Fake News is part of the New Fourth Estate: The Queen is Dead, Donald Trump takes Super Pills, and Pizzagate is Real

Like many Canadians, I woke up this morning, poured a coffee, and checked my phone for news. The first article, claimed a fake news story announced that Queen Elizabeth II had died. The story was published, distributed, discredited, and damage control counter stories published. Those stories are distributed throughout the Internet, and the main stream media picked up on the “buzz” and began playing catch-up reporting. All of this in the few hours I slept.

As I grew up in the 70’s my father advised me, “Don’t believe everything you read”. Today, as a father of a young “Millennial”, I now advise my daughter, “Don’t believe anything you read”, and you can hardly blame me for feeling this way.

The proliferation of fake news, combined with the smartphone/social media delivery mechanism, has left the “real news” agencies scrambling. The Fourth Estate (Professional Journalism) is being undermined by this new technological reality, and being irrevocably changed.

Countless individuals throughout the world, not only have the ability to publish false media, but publish false media that appears genuine. For every single professional journalist, there are thousands of bloggers, webmasters, content creators, and the like, publishing directly to readers smartphones. This dilution of credible content has fallout, and this fallout is impacting on our society.

Whether at the individual level, where a violent man believes that a pizzeria in Washington D.C. harbours a child trafficking ring, or at a community level where massive numbers believe Donald Trump has their best interests in mind; you cannot deny that “fake news” is now affecting us all.

I recall in the 70’s the “Emergency Sirens” that were mounted on telephone poles throughout my home town of Ottawa. They had been put up in the 60’s as part of an “Emergency Preparedness Strategy”. But we knew what they were really for... fallout of another kind.

Thankfully, I only heard my neighbourhood’s siren scream once, and that was part of a well publicized test. But I imagine if we had those same sirens in place today, they’d either be going off daily as we react to one published scare after another, or forever staying silent due to the lack of information credibility. The later being the most likely scenario.

It is a precarious position for society to not trust its Fourth Estate, and we are rapidly heading to that eventuality. This slippery slope of misinformation must be put in check now.

Before all trust is gone, profit models associated with social media published and promoted “news” need to be eliminated. Credible fact checking organizations need to be more involved and given more visible authority to approve content. Governments must establish policies regarding production and dissemination of false information. And we, as content producers, need to take responsibility for the content we create and use to populate the Internet.

For my part as web developer & content publisher, I pledge to stop acting as an interim step for those wishing to spread false information. I never flat out lied when publishing content for my clients, but I did act as a “spin doctor” massaging content, and I greatly regret that fact.

Like it or not, we are the New Fourth Estate. Maturity and responsibility are demanded. I know that now. As gatekeepers, we need to stand our ground against those wishing to spread falsehoods and hate. We need to revisit the concept of “Netiquette”, and take the honest, trusted high road.  

I know we cannot stop it all, but perhaps, we as “cyber authors” can begin ebbing the flow of fake news.

I invite all my counterparts out there to join me in this pledge.

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Like You Said Rick Mercer

Thank you Rick Mercer for bringing light to something close to my heart.  I too remember when the Internet "happened", and the idea of a virtual debate was first suggested.  I was part of it, helping to make it happen. Online comments were never suppose to be this way.



I remember long discussions with my fellow web youngsters about the possibilities associated with the concept of the virtual debate.  Greater cooperation, knowledge sharing, education reform and on and on we went, with feel good outcomes to this new media world.  But 25 years later, those outcomes haven't materialized all that much.

Sure if you do some digging, the Net can be a tremendous resource.  I contribute to message boards and engage in discussions as they relate to software usage or coding.  I've had tremendous knowledge sharing within these discussions, and I've learned most about coding from these same sources.

But here's the thing.  Those discussions are a few more mouse clicks away.  A little harder to get to. And Neanderthals, like TunnelSnake87, will likely never stumble onto them.  And if they do, they have to create an account before contributing.  I think this "distancing" holds part of the solution.  As does Rick's suggestion that anonymity is being misused and generates hate messaging.

Article comment sections are super easy to get to.  And as a developer, I like that ease of use.  But most comment sections currently allow contributors to have their say with nothing more than a Twitter/Facebook account or email address for credentials.  Of course you're going to attract abuse when you make it that easy to use while maintain anonymity.

Combine "ease of use" with "anonymity" and you give a platform to the last segment of society anyone should be listening to.

In many cases the comment sections have been removed entirely from a website due to this very problem, and that's a real shame.  It's "Throwing the baby out with the bathwater", and it can be avoided.  Either loose the anonymity option, or give the "webmaster" better tools to manage the abuse.

The Internet is still a maturing entity, and we are still learning how to properly use it.  As a society we've historically overlooked many obvious dangers when it comes to learning new activities.  (Goalies without face masks and hover boards come to mind.)  Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites have been under the microscope for years regarding their publishing policies. Some are taking steps to try to gain some measure of control, but I feel this is a fleeting effort that will not result in any meaningful change.

Don't wait for Facebook and Twitter to change.  Make the changes at your end.  For any organization trying to engage their audience, the solution is to take matters into your own hands.  There are ways to engage without opening your organization up to a Neanderthal attack.

My hope is that Rick's Rant on this subject will help the business community recognize that the online community is not just filled with TunnelSnake87 and the like.  There are tremendous benefits when engaging with your audience.  Relationships are built, knowledge is shared and on and on.  You just need to have the right tools, and people in place who know how to use them.

I'll keep doing my part in this ongoing effort to Stop the Inspamity, and continue to spread the word to organizations , provide them with my Open D application, and share a few other best practices I've learned over the years.

Thanks again Rick. It's reassuring to hear this issue bothers you too.

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