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Rappler, a social news network in the Philippines, investigated online networks of Duterte supporters and discovered that they include fake news, fake accounts, bots and trolls, which Rappler thinks are being used to silence dissent. The creation of fake news, and fake news accounts on social media has been a danger to the political health of the country. According to Kate Lamble and Megha Mohan of BBC news, “What we’re seeing on social media again is manufactured reality… They also create a very real chilling effect against normal people, against journalists (who) are the first targets, and they attack in very personal ways with death threats and rape threats.” Journalists are often risking their lives in publishing articles that contest fake news in the Philippines<ref>{{cite web|last1=BBC|title=Trolls and triumph: a digital battle in the Philippines|url=http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-38173842|website=bbc.com|accessdate=2 June 2017}}</ref>.
Rappler, a social news network in the Philippines, investigated online networks of Duterte supporters and discovered that they include fake news, fake accounts, bots and trolls, which Rappler thinks are being used to silence dissent. The creation of fake news, and fake news accounts on social media has been a danger to the political health of the country. According to Kate Lamble and Megha Mohan of BBC news, “What we’re seeing on social media again is manufactured reality… They also create a very real chilling effect against normal people, against journalists (who) are the first targets, and they attack in very personal ways with death threats and rape threats.” Journalists are often risking their lives in publishing articles that contest fake news in the Philippines<ref>{{cite web|last1=BBC|title=Trolls and triumph: a digital battle in the Philippines|url=http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-38173842|website=bbc.com|accessdate=2 June 2017}}</ref>.


In some developing countries like the Philippines, Facebook gives away smartphone data free of charge for Facebook and media sources, but at the same time does not provide the user with Internet access to fact-checking websites.<ref name="MozurScott"/> A notable incident in the Philippines was accusation made by [[Secretary of Justice (Philippines)|Justice Secretary]] [[Vitaliano Aguirre II]] regarding 2017 [[Marawi crisis]] in which he tagged various opposition senators and other people as masterminds of the attack based on a photo shared through social media and other blog sites which produces fake news.<ref>http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/903538/did-justice-secretary-aguirre-fall-for-fake-news</ref>
In some developing countries like the Philippines, Facebook gives away smartphone data free of charge for Facebook and media sources, but at the same time does not provide the user with Internet access to fact-checking websites.<ref name="MozurScott"/> A notable incident in the Philippines was accusation made by [[Secretary of Justice (Philippines)|Justice Secretary]] [[Vitaliano Aguirre II]] regarding 2017 [[Marawi crisis]] in which he tagged various opposition senators and other people as masterminds of the attack based on a photo shared through social media and other blog sites which produces fake news <ref>http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/903538/did-justice-secretary-aguirre-fall-for-fake-news</ref>


The prevalence of fake news in the Philippines have pushed lawmakers to file laws to combat it, like criminalizing its dissemination.<ref name="cnnPhilippinesBillFiledFakeNews">{{cite news|last1=Santos|first1=Eimor|title=Bill filed vs. fake news: Up to ₱10M fine, 10-year jail time for erring public officials|url=http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/06/22/senate-bill-fake-news-fines-government-officials.html|publisher=CNN Philippines|date=June 22, 2017}}</ref><ref name="cnnPhilippinesJailtimeFakeNews">{{cite news|last1=Elemia|first1=Camille|title=Senate bill seeks jail time for gov't officials spreading fake news|url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/173642-senate-bill-anti-fake-news|publisher=CNN Philippines|date=June 22, 2017}}</ref>
The prevalence of fake news in the Philippines have pushed lawmakers to file laws to combat it, like criminalizing its dissemination.<ref name="cnnPhilippinesBillFiledFakeNews">{{cite news|last1=Santos|first1=Eimor|title=Bill filed vs. fake news: Up to ₱10M fine, 10-year jail time for erring public officials|url=http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/06/22/senate-bill-fake-news-fines-government-officials.html|publisher=CNN Philippines|date=June 22, 2017}}</ref><ref name="cnnPhilippinesJailtimeFakeNews">{{cite news|last1=Elemia|first1=Camille|title=Senate bill seeks jail time for gov't officials spreading fake news|url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/173642-senate-bill-anti-fake-news|publisher=CNN Philippines|date=June 22, 2017}}</ref> The [[Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines]] strongly opposes the spread of fake news as a sin, and published a list of fake news websites.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bajo|first1=Anna Felicia|title=CBCP calls on faithful to help stop the spread of fake news|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/615593/cbcp-calls-on-faithful-to-help-stop-the-spread-of-fake-news/story/|agency=[[GMA News and Public Affairs|GMA News]]|date=June 23, 2017|accessdate=June 28, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Bondoc|first1=Marlly Rome|title=CBCP releases list of fake news sites|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/616023/cbcp-releases-list-of-fake-news-sites/story/|agency=[[GMA News and Public Affairs|GMA News]]|date=June 27, 2017|accessdate=June 28, 2017}}</ref>


