Category Archives: Fake News

WhatsApp is said to be testing a couple of features including a new in-app camera interface and allowing group administrators permission to delete specific messages for everyone.

As for the new camera interface, it will be available for Android users only. The camera will change the position of the Flash shortcut and redesign Switch Camera button. According to WhatsApp beta software tracker WABetaInfo, the WhatsApp for Android beta 2.22.1.2 update will add a circular shade to the Switch Camera button and users will be shown recent photos from the bottom left corner while sending or uploading an image. The new experience is not yet live for beta testers but is said to be a part of internal testing.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp group administrators may soon be able to delete specific messages for all group members to filter misinformation and spam common in regular groups despite long debates and criticism on the same. This feature is an extension of the existing Delete for Everyone feature that WhatsApp had introduced back in 2017.

The members will see a notice This was removed by an admin after a specific message is deleted by a group admin.

Features like ability to restrict members from sending messages to their groups and prevent members from making any unwanted group information edits and with the new feature members will be restricted from fake news even more.

There is no update on when these features will be live. Also, since reports are from internal testing users might see some changes in the interface when it is provided to the Android users. As for enhanced deletion features, according to WABetaInfo and WhatsApp for Android beta 2.22.1.1, the feature is coming at least to beta testers sometime early next year.

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WhatsApp may soon allow group admins to delete messages for everyone to curb spread of fake news, misinformation - The Financial Express

The PIB Fact Check has busted a fake news which was in circulation stating that there will be offline exam in all universities for semester courses.

The government fact check agency has warned students not to fall prey to such fake news and advised to visit official website of the University Grants Commission (UGC) for all latest updates regarding exams.

A public notice regarding offline examinations in universities is circulating on social media & claims to be issued by @ugc_india #PIBFactCheck: This public notice is #FAKE! University Grants Commission has NOT issued any such notice. For info Link https://ugc.ac.in/ugc_notice, it tweeted.

The Commission has on the other hand issued an important notice regarding the exam dates for the July 2021 semester courses that are offered by several National Coordinators like IGNOU, IIM-B, NITTTR and CEC.

As per the notice, the SWAYAM examination for the students, working professionals, lifelong learners, who have enrolled for the July 2021 semesters offered by them, has been scheduled for February 4 and 5, 2022.

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UGC Notice On Offline Semester Exam In All Universities- The Fake News Busted - OTV News

The North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) said it has taken note of a message circulating on Whatsapp advising persons that the third dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine is available to anyone at the Paddock Area, Queens Park Savannah this weekend without a referral letter.

In a statement, the NWRHA advisedmembers of the public that this information is false.

The Authority said it continues to administer the primary third dose with scheduled appointments as stipulated by the Ministry of Health as follows:

Sinopharm to persons 60 years and over three to six months after second dose or soonest thereafter.

AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson to persons moderately to severely immunocompromised regardless of age, one to three months after the final dose or soonest thereafter. These persons must have a referral letter from their physician.

The NWRHA further requested that persons desist from sharing the false information.

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NWRHA responds to fake news regarding third dose of COVID-19 vaccine | Loop Trinidad & Tobago - Loop News Trinidad and Tobago

The 10th ASEF Editors Roundtable (ASEFERT10) wrapped up and placed a bold cooperation front on fighting against fake news between the two continents Asia and Europe.

The agreement was made after a range of discussions between media practitioners of the two continents during the two-day event hosted by Cambodia in hybrid format.

Under the theme Strengthening Cooperation between Journalists in Combating Fake News, the ASEFERT10 is one of the major side events of the 13th Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM13) being organised by Cambodia on Nov. 25-26.

The ASEFERT10 consisted of two plenary sessions and a public forum.

According to a press release of the Ministry of Information, during the first plenary session, editors from both continents shared information, experiences and current state of the spread of fake news in their respective countries.

They also discussed and shared lessons learned and best practices in their respective countries in combating fake news and highlighted the significant roles and responsibilities of journalists in disseminating facts and credible information to the public; encouraging the public to be educated on media literacy; and to train citizen journalists to understand ethics and professionalism.

The editors of the two continents agreed that fake news is a global issue which is happening in Asia, Europe and the whole world. Fake news relevancy is occurring in almost every field, such as politics, economy, trade, and private life. It caused serious damage to the society and the daily life of the people, especially during the wide spread of the COVID-19.

