Daily Archives: March 29, 2021

The spread of misinformation in the form of unsubstantiated rumour and intentionally deceitful propaganda is nothing new. Even in antiquity, Antony and Cleopatra were were cast as villains through fake news shared by Octavian.

However, the global proliferation of social media, the 24-hour news cycle and consumers ravenous desire for news immediately and in bite-size chunks means that today, misinformation is more abundant and accessible than ever.

Fake news has been particularly associated with high-profile events like the 2016 Brexit referendum, the 2016 US presidential election, and the pandemic. It has shaken trust in institutions, governments and even the COVID vaccine.

But our new study shows fake news doesnt affect everyone equally. People with greater emotional intelligence are better at spotting it.

What do fake news providers gain from the spread of damaging misinformation? Broadly, they could be trying to legitimise an extreme view, political or otherwise. But at the base level, the answer is often money.

Fake news providers seek to capture a users attention with wild claims in the hope theyll click on it and go to the source website or share it. The provider can then raise revenue through advertising on their website. The more outlandish the claims, the more likely people are to click or share it. The more site traffic the provider receives, the more advertising revenue they can raise.

Over the past few years, research in psychological science and political science has started to assess who falls for fake news and how we can help people to detect and discard it.

In 2019 Gordon Pennycook, a psychology researcher at the University of Regina in Canada, and his colleagues assessed a variety of factors which may influence which individuals are more or less susceptible to fake news, using participants and news items related to the polarised political climate in the US. They found that being able to think analytically was one of the main drivers in successful fake news detection.

Our new research was a collaboration between us, two experts in government and public policy Mark Shephard and Narisong Huhe and Stephanie Preston, the student who led the study. We sought to build upon and complement Pennycooks work, by assessing fake news detection in a sample of UK participants across a range of news topics including health, crime, immigration, education and climate change.

Participants were asked a number of different questions about the veracity of each news item. Their responses generated an overall fake news detection score. While distinguishing the real from fake news content was challenging, on average, participants were more likely to make the correct decision than not.

Read more: Now there's a game you can play to 'vaccinate' yourself against fake news

Looking within the group performance, we wanted to assess whether there was a link between people who had greater levels of emotional intelligence the awareness of and ability to regulate your emotions and understand the emotions of others and those who were able to detect fake news.

We wondered whether it might be the case that those with greater levels of emotional intelligence would be better at discarding the often overly emotional and hyperbolic content that is often part of fake news, allowing greater focus on the veracity of the content itself.

We tested the emotional intelligence of participants using a questionnaire. Sure enough, those with greater emotional intelligence were better at detecting the fake news content.

The good news is that existing research has shown that emotional intelligence is something that can be improved in people. We are now working on developing a way to train people in emotional intelligence, as a way to improve their ability to detect fake news.

In doing so, based on our findings, this should help individuals discern with a greater degree of accuracy which news is safe and shareable, and which is misinformed and misleading.

More here:

Fake news: people with greater emotional intelligence are better at spotting misinformation - The Conversation UK

HOUSTON, TX The mad fury of activity for the Houston Texans that started with the advent of the new league year shows absolutely no signs of abating. At the time of this writing, the team has added 33 new players. In addition, with the restructuring of the Laremy Tunsil deal and whatever Whitney Mercilus conned the last full-time general manager into giving him, there is just that much more cap room to add even more players.

I saw where sooommmeee organizations out there were talking about our high unemployment numbers a while back. We, I should think we blew those numbers WAAAYYYY OUT OF THE WATER!!! We are hiring, and we cant fill all the roster holes fast enough! noted an exultant Cal McNair. At this rate, we may just set a record for greatest roster turnover, and we havent even gotten to the draft. Thats at least eight more players we can add...and the financial value of those picksman, we may just have a BRAND NEW TEAM!!! The losers from last year, they are all GOONNNEEE, BABY!!! Now, if youll excuse me, I have some real work to get back to..

He said that?! Mother[Easterby]!!! I thought we had cordoned him off from the press? [Easterby!, Easterby! Easterby!] noted an exasperated staffer. Caserio has gone even more insane signing players. We even tried to tell him through the Most High Easterby that even God took a day off. We just saw three employees collapse at their desks after trying to look up the bios for another twelve players no one has ever heard of as of today. At least we have had a couple of minutes to restno, wait, now we need to update the player profiles of another 3no, 4no, 5no, 10.HEEEELLLLLPPPPPPP!!!!

