Unit 3: The Rapid Spread of Fake News (1ère AMC)

 Fighting Disinformation

The document under study is an extract from a website called Brookings.edu, published in December 2017. It deals with how journalists wish to fight disinformation.

Nowadays, what is paradoxical with today’s journalism is that information is more accessible online through social media platforms, however, with all the fake news that can be found on these same platforms, it degrades the image of authentic media.

According to the article, governments, businesses, consumers, technology companies and educational institutions could solve this problem by teaching people about news literacy and help them how to spot fake news.

The news media landscape has changed throughout the past decade thanks to the digital sources, the reach of journalism, social media and public engagement. On top of that, people now get their news mostly online. Besides, the readers are mainly young adults.

To finish with, in order to receive specific information one would like to read, one can customize their preferences on their devices. Eventually, this can also help to select what is real information from misinformation.

Legislating on Deep Fakes?

 

 The document under study is a recording from a radio program, NPR, an American radio. It was published in 2019. It deals with the complexity of legislating deep fakes.

A deep fake is a technology involving the use of artificial intelligence (A.I.) to manipulate videos or audios to make them appear real and convincing. Deep fakes have a real impact on our society regarding the rise of fake news.

Moreover, deep fakes are becoming a national security concern because they can make people do or say things they never did or said before.

Furthermore, deep fakes can create disastrous situation and critical scenarios with for example a military official giving orders to mass troops at a border when it never really happened in the real world.

The USA cannot sue (to judge in a trial) the person at the origin of a deep fake because it is complicated to track them. On top of that, if they are from another country, they don’t have the right to prosecute a foreign person.

 

Homework: Learn the lessons.