==Poland==
==Poland==

Revision as of 10:10, 28 June 2017

Main articles: Fake news and Fake news website

Fake news is said to have influenced political discourse in multiple countries, including India, Germany,[1] Italy,[2] Indonesia, the Philippines,[3] Sweden,[4] China,[5][6] Myanmar,[7][8] and the United States.[9]

Australia

A well-known case of fabricated news in Australia happened in 2009 when a report Deception Detection Across Australian Populations of a "Levitt Institute" was widely cited on the news websites all over the country, claiming that Sydney the most naive city, despite the fact that the report itself contained a cue: amidst the mathematical gibberish, there was a statement: "These results were completely made up to be fictitious material through a process of modified truth and credibility nodes.". [10]

Austria

Politicians in Austria dealt with the impact of fake news and its spread on social media after the 2016 presidential campaign in the country.[11] In December 2016, a court in Austria issued an injunction on Facebook Europe, mandating it block negative postings related to Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, Austrian Green Party Chairwoman.[11] According to The Washington Post the postings to Facebook about her "appeared to have been spread via a fake profile" and directed derogatory epithets towards the Austrian politician.[11] The derogatory postings were likely created by the identical fake profile that had previously been utilized to attack Alexander van der Bellen, who won the election for President of Austria.[11]

Brazil

Brazil faced increasing influence from fake news after the 2014 re-election of President Dilma Rousseff and Rousseff's subsequent impeachment in August 2016.[12] BBC Brazil reported in April 2016 that in the week surrounding one of the impeachment votes, three out of the five most-shared articles on Facebook in Brazil were fake.[12] In 2015, reporter Tai Nalon resigned from her position at Brazilian newspaper Folha de S Paulo in order to start the first fact-checking website in Brazil, called Aos Fatos (To The Facts).[12] Nalon told The Guardian there was a great deal of fake news, and hesitated to compare the problem to that experienced in the U.S.[12]

Canada

Fake news online was brought to the attention of Canadian politicians in November 2016, as they debated helping assist local newspapers.[13] Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre Hedy Fry specifically discussed fake news as an example of ways in which publishers on the Internet are less accountable than print media.[13] Discussion in parliament contrasted increase of fake news online with downsizing of Canadian newspapers and the impact for democracy in Canada.[13] Representatives from Facebook Canada attended the meeting and told members of Parliament they felt it was their duty to assist individuals gather data online.[13]

In 2015, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation falsely reported the Canada Pension Plan was fully funded. In fact, it has an unfunded liability of $884 billion as at December 31, 2015. [14] [15]

In January 2017, the Conservative leadership campaign of Kellie Leitch admitted to spreading fake news, including false claims that Justin Trudeau was financing Hamas.[16] The campaign manager claimed he spread the news in order to provoke negative reactions so that he could determine those who "aren't real Conservatives".[17]

China

See also: Internet censorship in China

Fake news during the 2016 U.S. election spread to China.[12] Articles popularized within the United States were translated into Chinese and spread within China.[12] The government of China used the growing problem of fake news as a rationale for increasing Internet censorship in China in November 2016.[18] China took the opportunity to publish an editorial in its Communist Party newspaper The Global Times called: "Western Media's Crusade Against Facebook", and criticized "unpredictable" political problems posed by freedoms enjoyed by users of Twitter, Google, and Facebook.[5] China government leaders meeting in Wuzhen at the third World Internet Conference in November 2016 said fake news in the U.S. election justified adding more curbs to free and open use of the Internet.[6] China Deputy Minister Ren Xianliang, official at the Cyberspace Administration of China, said increasing online participation led to "harmful information" and fraud.[19] Kam Chow Wong, a former Hong Kong law enforcement official and criminal justice professor at Xavier University, praised attempts in the U.S. to patrol social media.[20] The Wall Street Journal noted China's themes of Internet censorship became more relevant at the World Internet Conference due to the outgrowth of fake news.[21]

