Fake News Is Everywhere

International Fake News

In America, we focus only on fake news that happens in this country. However, fake news is happening worldwide. America is not the only country that is scattering different kinds of fake news. Fake news is everywhere, whether it is about your favorite celebrity or dealing with the most recent  politics. People all around the world are coming up with lies to get attention and money.

Fake news is information that is not true and is used to look like a trustworthy source. It is shown in the internet to lure people to read usually by using big fonts, all capitalization, and a lot of exclamation points. More and more people make the mistake of falling into the trap of fake news because it looks interesting. The scary part of fake news is that most people believe it.

            One international fake news was about a couple in Florida who were arrested for “Running an international fake ID ring”. They supposedly did it for fraud and open bank accounts. One well known fake news that spread internationally was about a propaganda on the presidential campaign. The Russians were seeking to help Donald Trump’s campaign and punish Hilary Clinton. They did everything they could, from making websites, social media, and trolls.  

Another encounter of international fake news was about the Dalai Lama who apparently created a sitcom and converted to atheism.

“’I myself, I can no longer be a believer in nonsense,” the Dalai Lama said at a press conference at the Chan Centre. “Frankly speaking, all religions are bull excrement. So I have become atheist. When our brothers and sisters talk about God, creator, I can only face-palm.’ He laughed, perhaps a bit too hard.”

In the following paragraph is a made-up quote that was used in the article. One can tell if considering it that it does not sound legitimate. It has poor use of language and grammar, and does sounds like they are words from someone else. The article uses it as a satire and is known to post international fake news like this.

Work Cited:

"FALSE: The Dalai Lama Converts to Atheism, Will Step Down to Pursue Sitcom Career." Snopes.com. N.p., 29 Apr. 2016. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.”

FAKE NEWS HAS GONE INTERNATIONAL!

The issue of fake news is getting out of hand. Unlike before, when fake news had boundaries, it has now gone international. Reporters are writing news not only about their countries but about other countries as well, which turns out to be 'false'. Is their purpose to make money out of it like the yellow journalists do? Certainly not! To them, they are reporting based mostly on information available to them, which might not be true all the time and this makes the news fake.

Amnesty International, a non-governmental global organization that seeks to protect human rights and justice, on February 7, 2017 said in a report that the Syrian authorities were killing thousands of people allegedly 13,000 at Saydnaya Military Prison since 2011 through murder, torture, enforced disappearance and extermination as an attack against the civilian population. The Amnesty International, therefore, called for urgent investigation into the crime.

Photo Credit; Business Insider 

In an interview between the Syrian President Bashar Assad and Yahoo news's Michael Issikoff,Assad said that the Amnesty International had not been to Syria and that they are basing their report on alleged information from former prisoners, guards and judges, among other officials. 

 "We are living in an era of fake news and that it is a shame for Amnesty International to publish a report without a shred of evidence". Says Assad.

The Amnesty International published a 48-page document showing the research conducted to bring out this alarming information. In the methodology section, the amnesty admitted it had no physical evidence whatsoever to substantiate what were admittedly only the testimony of alleged inmates and former workers at the prison, as well as figures within Syria’s opposition.

The Amnesty International had been barred by the Syrian authorities from carrying out research in Syria and so did not have access to the prison neither did the witnesses interviewed. The photographs taken were from an outer space using satellite imagery. The only other photos included in the report were of three men who allege they lost weight while imprisoned and a photo of one of eight alleged death certificates provided to family members of detainees who died at Saydnaya. The alleged certificates admittedly reveal nothing regarding allegations of torture or execution.

This questions the credibility of the report by Amnesty International should it turn out to be false after the investigation, as people never suspected it would publish fake news. There is no conclusion to this case as investigations are on going. Fake news is becoming more serious than we thought. Some trusted sources could sometimes publish fake news. It is up to readers to discern which information is really true and should be acted upon. These fake news that circulate are near-truths and very difficult to identify at a glance. Readers should be vigilant!

When did "Fake News" start?

VHistory 

When did, people start even using fake news to influence people’s opinions? This is a question that I thought of during a recent lecture about what our next blog post should be about. We are supposed to be writing about global fake news and go overseas but I had something different in mind. History has been something I have always enjoyed so I thought to myself, asking when were people using fake news…

One quite important event that happened in U.S. history is the Presidential election between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson in a course text book Cengage Advantage Books: Making America: A History of theUnited States. These two men held one intense election. Adams called Jackson a murderer and went as far as creating posters of Jackson standing by the six graves of the men he “murdered.” It would seem that Adams got a little information about Jackson and changed it so sway the public, what actually happened was the men were executed for desertion during the War of 1812.

