[This is in response to an off-list e-mail I got today asking how
regular people are supposed to spot fake news and disinformation.
For me it's develop a sense of reality and measure new information
against it. Seek out things which seem clearly out of line with known
true information. Yes, it takes time to build up that repertoire, but
if we're going to be responsible citizens in societies that embrace
personal liberty, community values and democratic processes and
institutions, it really is required effort.
This article provides a more succinct approach than I would have written.]
http://lindsayadvocate.ca/3559-2/
What’s true and what’s not? Stay informed in the era of fake news
Published on May 18, 2018 in Columnists/Community by Ryan Oliver
Before Donald Trump co-opted the term, ‘fake news’ used to mean
something. We are surrounded by more information and disinformation than
ever before in the history of our species and as the writ drops on the
2018 Ontario election it will require us, as citizens of this democracy,
to work harder than ever to identify bias and real sources of ‘fake news.’
The modern media landscape requires us to all be more vigilant and to
put work in to the content we are consuming. As you consume information,
be it in a newspaper, through a Facebook group or in a tweet, look it up
if the source isn’t immediately obvious or if you’re not sure it’s
reliable. Active participation is not only a healthy cornerstone of
democracy, but a vital survival tool in navigating the news landscape.
One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to immediately press
‘retweet’ or ‘share’ on a piece of unverified information. Take 15
seconds and give the core facts a Google. People can literally post and
say anything they want without restraint in the Internet age and it
becomes incumbent on us to ensure we aren’t spreading lies or exaggeration.
Large sites like Snopes.com cover most major international news stories,
but for Canadian specific fact checking consider using a source like
FactsCan. Check the major newspapers and the CBC. They have a more
rigorous editorial process and while any given paper may slant to a
certain opinion, they rarely promote outright lies. For the most part,
if the Globe and Mail, Macleans, The National Post, Toronto Star or CBC
are reporting statistics, you can count on them to be accurate.
Social media is a powerful tool and has the potential to be a great
equalizer in democracy. Unfortunately, as the 2016 presidential
elections proved and countless after countless stories since then
showed, it’s largely a tool for disinformation.
Be aware that the Toronto Sun tabloid has been exposed as actively
shilling for the Conservatives and by all accounts is not a neutral
press agent. Be aware that Doug Ford has created a ‘news channel’ called
Ford Nation Live. It’s made to mimic a real news source but, as you
might be able to tell from the name, is only considering one side of any
story. If you are a follower of Ontario Proud on Facebook, be aware they
are actively campaigning for the Conservative party and often do so
through meme content that rarely engages genuine discussion. They are
also accused of frequently stunting and crushing dissenting views with
lawsuits and legal action.
On the left, be aware that Press Progress is owned by the Broadbent
Institute, named and founded by Ed Broadbent, former leader of the NDP.
You may have noticed that The Lindsay Advocate covers a lot on Basic
Income (a current Ontario Liberal policy with NDP support) and the
Advocate’s founder wrote a book on the topic. Take that into
consideration when reading the coverage.
None of the above points necessarily disqualifies the information being
presented by these organizations, but be aware of who your sources are.
When fighting fake news it’s important to be aware of where your
information is coming from and if it’s in fact ‘news’ or simply
propaganda dressed up as news.
Work to find the news you’re sharing in more than one location. If only
one source is telling you that Kathleen Wynne eats babies, there might
not be any truth to that. Avoid sharing those kind of memes as false
information thrives in these often disposable, brief pieces meant to
incite a base, emotional response.
Most importantly, be active in your news consumption. Research the
candidates and issues and don’t take anything you’re told at face value.
The year 2016 proved that we’re back in school and we’ve all got to
study up to arm ourselves as informed, democratic citizens.
===================================================================
[I have tried to avoid giving the current so-called U.S. President more
bandwidth for a clearly fact-light version of events and history.
However, this one relates to my home province, and appears to work from
the same playbook as previously honed by our past Canadian federal
government and now in the U.S. Sadly, it is not harmless to allow the
spinmeisters dupe the deluded, it results in elected officials not
competent for their responsibilities, and real people get hurt. The
article above specifically mentions Press Progress, which I monitor.
Coincidentally, they sent me this link today.
links and images in online article]
http://pressprogress.ca/ontario-proud-smeared-a-families-belong-together-march-now-demonstrators-are-getting-violent-messages/
Ontario Proud Smeared a ‘Families Belong Together’ March. Now
Demonstrators are Getting Violent Messages.
How Ontario Proud turned a peaceful protest against Donald Trump’s
family separation policy into right-wing propaganda
July 10, 2018
Followers of ‘Ontario Proud’ are harassing a young Muslim woman in
Halifax after the right-wing Facebook page published a “factually
incorrect” video that has now been viewed over one and a half million
times on social media.
The video, posted on July 4, falsely smears a group of Halifax
demonstrators who participated in a global march against US President
Donald Trump’s policy of separating refugee children from their
families and holding them in cages at heavy security detention centres.
Ontario Proud is a right-wing Facebook page run by former corporate
lobbyists in downtown Toronto, financed with hundreds of thousands of
dollars in dark money and was a 3rd party advertiser that worked to
elect Doug Ford’s PCs in Ontario.