Finland

Officials from 11 countries held a meeting in Helsinki in November 2016, in order to plan the formation of a center to combat disinformation cyber-warfare including spread of fake news on social media.[22] The center is planned to be located in Helsinki and include efforts from 10 countries with participation from Sweden, Germany, Finland, and the U.S.[22] Prime Minister of Finland Juha Sipilä planned to deal with the center in spring 2017 with a motion before the Parliament of Finland.[22] Jori Arvonen, Deputy Secretary of State for EU Affairs, said cyberwarfare became an increased problem in 2016, and included hybrid cyber-warfare intrusions into Finland from Russia and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.[22] Arvonen cited examples including fake news online, disinformation, and the little green men troops during the Ukrainian crisis.[22]

France

France saw an uptick in amounts of disinformation and propaganda, primarily in the midst of election cycles.[12] Le Monde fact-checking division "Les décodeurs" was headed by Samuel Laurent, who told The Guardian in December 2016 the upcoming French presidential election campaign in spring 2017 would face problems from fake news.[12] The country faced controversy regarding fake websites providing false information about abortion.[12] The government's lower parliamentary body moved forward with intentions to ban such fake sites.[12] Laurence Rossignol, women's minister for France, informed parliament though the fake sites look neutral, in actuality their intentions were specifically targeted to give women fake information.[12] During the 10-year period preceding 2016, France was witness to an increase in popularity of far-right alternative news sources called the fachosphere ("facho" referring to fascist); known as the extreme right on the Internet [fr].[12] According to sociologist Antoine Bevort, citing data from Alexa Internet rankings, the most consulted political websites in France included Égalité et Réconciliation, François Desouche [fr], and Les Moutons Enragés.[23][24] These sites increased skepticism towards mainstream media from both left and right perspectives.[12]

Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel lamented the problem of fraudulent news reports in a November 2016 speech, days after announcing her campaign for a fourth term as leader of her country.[1] In a speech to the German parliament, Merkel was critical of such fake sites, saying they harmed political discussion.[1] Merkel called attention to the need of government to deal with Internet trolls, bots, and fake news websites.[1] She warned that such fraudulent news websites were a force increasing the power of populist extremism.[1] Merkel called fraudulent news a growing phenomenon that might need to be regulated in the future.[1] Germany's foreign intelligence agency Federal Intelligence Service Chief, Bruno Kahl [de], warned of the potential for cyberattacks by Russia in the 2017 German election.[25] He said the cyberattacks would take the form of the intentional spread of disinformation.[25] Kahl said the goal is to increase chaos in political debates.[25] Germany's domestic intelligence agency Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Chief, Hans-Georg Maassen, said sabotage by Russian intelligence was a present threat to German information security.[25]

India

New 2,000 rupee note equipped with tracking technology

India had over 50 million accounts on the smartphone instant messenger Whatsapp in 2016.[12] On November 8, 2016, India established a 2,000-rupee currency bill on the same day as the Indian 500 and 1,000 rupee note demonetisation. Fake news went viral over Whatsapp that the note came equipped with spying technology which tracked bills 120 meters below the earth.[12] Finance Minister Arun Jaitley refuted the falsities, but not before they had spread to the country's mainstream news outlets.[26] Prabhakar Kumar of the Indian media research agency CMS, told The Guardian India was harder hit by fake news because the country lacked media policy for verification.[12] Law enforcement officers in India arrested individuals with charges of creating fictitious articles, predominantly if there was likelihood the articles inflamed societal conflict.[12] BBC Monitoring cited Pakistan Today which noted an apt example of post-truth politics, a statement by politician and broadcaster Aamir Liaquat about the Kargil War between India and Pakistan.[27] Liaquat defended the Pakistan Armed Forces actions in a doublethink statement akin to: "we didn't invade Kargil and we taught the Indians a lesson when we invaded Kargil".[27] BBC Monitoring used this example to observe fake news reporting was prominent in the Middle East.[27]

