There are times when Americans have been able to show an honorable amount of restraint in their communications. World War II and its “Loose Lips might Sink Ships” campaign, for example, when folks bit their tongues and said nothing about where family members might be when fighting in Europe or in the Pacific. During disasters like Hurricane Sandy in New York, people largely avoided passing along rumors (with notable exceptions) that could do real harm. During the release of Star Wars (no spoilers!).
How we need to find that restraint now. The Internet is awash in fake news, and Americans are revealing themselves to be bigger suckers than folks could have ever imagined. How big? Here’s a MUST-READ story in Buzzfeed about a small town in Macedonia where there is a thriving cottage industry in fake U.S. election news sites. You’ve almost certainly seen the stories generated in this small town, such as one headline screaming that the Pope endorsed Trump, or Mike Pence said Michelle Obama is the “most vulgar first lady we’ve ever had.” These stories generate hundreds of thousands of clicks and Facebook interactions.
“Using domain name registration records and online searches, BuzzFeed News identified over 100 active US politics websites being run from Veles. The largest of these sites have Facebook pages that boast hundreds of thousands of followers,” Buzzfeed says.
A story with the headline, Hillary Clinton In 2013: ‘I Would Like To See People Like Donald Trump Run For Office; They’re Honest And Can’t Be Bought “has racked up an astounding 480,000 shares, reactions, and comments on Facebook,” Buzzfeed says.
Suckers.
Look, I can’t say this any plainer. If you see a piece of information and it only exists on strange-sounding websites that obviously have one point of view, you haven’t found a conspiracy. You have found A LIE.
Wake up, folks. Let’s all go back to high school for a moment. If you can’t source it, don’t say it. And don’t do the social media version of saying it, which is sharing it. Let it go. Even if it seems to confirm your world view. Even if your name is Sean Hannity.
(Here’s a video from CNN’s Brian Stelter making the same plea.)
Don’t be a sucker for your party, or the candidate you are rooting for. And most of all, don’t be a sucker for Facebook, which is profiting off of these fake stories. For all its tinkering with the news feed algorithm, and the mechanization of its trending stories feature, Facebook is doing an awful job of ‘passing along intentionally fake stories.
Without you Facebook, this wouldn’t be a problem. The fake stories crowd out journalists big and small (like me), and that’s on you. You broke it, you fix it.
But for now, with only four full days left before the election, is not the time to be a sucker. Be an American.
Disgraceful — and unsurprising — that Facebook is happily profiting from fake news that helps tear America apart. https://t.co/Ob9UIo2ui7
— Dan Gillmor (@dangillmor) November 3, 2016
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