No news may be good news, but fake news is making all the headlines

What is fake news and how is it propagated?

‘Fake news’ is a very broad term. In its most innocent form, fake news is that which is purely invented for the purposes of satire and entertainment. The ‘Daily Mash’ website is a classic example, with recent ‘headlines’ including: “Tube strike backfires as commuters steal train keys and drive themselves” and “Massive suitcase ideal for train”.

However, real news which is reported with misleading headlines or unreported bias is a real cause for concern and, arguably, an even more malevolent problem lies with news that has been created to genuinely deceive the public.  Often this type of fake news is propagated widely due to the believable nature of the underlying story. For example, the Denver Guardian is not a real newspaper, yet during the recent US election it managed to publish false ‘news stories’ on the subject of Hilary Clinton’s leaked emails.

Social media in its various forms has a particular power in making fake news pervasive. The fact is that a fake news story which is shared by a friend or contact on a social media platform is likely to carry more weight with and have more impact on the reader.

How is the problem of fake news being tackled?

Facebook has been the recipient of harsh criticism for failing to prevent the spread of fake news. In response, Facebook has announced that it will prioritise verified news stories in its ‘trending’ list in an attempt to counteract the attention given to fake news stories. Facebook has also announced it is testing a system to ‘fact check’ the validity of news stories, the success of which has already been queried by unconvinced commentators.

However, Facebook will need to toe the line between becoming a ‘real news enforcer’ against infringing its users’ rights to free speech. This is arguably beyond the scope of its intended purpose of predominantly being a social media platform and is to an extent at odds with its positioning as an intermediary or mere conduit of information. But with large audiences comes great responsibility, which is something that social media platforms will likely be unable to avoid in practical terms.

In response to the so-called fake news crisis, the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has commenced an inquiry into ‘fake news’ and “the growing phenomenon of widespread dissemination, through social media and the internet, and acceptance as fact of stories of uncertain provenance or accuracy”. The background to this states that the public’s choice to peruse the internet and social media, rather than more traditional sources of news:

“…might lead the public being fed propaganda and untruths has been increased by the suggestions that electors in the 2016 US presidential election were subjected to possibly unprecedented amounts of ‘fake news’, and concerns that this may have had a significant impact on democratic processes.”

The government has listed a number of questions on the inquiry page, to which it has requested submissions be made by 3 March 2017.

For further information, please contact a member of our Commercial, Media and Technology team.