Another event that was of great significant was The Lincoln-Douglas Debate of 1858, there is a great documentary from History about his very debate. The debate wasn’t even for president but it was for senator. Fredric Douglas called Abraham Lincoln a nigger lover in order to sway the crowds. This was a huge blow to Lincoln and is an example of how “Fake News” has effected someone greatly and before some comments, bashing what I just said, I do know that after that was said Lincoln corrected Douglas winning the crowd but his isn’t a history lesson just examples of the past using “Fake News.”

What brought this to my attention though was this most recent election between President Trump and Hilary. They both fought greatly and made some strong accusations about the other. No doubt they both had their faults but neither has come right out to face any of them. This brings forth the point of a misleading government and makes one question even more, whether the information they are reseaving is correct

Now that that this has been said a question for the reader, have we changed and learned from the past or has it gotten worse?

Fake News is Global.

  America is not the only country where fake news exists. The rate at which fake news spread is very alarming. Countries now cross the boundaries of spreading fake news about other countries of which America is not an exception. The fake news range from politics to social life, economics, industry and so on. The incidence of reporting fake news come from different sources, some of which might not create the slightest impression of being fake because the person(s) involved are trusted by the society.
  Fake News are the means to get public attention by some people. Heidi Jones, a former news anchor and and weather reporter of ABC News reported of being raped by a Hispanic man at Central Park, New York. It was not easy to suspect she could create a false accusation  like she did because America trusted her, based on her reputation with her job. Her motives became thwarted when she contradicted herself with another story linked to the same man. Interrogators sensed something fishy about her story and when they probed further, she admitted to faking the whole story so she could "get attention and sympathy".
  The birth of Princess Charlotte in 2015 by Prince William and the Duchess, Kate Middleton brought about Russians creating fake news about the child's birth. According to John Shammas, a news reporter for Mirror Online, a UK's newspaper, Russians reported in their newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, the birth of Charlotte by Kate Middleton as reported is fake. According to Shammas, the fake news were created by some Russian women, who believed Kate looked too good to have given birth within a couple of hours ago. They even claimed the child was by a surrogate mother but not by Kate herself. One other baseless claim made was the fact the child, Princess Charlotte did not look like a child born within a couple of hours ago. She looked like she is about seven to ten days old, they said.
     

The allegations of the Russians who claimed and propagated the fake news based their claims on not facts but on what they were seeing with their eyes. In fact, there were no logos, and ethos attached to the claims made. It is surprising as to how countries now cross the boundaries when it comes to fake news publications.  

The baby, Charlotte was shown to the public for the first time by her mom and dad, when leaving the 

hospital. The link below shows the Princess when she was being brought out of the hospital. 

Click to view1:43

 Fake news creates tension between countries. Pakistani defense minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif in his reaction to a fake article read about nuclear war, tweeted  Israel saying, Pakistan is also a nuclear power inclined and will fight back if they are attacked by Israel. The Israeli defense minister, Moshe Ja'alon  replied prompt saying, the information Asif has is based on false news. To confirm Ja'alon's claim, the article on which Asif based his threat and reply, referred to Ja'alon as "The former Defense Minister" at some point and a "Defense Minister" at another time in the same article, which makes it self contradictory. The news source, AWD has been classified as dubious. It reported once that Abdullah, King of Jordan has killed his wife Rania, where in fact, the wife is still alive and healthy. In another instance, it reported Vladimir Putin, president of Russia is dead which is no where near the truth. 

      With the incidence of fake news spreading at an uncontrollable rate, it is up to readers to decide on when and where they would dig for their information. News read and heard, should not be taken as being authentic until it has been verified. Once news cannot be traced to a reliable source, it should then be considered as a rumor, which most of the time cannot be traced to its original source. Fake news is all about fame, money and the reasons which are best known to its creators.

Fake News

Fake news is one of those things that will always be around no matter where you go. It doesn’t matter if you go overseas or to another state it will always be there. The thing that I find funny about the fake news is that everybody is mad and yelling at each other that they’re the right side and you’re wrong. But why can’t we just look at what’s acutely and then talk about it like normal people and come to a group agreement. I know that this will never happen because in politics both sides will be out for blood and frankly I could care less about politics but this class forces me to think about something I hate.

I will just say that I hate doing these posts about fake news but since that is the assignment I must try. We can talk about fake news and where it is and why it happens but I would say the root of the problem is why do people care so much about it. I understand it’s a big deal but why do you have to get mad at someone who thinks different from you that the part that confuses me.

 Let’s say I’m a very well know TV host and I say one thing that is super fake but I tell the people watching the show that I have facts to back it up and I had groups look in to it to make sure it was right. You would probably believe me with no further information and if you don’t most of the world would.

That example is the problem right there if people just stopped with all that I think we would make this generation ten fold better but we’ll never know because it’ll never get to that point.