In the second plenary session, the editors of both continents emphasised the need to tighten the cooperation between journalists and information officers, as well as government leaders of each country in continuing to strengthen and expand the mechanism of communication, consultation, and information exchange in a transparent and accountable manner. They also viewed that journalists and the government are the complementary partners, as the government need journalists to cover their work, while journalists need information to broadcast. Meanwhile, the journalists are required to strengthen their professionalism and ethics in order for them to regain the trust from the public.

For the public forum, the editors of both continents and the national and international journalists working in Cambodia discussed and exchanged experiences on journalism professional practices, information dissemination by citizen journalists, especially on social media platform and measures, including legal measures, taken by each country to combat fake news and promote the freedom of expression.

The 10th ASEF Editors Roundtable was a success and a proud achievement, with the aim of strengthening and expanding cooperation between journalists of the two continents and stakeholders in the fight against fake news and raising awareness of the importance of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between journalists in both continents.

The event was held under presidency of Khieu Kanharith, Minister of Information, and Ambassador Morikiwa Toru, Executive Director of the Asia-Europe Foundation, and attended by editors and senior journalists of print and broadcasting news outlets of the two continents. Chea Vannak AKP

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Asia-Europe anti-fake news cooperation urged to be strengthened - Khmer Times

The current election cycle shows how these distortions carry over to the level of national politics. Pakikisama can be abused to quash any dissent to the opinion of the majority, or to the groups authority figure(s).People raising grievances, objections, or even questions are seen as threats to group harmony. They must be silenced or expelled. The actual or self-appointed majority rallies around a certain narrative.They will keep the faith, even in the face of compelling evidence against their claims.Legitimate news and archival sources will be dismissed as fake, biased, or Westernized.It explains why so much money has been invested in pro-Duterte/pro-Marcos online trolling.Collective vitriol on this scale is meant to normalize fanatical support for the allied dynasties. Conversely, it is meant to break the spirit of the opposition by convincing its members that they are alone walang kasama.

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[OPINION] Solid states: Fake news, Filipino politics, and the excesses of 'pakikisama' - Rappler

Former "Real Housewives of New York" star Heather Thomson called out the show for creating "staged" and "faked" storylines.

Thomson criticized the show while talking to a New York Post photographer outside the high-end Japanese restaurant BondST in New York City.

Heather Thomson criticized "The Real Housewives of New York" in a recent interview. (Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

The reality TV star specifically called Sonja Morgan's engagement to Harry Dubin during season 12 "fake." Dubin proposed to Morgan while Luann de Lesseps was crying over her breakup with Jacques Azoulay.

"It was completely staged and totally fake," Thomson told the outlet. "It was a ring that Ramona was wearing. And she took it off and gave it to Harry to pretend that it was his it was oneupmanship."

RHOBH STAR KYLE RICHARDS SAYS DORIT KEMSLEY IS NOT SO GREAT AFTER HOME INVASION: PTSD, FOR SURE

"The authenticityismissing," she said. "The women were self-producing, and many storylines were forced and contrived."

Thomson originally left "RHONY" in 2015, but has since made appearances on the reality TV show.

Thomson did defend the women who decide to join the "Real Housewives" franchise and instead laid the blame on the "machine."

Thomson accused the show of creating "staged" and "fake" storylines. (Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

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"Generally speaking, the women that join the show are not self-absorbed, catty, horrible people. Theyre birds in gilded cages. They go in there with the right intention, but then you get sucked into this system of what the viewers want," Thomson said. "These women are part of a machine that has awarded them and fed them for outrageous behavior. Its a career. Its their check. And they dont have other jobs outside of it. And so you become a product of the environment of what the fan is looking for.

"Lets be honest: Watching women behaving well and doing great things for each other doesnt make must-see TV."

Thomson officially left the show in 2015 but has made appearances since. (Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

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She also blamed the audience.

"You cant really talk about the people without talking about the system," Thomson said. "Everybody has culpability in this the viewers, the network, the women on the show. Were all complicit."

