycling program for electronics - Casper Star-Tribune Online - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- Letter: Political correctness has endangered our safety | INFORUM - INFORUM - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Letter to the editor: Political correctness has influenced minds - Post Register - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Political Correctness Is An Absolute Must | Time.com - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Political Correctness Propagates Radical Liberalism and Undermines The Truth - Accuracy In Media (blog) - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- This Day: Charlton Heston speaks at Harvard about Political Correctness - The Apopka Voice - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Words, Tweets and Stones in the "Political Correctness" Wars ... - EconoTimes - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- Ferguson Political Correctness - The Missourian - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- PewDiePie: Alt-Right Nazi, Victim of Political Correctness, or Just an Idiot? - Reason (blog) - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Political correctness weaponized in face of unpopular opinion - The Vermilion - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Populist correctness: the new PC culture of Trump's America and Brexit Britain - The Guardian - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Trevor Phillips: political correctness ushered in the populist wave - The Guardian - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Political correctness on a downward spiral - NCC Linked - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- PewDiePie's Misguided War On The Media Sounds Familiar - Forbes - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Better Education Responsible for Political Correctness - NYU Washington Square News - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Publishers Pen - Political Correctness and Lawlessness: A Rant - Up & Coming Weekly - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Fed up with political correctness - The Rushville Republican - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Thursday's best TV: Born Too White; Has Political Correctness Gone Mad? - The Guardian - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Political correctness is to blame for terrorist payout, says Leo McKinstry - Express.co.uk - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Jones: It's not political correctness, just common decency - Philly.com - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Is There Space For Political Correctness In Fashion? Gucci Says Maybe Not - Refinery29 - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- The Dark State of Political Correctness - American Spectator - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Thursday February 23, 2017 - Israel Hayom - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Jim Bailey column: Caught up in political correctness - The Herald Bulletin - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Op-ed: He's just saying what we're all thinking: How political correctness fails us in the age of Trump - The Eagle - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- The Bus Campaign That's Giving UK Political Correctness a Run for ... - CBN News - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Has political correctness gone mad? 'Comedians must be allowed to offend' - thejournal.ie - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
- CPAC inadvertently shows logic behind political correctness - UT The Daily Texan - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
- Despite Rumblings About Political Correctness, the Black Oscar Nominees This Year Deserve All the Accolades - Heat Street - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
- EDITORIAL: Political correctness ... and more absurdities | The ... - The Daily Progress - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- Political correctness puts end to much loved television characters ... - Starts at 60 - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- Political Correctness Hurt the Oscars - WSAU (blog) - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- The Bus Campaign That's Giving UK Political Correctness a Run for Its Money - CBN News - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Fox News' Tucker Carlson says 'Moonlight' only won Best Picture because of political correctness - ThinkProgress - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- O'Reilly: 'Americans Are Tired of Political Correctness & Left-Wing Totalitarianism' - Fox News Insider - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Enough with the political correctness: transgender individuals shouldn't be allowed to compete in sports - The Rebel - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Is political correctness killing US institutions? - Canada Free Press - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Jennifer Saunders Claims Political Correctness Has Ended ... - Huffington Post UK - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Conservative Rag Bends to Political Correctness - American Free Press - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Why John Howard thinks Australians are sick of political correctness ... - Starts at 60 - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- Columbus Statue Removed at Pepperdine Bow to Political Correctness - The New American - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- Why 'rage is not a policy' - Washington Times - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Is Actually The Most Politically Correct Politician Of Them All - Huffington Post - March 7th, 2017 [March 7th, 2017]
- Misguided political correctness is problem | Letters To Editor | union ... - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin - March 7th, 2017 [March 7th, 2017]
- Political correctness is curtailing free speech: Letters - LA Daily News - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- 'La La Land' is the Ultimate Victim of Hollywood's Political ... - Heat Street - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- Political correctness sends ACC from Tobacco Road to Brooklyn - Power Line (blog) - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- Give political correctness a failing grade - Canoe News - Canoe - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Nick Ferrari: Political correctness is turning our police into social services - Express.co.uk - March 12th, 2017 [March 12th, 2017]
- Littleproud: program is 'political correctness gone too far' - Warwick Daily News - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Editorial: freedom of speech in an era of political-correctness, part two - Daily Sundial - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- When Republicans defend Republicans' bad behavior, we justify 'political correctness' - Mooresville Tribune - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Marvel V.P. Admits Political Correctness Killed Comic Sales ... - FrontPage Magazine - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]