Fake news does not discriminate

Fake news does not discriminate

 

Fake news is not just limited to America. It can affect any nation that has an internet connection with people looking for news. In today’s post, the topic is international fake news, it’s about an election but it is not the U.S.A. presidential election this time, it is the French. During the U.S.A. election, fake news plagued candidates and it seems to be a popular trend, so far, in the French election as well. The BBC reported on this and they have 5 stories that affect the French election but are fake news. There are too many stories to cover in one post, but if you want to read the rest of the stories go to BBC.com.

 

              The first story the BBC reports on is presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron’s campaign is being funded by Saudi Arabia. The niece of presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, Marion Marechal-Le Pen claimed that Macron’s campaign was financed by Saudi Arabia. The site the story appeared on is a faked version of an actual French news source. It was found on LeSoir.info when the real website is LeSoir.be, the fake site was designed to look like the original website so it could spread false information to readers of LeSoir.be. The author of the fake site made it to where if you clicked on any links on the fake news report page, it would take you to the real Le Soir website. This fake site was registered to a Donald Thomas in Delaware, United States



                The next story relating to the French presidential election is a story about Maine Le Pen for criticizing the child cartoon show “Masha and the Bear” because the little girl wears a veil in the cartoon. An anti-National Front twitter account claimed that Le pen criticized this show. Now, even if this presidential candidate did criticize this show because the little girl wears a veil in the show, why would that matter? The article does not state any reason why that would matter but my best guess is to show that Marine Le Pen dislikes the Muslim faith. If that is the reason, it is a very poor attempt at doing so. If Le Pen did criticize the show, which she did not, maybe she just does not like veils. The tweet that allegedly said that she did criticize the show was in fact fake. It was a doctored image of the original tweet by Marine Le Pen. The person behind this whole stunt, who did not want to be named, told crosscheck it was designed “to demonstrate how easy it is to misinform on twitter”.  If that was indeed the authors purpose, then they did a fine job in doing so.

               The last post relevant to the French presidential election is about how the French state is replacing Christian public holidays with Muslim and Jewish holidays. French websites have claimed that two new holidays will be introduced, both of those holidays being Muslim and Jewish. Not surprisingly, those websites were in fact wrong. The French government has never announced such a proposal. However, a think tank called Terra Nova is advocating the idea. This is not the first time Muslim and Jewish holidays have tried to be introduced in France. MEP Eva Joly tried to in 2012. The holidays in question are Yom Kippur and Eid al-Adha. Maybe these websites did not mean to misinform their readers but simply misunderstood the situation, or they fully understood that they were spreading false information and wanted to bad (wanted to say something else but was not sure if that language would be appreciated in this blog).

 

This just shows that fake news will be international. It has proven to be an extremely useful tactic when dealing with elections. It would be unwise for candidates to not use it while it still has this impact. Until the public finds a way to effectively say news is fake news, there will always be a place for fake news in elections. Just as the American election was plagued with fake news, the French election will too. It seems to be the trend elections will take from now on. We can stop this though, it’s simple. Do not believe everything you read on the internet. Fact checking sources and stories can stop the spread of fake news and maybe there will have a good, clean election in the future. But as of now, elections will continue to have fake news in them.

 

Facebook shutting down?

Facebook has been around for many years now and it became an everyday usage to some people, but will that soon come to an end? Questions has been asked and people are starting to worry. In 2016, Snapchat seems to be the only threat that Facebook has right now. With its millions of young users. On march 1, 2017 rumors went around saying that Facebook will be shutting down. The original rumor, which stated that Facebook would shut its doors online and at its headquarters in Palo Alto, is believed to have been started on January 8 by satirical news site Weekly World News. The phony article even included a “quote” from Mark Zuckerberg. “Facebook has gotten out of control,” the Zuckerberg quote read, “and the stress of managing this company has ruined my life. I need to put an end to all the madness."  Facebook‘s official Twitter feed, on the other hand, was quick to brush the January rumor aside. “We didn’t get the memo about shutting down, so we’ll keep working away. We aren’t going anywhere; we’re just getting started,” read a Facebook tweet on January 9. The same day, a Facebook spokesman dismissed the rumor as “silliness.” Facebook is the trending topic on twitter with the hashtag #facebookforever #savefacebook. In January of 2011, Facebook took a five million dollar investment from Goldman Sachs and the Russia-based Digital Sky and now they're shutting down? Reported from the Weekly Words News on March 15 that the commonly use site and app will be shut down. "Most people would probably never believe such a load of old nonsense as the claim that Mark Zuckerberg is going to shut down Facebook, but it only takes a small proportion of people to think it might be possible to turn a joke of a news story into an internet hoax," writes Graham Cluey. so everyone is saying its a "hoax" for now. But the question is Will we be having this same conversation twenty years from now about Facebook? We can't answer that, but we can at least know that Facebook is still up and running now, and we can only hope that it will continue for many more years.