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Former 'RHONY' star Heather Thomson says show's storylines are 'staged,' 'fake' - Fox News

Told in curious and simple prose, this novel is wildly reminiscent of a contemplative Douglas Adams pondering over an Orwellian present

A wonderfully honest read of recent time would be Amitava Kumars A Time Outside This Time (Aleph; Rs 699). Told in curious and simple prose, this novel is wildly reminiscent of a contemplative Douglas Adams pondering over an Orwellian present. Kumar is a Guggenheim fellow and a professor of English at Vassar College with books like Writing Badly is Easy and The Lovers in his oeuvre.

In this book, Satya is an Indian writer based in New York, enjoying a residency for artists in Italy. His wife Vani and daughter Piya await his return home as he narrates and is mesmerised by the web of fake news building around the world at break-neck speed. Caught between Trump and Modi, his resilient pursuit of social norms as defined in a post-truth world results in him building a plotline for his book. As the thin line between truth and lie starts to vanish, it soon becomes barely discernible from fiction.

Lamenting about the state of affairs and the media narratives which could well be fictional stories, there is incredulity accompanying his keen observations. He draws parallels between the world outside and the novel that begins to gently take shape in his mind. Commenting on the state of affairs, Satya wonders if the leaders of the country just like him cannot imagine a time outside this time. He writes:

The most popular stories on Snopes.com:

Did Eleven U.S. Marines Give Their Lives This Week? [False]

Did a Principal Ban Candy Canes Because They Are Shaped Like Js for Jesus? [True]

Did a Brain-Eating Amoeba Kill a Woman Who Rinsed Her Sinuses with Tap Water? [True]

Did Miley Cyrus Tell Fans to Worship Satan if They Want to Be Rich and Famous? [False]

Did Jon Voight Urge Americans to Fight for Donald Trump? [True]

The list is fairly ridiculous. It reveals the low stakes in the battle for truth in our culture.

Kumars novel comes with a wry sense of humour and readers are compelled to start wondering with Satya and question their own memory-making process. Satya decides that to make sense of the copious notes he had taken since Trump came to presidency to his days at the residency with the novel corona virus beginning to rear its fangs around the world he must go far back into his childhood. With a matter-of-fact style of storytelling, Satya remembers his childhood fraught with communal violence and thinks I was trying to remember the earliest lies I was told about others and the stories I had invented about myself. In a seamless manner, Kumars own story becomes Satyas story as he recounts his time as an author in New York.

There are little stories that make up this gigantically ambitious novel spanning across various parts of the world. There is Khalid Farooq whose tale moved Satya to provide financial help that was never returned. Instead what emerged were a few lies. There is an English professor Ghosh in Siliguri who thought of Hamlet on the death of a peasant leader. There is Vishal Kishore, a police officer in Calcutta who paves the way for the authors research into someone named Avinash. And there is Gautam Sikdar, a popular TV journalist who was once married to his wife Vani. Through these various little stories, Kumar throws light upon different aspects of life and the presence of lies in those very spheres.

There is anecdotal history, the bizarre nature of data and dubious scientific research strewn across the book that has an undulating narrative. However, if for a second you feel yourself slipping away, you remember that there is some part of a loose thread that remains to be tied and you carry on. Pick up a copy to feel seen as familiar events around the world build into a narrative that is unique and personal to you. The gorgeous yellow cover, designed by the author himself, will lead you right to it.

Photo: Imrul Islam

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'A Time Outside This Time' is a searing reflection of a world riddled by fake news - Telegraph India

What is "Fake News" exactly? It depends on who's using the term. Unfortunately, many people will use it to try to stifle any news that is unfavorable to them. However, for the purposes of this guide, Fake Newsdescribes intentionallyfabricated stories, but can also be applied to a broader continuum of news.Although many news outlets will exhibit some form of explicit or implicit bias at one time or another, what matters is whether they are deliberately trying to counter whatever biases they might have by providing the full story with its many perspectives.Assessing the quality of news content is crucial to understanding whether what you are viewing is true or not.It is up to each of us to critically evaluate the information we consume as well as share through social media.

