Fake news articles spread by minority groups on social media could pose risks to traditional news platforms such as print and television, media experts are warning.
This comes after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg vowed to crackdown on the problem after a wave of phony news spread on social media sites during the US presidential election.
An example of this included a bogus news report which claimed Pope Francis supported Donald Trump’s bid for the Whitehouse.
The head of News Corp in Australia recently described the internet as a ‘cauldron of crap’.
Although Zuckerberg has previously denied Facebook’s accountability in the problem, insisting it is a technology company, not a news publisher, he now says the company will stamp out fake news.
Media expert from Murdoch University, Prof Toby Miller says the spread of online fake news has already impacted the reputation of journalists and traditional media organisations.
“It helps to downgrade even further the reputation of journalists with reputable organisations, who generally have to check what they have discovered before it is printed and are already often criticised by readers of fake news for supposedly suppressing the truth,” Prof Miller explains.
According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Centre, 62 per cent of US adults get news from social media, and 18 per cent do so often.
Prof Miller says we can expect to see fake news crop up on social media during future Australian elections, which will have consequences for traditional media and news consumers.
“Yes this will be a problem for Australia, though it is somewhat more difficult because there is tighter and more centralised regulation of both the media and the conduct of elections than is the case in the US.”
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It seems most of the mainstream media news was fake leading up to the Trump election. Over half the nation knew he would be elected yet nearly all of the media, both in the US and here, presented us with a constant barrage of how he could never win whilst his opponent had it in the bag. I think this “Fake News” on social media thing is simply to divert attention away from the MSM bias and failings.
Minority groups …. really? What about CNN, AP , MSNBC, New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, BBC, ABC, Telegraph, The Times, and many many more mainline news…..they all are guilty or even more so of Fake news.