Social media companies must act on fake news

Most of us think we would never fall for a fake rumor. But far too many of us do. This is not new. In 1938, Orson Welles convinced, via a radio drama, thousands of people that Martians were in the process of invading Earth. And the Rwanda genocide of 1994 was fomented by dangerous false claims broadcast on radio.

While fake news has always existed, the velocity and therefore the risk today is far greater, making it one of the most dangerous phenomena of modern times. Truth is now so slow to emerge compared to rumor that it can hardly compete. Fact checkers are often superb but, by necessity, must be thorough, scrupulous and take their time.

Damaging rumors can undermine governments, bring about a financial crisis, cause and exacerbate riots, and play into the hands of extremists. This is augmented by the world of tech, particularly social media and artificial intelligence.

Rumors can destroy and even kill. Their destructive power grows as we all become more interconnected.

The recent crisis in Ceuta highlighted this once again. The fictitious story that the border between Spain and Morocco was opening triggered an estimated 72,000 Moroccans to swim to the enclave or clamber over its frontier fence. More than 100 people lost their lives. This rumor was not verified or fact checked. Crucially, it was widely believed.

Rumors can destroy and even kill. Their destructive power grows as we all become more interconnected

Chris Doyle

Take your pick of a host of other dangerous examples. Two summers ago, it was Southport in England. After a stabbing attack at a children’s dance class, false claims about the attacker’s identity spread across social media within hours. Violent riots followed. The official media took an age to catch up.

In India in 2018, many fell for a hoax about strangers abducting children. Rehashed footage from a different tragedy abroad, relabeled and pushed out on WhatsApp, circulated across the country. Mobs beat to death more than 20 people, including bystanders with no connection to any crime. They acted merely as a result of a forwarded video and a fear that had been deliberately propagated.

The Middle East is far from immune to this trend. Arguably, it is even easier to propagate false stories in the region given the lack of trust in mainstream media. The US-Israel war on Iran has provided the most recent and advanced playground for information manipulators. It is all done on the cheap. Videos have claimed to show the American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln burning at sea. A host of AI-generated videos have spread, including fake footage of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa on fire. Another fake was an alleged image of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s corpse trapped under rubble after he was assassinated in US and Israeli airstrikes.

What makes matters worse are the various actors, including so-called influencers, who trade on this. They monetize the attention and traffic they receive. Accuracy works against their interests, as they need to dramatize and sensationalize. They deploy these unverified rumors to secure attention for themselves and their agendas. In particular, the ever-burgeoning army of far-right anti-immigration fanatics and racists do not wait to fact check. These rumors become far more dangerous when targeted at a particular group, especially if they are marginalized and vulnerable. This includes migrants and those swimming the dangerous waters to Ceuta.

These influencers rarely lose followers for being wrong — if anything, their audience grows, with zero accountability.

What makes matters worse are the various actors, including so-called influencers, who trade on this

Chris Doyle

But influencers are not the only problem. State and nonstate actors are also heavily involved in this. They run disinformation campaigns. Bot farms are part of their tool kit. Russia is widely accused of this but it is not the only party.

Trust in information plummets. Who can people trust if even videos and images are faked? The high quality and sophistication make fakes even harder to detect. Some of the fake footage was unwittingly spread by people in public life, such as former French Ambassador to Israel Gerard Araud. Teaching children from an early age about fact checking and verification may become a necessity.

Is there a fix for all this? Social media platforms must do more, not least in terms of ending the financial incentives of what is now a full-scale industry of forgery. The incentive structure must be demolished.

These companies have to act during periods of crisis and war, when the risks are at their height, perhaps by slowing the spread of information until claims can be checked. Fact checking should take place at the moment of virality, not later. Posts on social media should be augmented not for engagement but accuracy. The accounts spreading these rumors must be closed down.

If the tech companies do not act, legislation will be required. The obligation of state authorities is to protect citizens. Without action, these rumors will only increase, spread faster and do far greater damage.

Those who counter that this would violate free speech need to be challenged. People died in the Ceuta crisis — they would still be with us today were it not for this industry.

• Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London. X: @Doylech