Indonesia and Philippines

Fraudulent news has been particularly problematic in Indonesia and the Philippines, where social media has an outsized political influence.[3] According to media analysts, developing countries with new access to social media and democracy felt the fake news problem to a larger extent.[3]

Italy

President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini, stated: "Fake news is a critical issue and we can’t ignore it. We have to act now."[28]

Between October 1 and November 30, 2016, ahead of the Italian constitutional referendum, five out of ten referendum-related stories with most social media participation were hoaxes or inaccurate.[29][30] Of the three stories with the most social media attention, two were fake.[30] Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi met with U.S. President Obama and leaders of Europe at a meeting in Berlin, Germany in November 2016, and spoke about the fake news problem.[28] Renzi hosted discussions on Facebook Live in an effort to rebut falsities online.[29] The influence became so heavy that a senior adviser to Renzi began a defamation complaint on an anonymous Twitter user who had used the screenname "Beatrice di Maio", the wife of a former minister.[31] [12]

The Five Star Movement (M5S), an Italian political party founded by Beppe Grillo, managed fake news sites amplifying support for Russian news, propaganda, and inflamed conspiracy theories.[28][32] The party's site TzeTze had 1.2 million Facebook fans and shared fake news and pieces supportive of Putin cited to Russia-owned sources including Sputnik News.[32] TzeTze plagiarized the Russian sources, and copied article titles and content from Sputnik.[33] TzeTze, another site critical of Renzi called La Cosa, and a blog by Grillo — were managed by the company Casaleggio Associati which was started by Five Star Movement co-founder Gianroberto Casaleggio.[32] Casaleggio's son Davide Casaleggio owns and manages TzeTze and La Cosa, and medical advice website La Fucina which markets anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and medical cure-all methods.[33] Grillo's blog, Five Star Movement fake sites use the same IP addresses, Google Analytics and Google Adsense.[33] The 5 Star Movement has rejected the accusations saying: "The investigation of Buzzfeed is a fake news" and "The accuse of making propaganda pro Kremlin or to spread fake news are ridiculous." [34]

Cyberwarfare against Renzi increased, and Italian newspaper La Stampa brought attention to false stories by Russia Today which wrongly asserted a pro-Renzi rally in Rome was actually an anti-Renzi rally.[12] In October 2016, the Five Star Movement disseminated a video from Kremlin-aligned Russia Today which falsely reported displaying thousands of individuals protesting the 4 December 2016 scheduled referendum in Italy — when in fact the video that went on to 1.5 million views showed supporters of the referendum.[32][33] President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini, stated: "Fake news is a critical issue and we can’t ignore it. We have to act now."[28] Boldrini met on 30 November 2016 with vice president of public policy in Europe for Facebook Richard Allan to voice concerns about fake news.[28] She said Facebook needed to admit they were a media company.[28]

Myanmar

See also: Persecution of Muslims in Myanmar

In 2015, BBC News reported on fake stories, using unrelated photographs and fraudulent captions, shared online in support of the Rohingya.[35] Fake news negatively affected individuals in Myanmar, leading to a rise in violence against Muslims in the country.[7][8] Online participation surged from one percent to 20 percent of Myanmar's total populace from 2014-2016.[7][8] Fake stories from Facebook were reprinted in paper periodicals called Facebook and The Internet.[8] False reporting related to practitioners of Islam in the country was directly correlated with increased attacks on Muslims in Myanmar.[7][8] BuzzFeed News journalist Sheera Frenkel reported fake news fictitiously stated believers in Islam acted out in violence at Buddhist locations.[7][8] She documented a direct relationship between the fake news and violence against Muslim people.[7][8] Frenkel noted countries that were relatively newer to Internet exposure were more vulnerable to the problems of fake news and fraud.[8]

Pakistan

Khawaja Muhammad Asif, the Minister of Defence of Pakistan, threatened to nuke Israel on Twitter after a false story claiming that Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli Ministry of Defense, said "If Pakistan send ground troops into Syria on any pretext, we will destroy this country with a nuclear attack."[36][37]