Yes, we have been busy observed Texans GM Nick Caserio. However, the state of this team when we got here wasnot good. Gotta rebuild the culture and I dont have time to waste. The sooner we fix this roster, the better we can be to build the model organizationand by model organization, I absolutely do not mean to model this organization like the team I spent my entire professional front-office life. Nope, that whole P******s South thing is absolutely not driving every single one of my decisions. In fact, I will show you the simplified checklist we use in targeting and signing players:

1. Are they Smart, Tough, Dependable?

2. Have they ever been associated with the New England Patriots and/or Bill Belichick within at least 3 degrees of separation?

3. Is anyone else interested in these players? (actually, this is not a factor whatsoever)

4. Do they accept the higher power as espoused by the Most High and Exalted Prophet the Blessed Jack Easterby?

5. Does the The Easterby think these players are gullible and desperate are of good moral character and the right culture fit?

6. Will they accept the only offer they are going to receive fair market value?

7. Does said player have an actual pulse and/or functional brain? (it is not required that said player possess both)

8. Will this player have any issues working with an individual that identifies as dromaeosaur?

(Note: It is not a requirement that said player fulfill all of these requirements. The priority will be items 2 (even if we cant officially say that publicly), 4,5,6, with 8 a personal preference for the GM. Item 8 is also to account for any and all NFL Equal Opportunity Initiatives).

[Editors Note: There is an outside chance this might have been a draft version.]

However, this is not to say that the Texans are only hiring. There have been a couple of cuts. The seemingly smart, tough and dependable practice squad WR Chad Hansen received his walking papers this week. Also, one of the numbers of the new Texans players is a recycling of a recently fired player. Jon Weeks will return to the roster to resume his 11-year career for the Texans. [Editors Note: Yes, the firing and immediate rehiring of a player probably shouldnt count as a new player, but whos going to tell Cal?]

Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in. lamented Jon Weeks in the Zoom call. I was all ready to start the next phase, or you know, find a real team. Unfortunately, my LinkedIn profile didnt get a lot of traction when I mentioned that was mostly known for throwing a football between my legs, and I guess I forgot to change the signature block of Smart, Tough, Dependable. That and I still gotta pay the bills, so yeah, I decided to go back.

[Editors Note: This came to mind for some reason]

Still, the Texans are hoping to make headlines about the mass of new players, preferring to focus on the 33 players brought in, and not on another fast-rising number which was up to 16 at the time of this writing.

We at Totally Not Fake News attempted to get further insights into this, uh, situation that somehow seems to be drowning out the mass personnel upheavals from the Texans front office, but all of a sudden, everyones Zoom channels went blank, immediately replaced by the following statement:

We are in contact with the NFL regarding this matter. We are working through the legal system. All inquiries will be handled by those other guys. Now, if you want to talk about all of the sacrificial lambs, er, super-duper new free agents we just hired and will continue to hire, as well as our new front office promotions, as well as the release dates of that documentary sensation, Building The Texans [Editors Note: We immediately shut off our screens after those words].

All phone calls were immediately cut off with the mention of the question, replaced with the same statement, read robotically.

We even tried to hack interface with Cal McNair during an on-line work session. No success.

Finally, we did get a hold of a staffer, who did note that this situation was receiving serious attention, so much so that Cal actually hit pause on his gaming on-line work session to try to reach out to figure out the story. The written response from Watson:

This is the most serious of matters. We are working through the legal system. All statements and inquires will be answered and handled by my legal representation. *

So it is that we at Totally Not Fake News will continue to monitor and report on what we can for the on and off field situation concerning the Texans. As we can report things to you, our loyal and faithful readers, we will.

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TOTALLY NOT FAKE NEWS: ROSTER TURNOVER (AND SOME OTHER NUMBERS) - Battle Red Blog

COVID-19-related conspiracy theories about 5G network towers, contaminated test kits, immune boosters and vaccine hesitancyare undermining trust and fuelling unnecessary panic.

This handout illustration image obtained February 27, 2020 courtesy of the National Institutes of Health taken with a scanning electron microscope shows SARS-CoV-2 (round blue objects) emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab, SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, is the virus that causes COVID-19, the virus shown was isolated from a patient in the US. Picture: AFP.

CAPE TOWN - More than one year into the pandemic and pockets of fake news and disinformation continue to hamper efforts to effectively deal with COVID-19.