Here is a framework of different types of news stories we encounter online:

Fake News: Sources that intentionally fabricate information, disseminate deceptive content, or grossly distort actual news reports, usually to advance a specific political perspective.Satire: Sources that use humor, irony, exaggeration, ridicule, and false information as a way ofcommenting on current events.Bias: Sources that come from a particular point of view and may rely on propaganda, decontextualized information, and opinions distorted as facts.Rumor Mill: Sources that traffic in rumors, gossip, innuendo, and unverified claims. Also, sources that value reporting the story first, rather than accuracy.State News: Sources in repressive states operating under government sanction.Junk Science: Sources that promote pseudoscience, naturalistic fallacies, and other scientifically dubious claims.Clickbait: A strategically placed hyperlink designed to drive traffic to sources that may provide generally credible content, but use exaggerated, misleading, or questionable headlines, social media descriptions, and/or images.

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What is Fake News? - "Fake" News - Library Guides at Penn ...

#FightFakeNews

Developments in the last few years have placed journalism under fire. A range of factors are transforming the communications landscape, raising questions about the quality, impact and credibility of journalism. At the same time, orchestrated campaigns are spreading untruths - disinformation, mal-information and misinformation - that are often unwittingly shared on social media:

Written by experts in the fight against disinformation, this handbook explores the very nature of journalism with modules on why trust matters; thinking critically about how digital technology and social platforms are conduits of the information disorder; fighting back against disinformation and misinformation through media and information literacy; fact-checking 101; social media verification and combatting online abuse.

This model curriculum is an essential addition to teaching syllabi for all journalism educators, as well as practicing journalists and editors who are interested in information, how we share it and how we use it. It is mission critical that those who practice journalism understand and report on the new threats to trusted information.Political parties, health professionals, business people, scientists, election monitors and others will also find it useful.

For background information on this publication, click hereor read about the launch here

We also highly recommend watching this Facebook Live interview, which can also be used as a teaching tool.

You can find out more on F*ke News by watching Mr George Papagiannis Chief, Media Services at UNESCO and co-author, Julie Posetti, discuss F*ke News and its impact on journalism and democracy on Facebook live.

To explore the history of the information disorder, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) has published alearning module, A Short Guide to the History of 'Fake News'and Disinformation, which journalism educators may find as a helpful addition to the UNESCO handbook. Click here for more information.

Discoverarticles on Fake News published intheUNESCO CourierJuly-September-2017 issue:

To find out more about the IPDC and its projects, click here.

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Journalism, 'Fake News' and Disinformation: A Handbook for ...

CHICAGO: Greentarget, a PR agency which focuses on professional service firms, surveyed over 100 journalists and found 93% believe fake news negatively affects journalism. Additionally, they dont have confidence in the government, Big Tech or even their own industry efforts to provide a solution.

Greentarget defined fake news as false information spread unwittingly (misinformation) or intentionally (disinformation).

The results involve the PR industry, which every day works to communicate information through media outlets. Both professions recognize the importance of maintaining credible journalism and fighting fake news for an informed, participatory democracy to function.

In the poll, 84% of the respondents felt that the term fake news is contributing to the delegitimization and distrust of traditional news sources. The study pointed to views that expressed with the Trump administration the term fake news became more nebulous and weaponized misuse problematically morphed the words to mean information that the person/subject doesnt like or believe.

However, with the traditional usage of fake news as defined by Greentarget in the survey, only 6% felt Big Techs efforts in monitoring content had a significant impact. The journalists expressed caution with government action, with less than 50% endorsing the need to reform Section 230 of the U.S. Communications Decency Act. The law, in general, grants website platforms immunity with respect to third-party content.

An increasing majority, 93% of journalistsup from 85% in last years poll, indicated that they have an ethical responsibility to vet fake news. This means fact checking and identifying misleading information.

But only 14% of journalists felt their own work significantly helped to combat fake news, and only 9% believed media literacy efforts had a substantial impact.

PR and communications professionals come into play on this front. Despite the surveyed journalists discouraging outlook on media literacy, Greentargets report cited National Academy of Sciences research, which found a 26.5% improvement in differentiating mainstream from false news headlines, resulting from media literacy education.

In a statement, Greentargets VP of media relations, Lisa Seidenberg, underscored support for journalists, acknowledging their value in a free society. She further expressed hope that journalists and the public would support media literacy programs.

PR professionals representing legitimate news organizations have a role in buttressing the reputation of journalism. They can support media literacy programs, and with journalists as part of their everyday actions maintain an ethical professional commitment to communicating accuracy and truth.

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Study: Journalists reveal sobering views on the state of fake news - PR Week