Philippines

Fake news has been problematic in the Philippines where social media has outsized political influence. Following the 2016 Philippine election, Senator Francis Pangilinan filed that there be an inquiry of conduct of social media platforms that allowed for the spreading of fake news[38]. Pangilinan called for penalties for social media platforms that provided the public with false information about his ideas. The news that came out was meant to discredit the opposing party and used social media as an outlet to bring propaganda into the mainstream media.[39] According to media analysts, developing countries such as the Philippines, with the generally new access to social media and democracy, feel the problem of fake news to a larger extent.[40] Facebook is one of the largest platforms being an open website, that works as a booster to sway the opinion of the public due to manufactured stories. While Facebook provides free media sources, it does not provide its users with the access to fact checking websites.[41] Because of this, government authorities call for a tool that will filter out “fake news” to secure the integrity of cyberspace in the Philippines.[42] Rappler, a social news network in the Philippines, investigated online networks of Duterte supporters and discovered that they include fake news, fake accounts, bots and trolls, which Rappler thinks are being used to silence dissent. The creation of fake news, and fake news accounts on social media has been a danger to the political health of the country. According to Kate Lamble and Megha Mohan of BBC news, “What we’re seeing on social media again is manufactured reality… They also create a very real chilling effect against normal people, against journalists (who) are the first targets, and they attack in very personal ways with death threats and rape threats.” Journalists are often risking their lives in publishing articles that contest fake news in the Philippines[43].

In some developing countries like the Philippines, Facebook gives away smartphone data free of charge for Facebook and media sources, but at the same time does not provide the user with Internet access to fact-checking websites.[3] A notable incident in the Philippines was accusation made by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II regarding 2017 Marawi crisis in which he tagged various opposition senators and other people as masterminds of the attack based on a photo shared through social media and other blog sites which produces fake news [44]

The prevalence of fake news in the Philippines have pushed lawmakers to file laws to combat it, like criminalizing its dissemination.[45][46] The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines strongly opposes the spread of fake news as a sin, and published a list of fake news websites.[47][48]

Poland

Polish historian Jerzy Targalski [pl] noted fake news websites had infiltrated Poland through anti-establishment and right-wing sources that copied content from Russia Today.[49] Targalski observed there existed about 20 specific fake news websites in Poland which spread Russian disinformation in the form of fake news.[49] One example cited was fake news that Ukraine announced the Polish city of Przemyśl as occupied Polish land.[49]

South Africa

A wide range of South African media sources have reported fake news as a growing problem and tool to both increase distrust in the media, discredit political opponents, and divert attention from corruption.[50][51] Media outlets owned by the Gupta family ANN7 have been noted by other South African media organisations such as The Huffington Post (South Africa), Sunday Times, Radio 702, and City Press for targeting them. Individuals targeted include Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan who was seen as blocking Gupta attempts at state capture[52][53] with accusations levelled against Gordhan of promoting state capture for "white monopoly capital".[53][54]

Sweden

The Swedish Security Service issued a report in 2015 identifying propaganda from Russia infiltrating Sweden with the objective to amplify pro-Russian propaganda and inflame societal conflicts.[4] The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), part of the Ministry of Defence of Sweden, identified fake news reports targeting Sweden in 2016 which originated from Russia.[4] Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency official Mikael Tofvesson stated a pattern emerged where views critical of Sweden were constantly repeated.[4] The Local identified these tactics as a form of psychological warfare.[4] The newspaper reported the MSB identified Russia Today and Sputnik News as significant fake news purveyors.[4] As a result of growth in this propaganda in Sweden, the MSB planned to hire six additional security officials to fight back against the campaign of fraudulent information.[4]

Taiwan

In a report in December 2015 by The China Post, a fake video shared online showed people a light show purportedly made at the Shihmen Reservoir.[55] The Northern Region Water Resources Office confirmed there was no light show at the reservoir and the event had been fabricated.[55] The fraud led to an increase in tourist visits to the actual attraction.[55]