From conspiracy theories about 5G network towers, contaminated test kits, immune boosters and vaccine hesitancy, South Africa has not been spared.

As Eyewitness News reports, these are undermining trust and fuelling unnecessary panic.

Around the world, fake news and disinformation has continued to do the rounds - even from people of influence.

Organisations such as Media Monitoring Africa and the Real411 have been used to mitigate the spread of disinformation.

Director William Bird said that some of the key trends over the last year included unproven theories, such as that COVID-19 didnt really exist and that certain vitamins could prevent the disease.

Bird said that social media was mostly used as a tool to spread these falsehoods.

Some of the other kinds of things that weve seen are the classic conspiracy theories about COVID-19. That its all invented by a western evil force and sometimes that might be an evil Chinese force and sometimes it might be an evil Bill Gates.

Bird said that the spreading of fake news about COVID-19 was another pandemic in its own right.

That is what the World Health Organization said, they called it an infodemic, and you know its this idea that you can spread all these rumors which really hamper efforts by government and scientists and doctors to try and mitigate the crisis were in.

Bird urged people to report any fake news to the Real411 a fake news and disinformation detection platform - to help eliminate disinformation and further damage.

The Real 411 said it had recorded 1,300 complaints of fake news over the last year - and more than 900 of these were COVID-19- related.

SPREADING OF FAKE COVID NEWS A CRIME

As per government regulations, anyone that creates or spreads fake news about the coronavirus is liable for prosecution.

Experts agreed that the spread of false information posed a threat to South Africa.

In 2020, Cape Town resident Stephen Birch was charged with breaching the National Disaster Act and defying lockdown regulations.

He had posted a video claiming that medical swabs used during community screenings were contaminated with the coronavirus.

That case is still before the courts and is just one of hundreds of people peddling lies about COVID-19 - especially now with the rollout of vaccines.

Of those 1,300, about 929 were specifically about mis- and disinformation. And of those, the overwhelming majority - about 90% - were about COVID-19, Bird explained.

Wits professor of vaccinology, Shabir Madhi, said that South Africa must act fast to curb this trend.

Unless we get on top of this false narrative around what COVID vaccines are and are not, we are going to be in a very dangerous situation in that people will remain unprotected if they fall for the fake news.

OVERBURDENED POLICE SERVICE

Cyber security experts are pleading that more effort be put into clamping down on fake news related to COVID-19.

Craig Pederson said that the South African Police Service had the capacity and technology to clamp down on fake news.

But as he explained, the police service was already overburdened with so many other crime-fighting initiatives.

The police are lagging behind in investigations in all forms of cybercrime, and fake news is just really one example of that.

Pederson said that in the last year there had been an increase in scammers trying to sell fake COVID-19 tests.

He urged people to verify any videos and COVID-19-related stories that pop up, especially on social media.

The key here is that you really have to search the provenance and the credibility of the author of the video or the article that youre reading and see that they are credible in their own right.

Download the Eyewitness News app to your iOS or Android device.

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The COVID-19 infodemic: A year later and fake news is still spreading - Eyewitness News

Prince Harry has added another job to the burgeoning portfolio career he has built up since relinquishing his royal duties, by joining a US initiative to tackle fake news.

The Duke of Sussex has been named as one of 15 members of the Commission on Information Disorder set up by the Aspen Institute thinktank. Announcing the move, the prince said he was keen to tackle the avalanche of misinformation in the digital world and argued this had become a humanitarian issue.

Harrys fellow commissioners include the former US congressman Will Hurd, one of the only Republican congressmen who criticised Donald Trump; Garry Kasparov, the former chess champion and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin; and Kathryn Murdoch, the daughter-in-law of the media baron Rupert Murdoch.

It will be co-chaired by the US journalist and broadcaster Katie Couric; Chris Krebs, the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; and the race equality campaigner Rashad Robinson, the president of Color of Change.

The commission will begin meeting in April and will hold a series of hearings with external experts.

Harry and Meghan have been highly critical of the media, claiming they contributed to the couples decision to leave the UK. Last month, Harry told James Corden the British press created a difficult environment that was destroying his mental health.

In a statement on his new role, Harry said: The experience of todays digital world has inundated us with an avalanche of misinformation, affecting our ability as individuals as well as societies to think clearly and truly understand the world we live in.

