Subscribe

SA publications fall victim to fake news

Admire Moyo
By Admire Moyo, ITWeb's news editor.
Johannesburg, 23 Jan 2017
The rise of fake news sites is a growing problem in SA, analysts say.
The rise of fake news sites is a growing problem in SA, analysts say.

As the growing threat of fake news Web sites continues, South African publications have become the latest casualties.

Talk Radio 702, the Sunday Times and Huffington Post were victims of fake Twitter accounts with misleading and inaccurate information. This included stories about finance minister Pravin Gordhan and others.

In one of the tweets, a parody Sunday Times account (@SundayTimessZA) called out Huffington Post SA's editor-at-large, Ferial Haffajee: "#Gordhan should get proof or just shut up. He is wasting public money to settle personal scores. #Oakbay."

On 21 January, Haffajee was linked to a tweet purporting to be from the Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPostZA) which said: "Ferial Haffajee: #Gordhan is clearly WMC [white monopoly capital] stooge, going out of his way to clip wings of #Guptas #OakBay." This account seems to no longer exist.

In response, Haffajee tweeted: "Fake!!!! Sunday Times is @SundayTimesZA - note the extra 's'. The campaign by the capture crew is in full steam."

Growing pains

World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck notes the rise of fake news sites or publications is a growing problem in SA, with more than a dozen fake news sites operating. "As fast as some get closed down, even more open up."

According to Goldstuck, there are three core motives behind fake news sites. "The first is the traditional profit motive. The creators want to create a frenzy with fake news stories that drive massive traffic, which can be turned into a significant advertising revenue stream.

"The second motive is to promote a political cause - although not necessarily a legitimate cause. In the US, we saw many right wing propaganda sites come to the fore as popular purveyors of fake news because they fed into the narrative of right-wingers. In other words, the intention is propaganda and misinformation in the service of a cause. The third motive is sheer malice, or an attempt to see how many people can be fooled how often. This is a similar motive to that of early virus creators, who merely wanted bragging rights."

Goldstuck notes that such sites are dangerous anywhere in the world.

Slippery slope

The Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) says its mandate doesn't extend to monitoring trends in online media. However, the industry body points out that it appears legitimate journalists consider fake news sites a growing challenge.

ISPA says it is possible to use the Alternative Dispute Resolution process to try to have deliberately misleading domain names revoked or transferred, which will certainly hurt a Web site using fake news to generate advertising revenue.

However, it notes it isn't possible to stop people registering new domains and launching new fake news sites.

"Society would agree that it is the responsibility of every Internet user in SA to be an informed cyber citizen, and educate themselves about the risks of simply believing everything they see online. Parody is not illegal and some fake news sites are simply intended to be spoof sites meant for amusement. There are greater freedom of speech issues involved here," says ISPA.

"However, some fake news sites produce items which could easily be viewed as defamatory and this is illegal. Then again, it is quite possible to write a fake news story without defaming anyone in particular. Monitoring the Internet for inaccurate information is a very slippery slope and each instance would have to be individually judged without making sweeping generalised statements."

Outright lies

Jon Tullett, IDC's research manager for IT services for Africa, says we have always had fake news, in many forms, online and off.

"We've had outright lies, both propaganda and satire. We've had pseudoscience. We've had mainstream media with political leanings which selectively report or distort news."

According to Tullett, the bottom line is that the ratio of news to fake news has always been pretty low, but the consumerisation of publishing online has caused it to balloon, not unexpectedly.

"There's a big spike in trolling, which is what led to 'fake news' being topical, but it's just a modern symptom of a very old malaise. But urban legends are part of the same picture, and they were around well before the Internet existed. People are drawn to comfortable hoaxes which resonate with their own biases. That's human nature, and there will always be those who will prey on human nature."

He adds that fake news can't exist in a vacuum; urban legends work because people fall for them. "It's like trying to ban measles - it absolutely can't be done. What you can do is educate people about vaccination, hygiene and treatment. The solution to fake news is a robust media ecosystem and an informed audience. We're guilty of undermining both sides, and this is the price we pay."

Share