Ukraine

Deutsche Welle interviewed the founder of Stopfake.org in 2014 about the website's efforts to debunk fake news in Ukraine, including media portrayal of the Ukrainian crisis.[56] Co-founder Margot Gontar began the site in March 2014, and it was aided by volunteers.[56] In 2014, Deutsche Welle awarded the fact-checker website with the People's Choice Award for Russian in its ceremony The BOBs, recognizing excellence in advocacy on the Internet.[56] Gontar highlighted an example debunked by the website, where a fictitious "Doctor Rozovskii" supposedly told The Guardian pro-Ukraine individuals refused to allow him to tend to injured in fighting with Russian supporters in 2014.[56] Stopfake.org exposed the event was fabricated — there actually was no individual named "Doctor Rozovskii", and found the Facebook photo distributed with the incident was of a different individual from Russia with a separate identity.[56] Former Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych's ouster from power created instability, and in 2015 the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe concluded Russian disinformation campaigns used fake news to disrupt relations between Europe and Ukraine.[57] Russian-financed news spread disinformation after the conflict in Ukraine motivated the European Union to found the European External Action Service specialist task force to counter the propaganda.[57]

United Kingdom

See also: Fake news websites § United Kingdom

On 8 December 2016, Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Alex Younger delivered a speech to journalists at the MI6 headquarters where he called fake news and propaganda damaging to democracy.[58] Younger said the mission of MI6 was to combat propaganda and fake news in order to deliver to his government a strategic advantage in the information warfare arena, and assist other nations including Europe.[58] He called such methods of fake news propaganda online as a "fundamental threat to our sovereignty".[58] Younger said all nations that hold democratic values should feel the same worry over fake news.[58]

However, definitions of "fake news" have been controversial in the UK,[59] with political satire being seen as a key element of British humour.[60] Comedy news programmes such as Brass Eye have been re-categorized as "fake news" following the 2016 US presidential election.[61]

United States

Main article: Fake news websites in the United States

2016 election cycle

See also: 2016 United States election interference by Russia
U.S. President Barack Obama
U.S. President Barack Obama said, "If we can't discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems."[62][63]

Fraudulent stories during the 2016 U.S. presidential election popularized on Facebook included a viral post that Pope Francis had endorsed Donald Trump, and another that actor Denzel Washington "backs Trump in the most epic way possible".[64][65] Donald Trump's son and campaign surrogate Eric Trump, top national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, and then-campaign managers Kellyanne Conway and Corey Lewandowski shared fake news stories during the campaign.[62][66][67][68]

After the 2016 election, Republican politicians and conservative media began to appropriate the term "fake news" by using it to describe not made-up news, but rather any news they saw "as hostile to their agenda", according to the New York Times, which cited Breitbart News, Rush Limbaugh and supporters of Donald Trump as dismissing mainstream news reports as "fake news".

A working paper by researchers at Stanford University and New York University concluded that fake news had "little to no effect on the outcome of the election" because, according to the authors' calculations, only 8-percent of voters read a fake news story and that recall of the stories was low.[69][70] The study concluded that "for fake news to have changed the outcome of the election, a single fake news article would need to have had the same persuasive effect as 36 television campaign ads", although this estimate relies on some strong assumptions and guess work.[71][72]

U.S. response to Russia in Syria

Forbes reported that the Russian state-operated newswire RIA Novosti, known as Sputnik International, reported fake news and fabricated statements by White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.[73] RIA Novosti falsely reported on 7 December 2016 that Earnest stated sanctions for Russia were on the table related to Syria.[73] RIA Novosti falsely quoted Earnest as saying: "There are a number of things that are to be considered, including some of the financial sanctions that the United States can administer in coordination with our allies. I would definitely not rule that out."[73] Forbes analyzed Earnest's White House press briefing from that week, and found the word "sanctions" was never used by the Press Secretary.[73] Russia was discussed in eight instances during the press conference, but never about sanctions.[73] The press conference focused solely on Russian air raids in Syria towards rebels fighting President of Syria Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo.[73]