He added: It is my belief that this is a humanitarian issue and as such, it demands a multi-stakeholder response from advocacy groups, members of the media, academic researchers, and both government and civil society leaders.

The commission describes Harry as a humanitarian, military veteran, mental wellness advocate, and environmentalist.

The move comes a day after Harry was announced as the new chief impact officer for a Silicon Valley startup offering professional coaching and mental health advice.

In their interview with Winfrey, Harry and Meghan complained about having to pay for their own security after they stepped back from royal duties.

Since leaving their roles as working royals, the couple have signed multimillion-dollar deals including one to provide content for Netflix, and another to present podcasts for Spotify.

Couric said: In todays media landscape, consumers face a constant barrage of content that reinforces their established viewpoints. Powered by algorithms and shared ideologies, people often get affirmation instead of information, where facts are manipulated if not completely ignored.

This truth decay is a tremendous threat, not only to a well-informed electorate, but to democracy itself. With commentary increasingly replacing reporting, polarisation has deepened and trust in media has declined.

Read more here:

Prince Harry joins US initiative to tackle fake news - The Guardian

Fake news has repeatedly undermined efforts to protect people from the coronavirus pandemic.

Those who mainly get their news or information from social media are more likely to believe falsehoods about Covid-19.

Many people share fake news on social media because theyre simply not paying attention to whether the content is accurate, not necessarily because they cant differentiate between real from made-up news.

The current design of social media platforms in which users scroll quickly through a mix of emotionally driven, engaging and serious content, and receiveinstantaneous quantified social feedback on their sharing via likes, comments and shares may discourage people from reflecting on accuracy.

People sharing harmful anti-vaccine content have grown significantly during the covid-19 pandemic.

Social media accounts promoting false information about vaccines saw a boost in followers in France, India, Canada, USA, Brazil, Ukraine, Kenya and Tanzania.

Vaccine misinformation appears to mainly spread in groups where a range of topics such as health, religion, politics and conspiracy theories are discussed.

Covid-19 Vaccine | Sarah Tew/CNET

2021 saw a noticeable rise in misleading claims and conspiracy theories about vaccines.

Anti-vaccine content is largely driven by individuals promoting traditional medicine.

Groups opposing vaccines are small in size, but their online-communications strategies are worryingly effective and far-reaching.

There is also a political and nationalistic dimension to online debates about vaccination in some countries, which often spark misleading claims about foreign vaccines. Anti-vaccine movement is undermining scientific efforts to end the covid-19 pandemic.

1. Read a variety of sources2. Fact check any claim with statistics3. Don't get your news from social media4. Avoid politically driven and unbiased content5. Develop a critical mindset and don't share content that you don't know6. Check the source and who is reporting the story7. Don't take images and videos at face value8. Examine the evidence and check if it sounds right.

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Covid-19 and Fake News: Exponential Rise of Conspiracy Theories and How to Prevent Misinformation - BBN Times

During a live interview with Donald Trump Monday morning,Fox News anchorHarris Faulkner made a rather outlandish error,telling the former president thatDepartment of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had resigned, to which Trump declared a "victory." But there's one catch:Mayorkas never resigned.

"I want to get to this because it just happened now," the Fox News anchor began."I want to double-check this with our producers.The DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has resigned, Mr. President."

Without skippinga beat, Trump indulged in the truly fake news generated by the Fox News anchor."I'm not surprised.Good. That's a big victory for our country," he replied.

Faulkner, looking bewildered, was forced to almost immediately correct the record on air.

"Hold on. Let me stop, let me stop. Let me listen to my team one more time.Forgive me," Faulkner said, issuing a retraction of her own reporting."Forgive me. That has not happened, but andI apologize."

Following the botched interview, a Fox News spokesperson told Salon that the mistake was made due to"a virtual working environment" but didnot add any further explanation or details."The error stemmed from an audio issue in a virtual working environment.We corrected the mistake and continued on with the interview," the spokesperson wrote in an email.

During that same interview Monday morning,Faulkner found herself in another awkward situation afteraskingTrump why he is so outspokenabout President Joe Biden's immigration policies.

"Most ex-presidents like yourself don't weigh in at this level.Why did you feel you needed to on this issue?" the host asked Trump.

The former president then replied, "Well, you called me. I didn't call you in all fairness."

Go here to read the rest:

Fox News host feeds fake news straight to Trump on-air, immediately forced to walk it back - Salon