Short presentation on fake news for BEM2034

1. Fake news n.
“…news that conveys or
incorporates false,
fabricated, or
deliberately misleading
information, or that is
characterized as or
accused of doing so.”
What is Fake News?
Oxford English Dictionary - 2019
‘Fake News – person reading fake news article’ by Mike MacKenzie
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

2. Types of Fake News
There are several types of online information that could be classified
as fake news.
These include:

3. Fake News in history
Mid-1700s – King on his deathbed
During the Jacobite rebellion, some
individuals disloyal to King George II,
sought to undermine his rule by
printing fake stories that his health
was failing.
1835 – The Moon hoax
The New York Sun newspaper runs a
series of articles claiming that life has
been discovered on the Moon. They
attributed the discovery to a
renowned astronomer, before later
admitting the story to be a hoax.
1924 – The Zinoviev Letter
Days before the 1924 UK General Election, the
Daily Mail publishes a forged letter,
purportedly from the Soviet government,
suggesting a Labour victory would hasten the
radicalisation of the working classes. Labour
went on to lose the election.
1989 – Hillsborough Disaster
In the aftermath of the disaster at
Hillsborough football stadium, where 96
supporters died, The Sun newspaper
published a series of misleading and
fabricated stories, placing much of the blame
on Liverpool fans. The paper published a
front page apology and new report on the
incident in 2012.
Though popularised during the 2016 US election campaign,
Fake News has been circulating for centuries.
1700 2019

4. Consequences of Fake News
The rapid spread of Fake News and disinformation online
can have profound consequences. Examples include:
• Distrust in the media
• Undermining the democratic process
• Platforms for harmful conspiracy theories and
hate speech
• Spread of false or discredited science – e.g.
anti-vax movement

5. The Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (NetzDG) law
- A recent German law requiring social media sites to remove
fake news and hate speech within 24hours. Click here for
more information.
Trusted News Summit
- The BBC, along with publishers, tech and social media
companies met to agree a plan to tackle fake news. Read
the latest on this here.
DCMS report
- The UK’s cross-party Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee
produced a report on ‘Disinformation and fake news’ in 2019.
Fighting Fake News