Lost in fake news
Question
1: Why would people—often brilliant
ones—create fake news?
Question
2: Why would supposedly intelligent and
educated people believe and spread fake news?
Question
3: If someone spreads fake news in
social media with the intention of “informing everybody”—does it mean he or she
may be straying from The Truth?
Answer
1: People create fake news to gain power
and to make money. The Cambridge
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus defines “fake news” as “false
stories that appear to be news, spread on the internet or using other media,
usually created to influence political views or as a joke.” Wikipedia adds: “Fake news is a type of yellow journalism or
propaganda that consists of deliberate misinformation or hoaxes spread via
traditional print and broadcast news media or online social media… with the intent to mislead in order to damage
an agency, entity, or person, and/or gain financially or politically, often
using sensationalist, dishonest, or outright fabricated headlines…” And from Pope Francis’ Message (for World
Communications Day 2018): “…fake news refers to the spreading of disinformation
on line or in the traditional media. It
has to do with false information based on non-existent or distorted data meant
to deceive and manipulate the reader.
Spreading fake news can serve to advance specific goals, influence
political decisions, and serve economic interests.”
That’s
pretty clear—fake news generators aim to gain power by influencing public
opinion. Plus, they make money
twice—from the client who hires them to do the job, and from the so-called
internet click revenue. Fake news
fabricators use websites to run fake news, and these websites accept
advertisers. Each time a reader clicks
on an ad, money comes in for the website creator. Fake news creators are experts at making
sensational headlines or “clickbaits”—for example, “Pope endorses Trump”—to
attract readers “who want to know the truth”. Lies are big business, you see?
Answer
2: Even supposedly intelligent and
educated people like some lawyers and doctors and university professors may
unwittingly become purveyors of fake news.
People have a conscious desire for true information, but due to carelessness
or personal bias, they are prone to consume—and spread—false information. Messages may appeal to people because they
respond to their own desires or prejudices, thus they not only accept such messages on faith, but also forward
them without verification. Classic
examples of these are fake news that either praise or lambast political
candidates, dignitaries. and celebrities.
What
is called the “illusory truth effect” also plays a huge part in the propagation
of fake news. Recent research in psychology
reveals that exposure to fake stories leaves a subtle impression each
time. Experiments prove that each time
we receive a forwarded false story on Facebook, and then receive the same
multiple times from more friends and friends of friends, the story grows more
familiar and that familiarity, according to the experts, casts the illusion of
truth: “The illusory truth effect comes to play when we hear or read fake news
claims repeated, no matter how ridiculous or illogical they sound.” Remember that law of propaganda attributed to
the Nazi Joseph Goebbels: “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the
truth.” A piece of fake news is a lie,
so….?
Answer
3: Yes, someone who spreads fake news in social
media, even with the intention of “informing everybody”, may be straying from
The Truth because he/she has become so anxious, contemptuous, angry, and
emotionally fired up that he/she loses sight of what is good and doesn’t bother
anymore to discern the data received in the light of Christ’s teachings. (That’s what you get for squandering your
hours on social media). Pope Francis
says “The tragedy of disinformation is that it discredits others, presenting
them as enemies, to the point of demonizing them and fomenting conflict. Fake news is a sign of intolerant and
hypersensitive attitudes, and leads only to the spread of arrogance and hatred. That is the end result of untruth.”
If
you’ve been dragged into participating in this fake news thing, is there an
easy fix to the problem? It is correct to
see it as a problem because one who is lost in the world of fake news has a
divided heart. There is a sure fix but it may not be that easy: abstain from
social media and reconnect with The Truth “I am the truth…” (John 12:6) until
He makes you whole again. And that’s the
truth.