Legislative and executive responses

Members of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee traveled to Ukraine and Poland in March 2016 and heard about Russian operations to influence internal Ukrainian matters.[74] Senator Angus King recalled they were informed about Russia "planting fake news stories" during elections.[74] On 30 November 2016 seven members of the Senate Intelligence Committee asked President Obama to publicize information on Russia's role in spreading disinformation in the U.S. election.[74][75][76] On 30 November 2016, legislators approved a measure within the National Defense Authorization Act to finance the U.S. State Department to act against foreign propaganda.[77][78] The initiative was developed through a bipartisan bill, the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act, written by U.S. Senators Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Chris Murphy.[77] Republican U.S. Senators stated they planned to hold hearings and investigate Russian influence on the 2016 U.S. elections.[79] By doing so they went against the preference of incoming Republican President-elect Donald Trump, who downplayed any potential Russian meddling in the election.[79] Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, and Senator Lindsey Graham all planned investigations in the 115th U.S. Congress session.[79]

U.S. President Barack Obama commented on fake news online in a speech the day before Election Day in 2016, saying social media spread lies and created a "dust cloud of nonsense."[80][81] Obama commented again on the problem after the election: "if we can't discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems."[62][63] On December 9, 2016, President Obama ordered U.S. Intelligence Community to conduct a complete review of the Russian propaganda operation.[82] In his year-end press conference on December 16, 2016, President Obama criticized a hyper-partisan atmosphere for enabling the proliferation of fake news.[83]

Pizzagate

Prior to the November 2016 US election, fake news sites and Internet forums falsely implicated the restaurant Comet Ping Pong and Democratic Party figures as part of a fictitious child trafficking ring, which was dubbed "Pizzagate".[84] The rumor was widely debunked by sources such as the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, fact-checking website Snopes.com, The New York Times, and Fox News.[85][86][87][88] The restaurant's owners were harassed and threatened, and increased their security.[84][89][90]

On 4 December 2016, an individual from Salisbury, North Carolina, walked into the restaurant to "self-investigate" this conspiracy theory. He brought a semi-automatic rifle, and fired shots before being arrested; no one was injured.[87][91] The suspect told police that he planned to "self-investigate" the conspiracy theory,[87] and was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a pistol without a license, unlawful discharge of a firearm, and carrying a rifle or shotgun outside the home or business.[92] After the incident, future National Security Advisor Michael T. Flynn and his son Michael G. Flynn were criticized by many reporters for spreading the rumors.[93][94][95] Two days after the shooting, Trump fired Michael G. Flynn from his transition team in connection with Flynn's Twitter posting of fake news.[96][97] Days after the attack, Hillary Clinton spoke out on the dangers of fake news in a tribute speech to retiring Senator Harry Reid at the U.S. Capitol, and called the problem an epidemic.[98][99]

References

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  2. ^ Referendum, ecco le notizie e le bufale più condivise sui social
  3. ^ a b c d Paul Mozur; Mark Scott (17 November 2016), "Fake News on Facebook? In Foreign Elections, That's Not New", The New York Times, retrieved 18 November 2016
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Concern over barrage of fake Russian news in Sweden", The Local, 27 July 2016, retrieved 25 November 2016
  5. ^ a b Eunice Yoon; Barry Huang (22 November 2016), "China on US fake news debate: We told you so", CNBC, retrieved 28 November 2016
  6. ^ a b Cadell, Catherine (19 November 2016), China says terrorism, fake news impel greater global internet curbs, retrieved 28 November 2016 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |agency= ignored (help)
  7. ^ a b c d e f Read, Max (27 November 2016), "Maybe the Internet Isn't a Fantastic Tool for Democracy After All", New York Magazine, retrieved 28 November 2016
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Frenkel, Sheera (20 November 2016), "This Is What Happens When Millions Of People Suddenly Get The Internet", BuzzFeed News, retrieved 28 November 2016
  9. ^ Weisburd, Andrew; Watts, Clint (6 August 2016), "Trolls for Trump - How Russia Dominates Your Twitter Feed to Promote Lies (And, Trump, Too)", The Daily Beast, retrieved 24 November 2016
  10. ^ "Deception Detection Deficiency", Media Watch, episode 34, September 28, 2009, ABC TV
  11. ^ a b c d Kirchner, Stephanie (14 December 2016), "Menace of fake news is rattling politicians in Austria and Germany", The Washington Post, retrieved 14 December 2016
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