Masuma Khan, a Dalhousie University international development studies
student, was one demonstrator whose image was used out-of-context by
Ontario Proud after she attended Halifax’s “Families Belong Together”
march, one of many taking place in over 700 cities around the world on
the same day.
Now, Ontario Proud’s followers are singling Khan out and targeting her
with violent and hateful messages.
“The general tone is: ‘terrorist’, ‘towel head’, ‘we should force feed
her bacon’,” Khan tells PressProgress.
“There’s a lot of terrorist references” as well as messages “hoping that
someone does something to me” or “me killing myself.”
She adds that many of the messages tell her to “go back to where you
came from,” even though she was born and raised in Halifax.
Khan wasn’t a march organizer yet she became the public face of the
event anyway because right-wing trolls honed in on the fact she’s Muslim.
She says she began receiving disturbing messages after the march, but
the volume and intensity increased noticeably after Ontario Proud’s
video went viral a few days later, with messages pouring in from people
outside Nova Scotia’s borders – from Ontario to Alberta to the United
States.
“People are coming on my Facebook and attacking me,” she says. “I look
at their profiles and they like Ontario Proud.”
Khan says she’s being doxxed, with people sharing “screenshots of my
information” and harassing her via private messages. Someone even tried
to hack her Facebook account last week.
Much of the vitriol appears to be driven by a sensationalistic video
Ontario Proud posted, falsely claiming US Marines were “chased away”
from a music festival by “crazy Canadian protesters” last week.
At no point does the video indicate demonstrators were marching against
Trump’s policies that have literally caused children to be held in cages
– Ontario Proud only says they “disagree with Trump.”
“Disagree with Trump all you want,” the caption on the video reads.
“Attacking US Marines while they visit Canada doesn’t make things better.”
Except one problem: the version of events Ontario Proud presents never
happened.
Here’s what did happen, according to multiple accounts.
Dozens of people were gathered in Halifax’s Grand Parade on June 30 for
the “Families Belong Together” march when uniformed members of a US
Marine band wandered into the square with drums, bugles, tubas and other
musical instruments.
March organizers, who obtained a permit in advance of their event,
approached the Marines to ask if they planned to start playing music in
the middle of their event. The band, unaware of the pre-scheduled event,
said no and explained they were only there for a group photo shoot.
The Marines decided to leave the location out of respect for the
demonstration and the demonstrators called the encounter “brief and
peaceful.”
“Those Marines respected our freedom of expression,” Khan told 95.7 News
last week, adding she was confused where the controversy even came from
since it seemed both sides had “no issues” following the encounter.
How uneventful was it? Marine officials themselves “further downplayed”
the incident by reiterating nobody actually chased away the Marine band.
In other words, the Marines tell a much different story than Ontario Proud.
Ontario Proud’s video appears to be entirely sourced from CTV Atlantic’s
Ron Shaw, whose reporting on the march was so unreliable he later
deleted inaccurate tweets and forced his news director to issue a
statement acknowledging his newsroom reported “incorrect information”
about the march.
In his inaccurate tweets, Shaw falsely stated the Marine band was
preparing to perform an “outdoor concert” but were forced to cancel
after they were “chased” out of the square by “refugee issue protesters.”
In fact, the Marine band was never scheduled to perform an “outdoor
show” at that location, demonstrators had a permit to be there, the
Marines themselves said they chose to leave on their own accord, plus
the shouting Shaw referenced was actually a chant about Indigenous rights.
As The Coast reports, the march was “largely uneventful and likely would
have passed without much consideration except for a series of inaccurate
tweets from CTV. ”
Footage from CTV’s original report, which Ontario Proud clipped, shows
the Marine band exiting the square then cuts to Khan chanting about
Indigenous rights. That clip was edited out of sequence to suggest she
was heckling the Marines, Khan says.
In a private e-mail to Khan reviewed by PressProgress, CTV Atlantic’s
news director acknowledged “our reporter did issue a tweet with
incorrect information” and expressed regret that “some individuals or
groups have chosen not to acknowledge that correction.”
Contacted by PressProgress, CTV Atlantic news director Dan Appleby said
“we have no public statement on this issue and have no further comment.”
Ontario Proud posted its video several days after the event and after
CTV Atlantic had already walked back their initial reporting.
The incident is yet another example of how inaccurate information
tweeted by journalists covering live events can be strategically
selected, repackaged and distorted by Canada’s right-wing echo chamber.
What was by all accounts a brief and respectful encounter in a public
square that left neither side offended was suddenly warped into a
international incident by Ontario Proud and its network of satellite
Facebook pages.
As The Coast points out, despite Shaw’s mea culpa, his “original tweets
continue to be shared” by “angry Internet commenters” who do not realize
that “the reality of events is so far from the inflammatory false
version first presented.”
Khan says what is “most harmful is not the death threats, doxxing and
white supremacist violence I am facing,” but the way this has “managed
to divert the conversation from the suffering of migrant children to a
concocted story” that “actually didn’t happen.”
She has publicly criticized Ontario Proud on Twitter for producing the
“factually incorrect” video and called on CTV Atlantic to correct the
record.
After nearly a week, Ontario Proud’s “factually incorrect” video has
been shared more than 37,000 times on Facebook.
