In the network of fake news
Every day we are flooded with information. Many of them are useless knowledge, which falls in one ear and falls out with the other. People pay more attention to the topics of interest to the individuals, or to the one with a high profile. Unfortunately, the reliability of the information is still an issue because it remains low. Lots of fake news appear on the web every day through sharing, and instantly spreading across the Internet. Social networks, forums and media have failed in this regard as they are not able to control the wave of false often harmful information so they become the fake news factory themselves.
In the times of the coronavirus pandemic, controversial 5G masts and technological development the topic remains more relevant than ever before. Here are some examples.
With the spread of the virus, some information linking Corona beer with the coronavirus starts to appear in the media. Producers of this Mexican liquor announced a loss of $169 million due to the drop-in sales. The phrases “corona beer virus” and “coronavirus beer” began to circulate. Many people believed in the absurd rumors that Corona beer was linked to the virus. Of course, this information turned out to be fake news.
A few months ago, the construction of 5G network masts was taken as associated with the increase of coronavirus cases. 77 masts were attacked in Great Britain due to this connection. The transmitters were also set up on fire in the Netherlands and Poland. No matter whether or not believes in this conspiracy theory, attacks and destruction was a crime.
We are back to the topic of faith in someone’s opinions published on the Internet. Death of 46-year-old African American George Floyd, who died in May 2020 during violent police detention, led to the worldwide protests. Twitter user with the nickname Bad Scooter posted a tweet suggesting that TV MSNBC used the trailer from the zombie movie “World War Z” to highlight the scale of the riots. Even though it was just a joke and Bad Scooter wrote a quick correction, he underestimated the virtual potential of the platform. Information about the alleged use of the clip by the television was immediately passed on to other social networks and forums.
A completely different form of the “fake” is “deep fake”. Falsifying the news has taken a new dimension. With the help of artificial intelligence fake recordings are created by adding the face of a specific person on any character. On the published videos, certain people do things and say things which may be amusing but also shock to the Internet users. They are fake. Experts are afraid that “deep fakes” will be used to disinformation and to destroy the reputation of certain individuals. As much turning Jack Nicholson’s face into Jim Carrey from the role of crazy Jack Torrance from the movie “the Shining” can be very funny, however, the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg who says to the camera “imagine this for a second” could be quite scary. One man with total control over the stolen data of billions of people. All their secrets, their lives, their future. This of course about “deep fake video” published in 2019.
The Internet is filled with false information. If the content is controversial it helps with fast spreading. People do not verify content and often believe in the most suspicious and absurd information, which is why the power of opinions in the Internet is enormous. It’s worth checking the credibility of the appearing content and fighting against harmful fake news.