Art of Conning: Manipulation

The second part of this series will look at what we all think of when it comes to fake news: manipulation.

Manipulating Audio, Video, or Image

When we think of fake news, we think of [badly] photoshopped images or videos. Remember when Donald Trump, Jr. instagrammed this [badly] edited poll to show his dad winning?

It’s definitely not the Photoshop magic wand tool with smart select

While stuff like these are easy to spot, technology is advancing and the tools to manipulate images, audios, and videos are becoming more sophisticated. In fact, we aren’t actually that smart to identify manipulated images.

See if you can spot the real image used in the study:

Fake Profiles

After major events, especially tragic ones, photo collages of victims or missing people have become common practice on social media. However, these photos can be hoaxes and are often shared by well-meaning people.

Following the shooting in Santa Fe, people created fake profiles of the shooter to fit their political narrative. Some presented him as a Trump supporter and others pinned him as a Democrat.

That hat is totally legit, guys

Gone are the days of badly photoshopped images and memes, and we’ve now entered the era of ‘deep fakes‘. Barack Obama can be made to lipsync. Donald Trump’s face can be manipulated. Yet our media literacy and skills to spot what is fake and manipulated hasn’t caught up with technology.

 

The real image was A. by the way  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Next in the series- Art of Conning: PR stunts and Satire

-Maria

Facts vs. Fake

One of the best ways to combat the circulation of Fake News is digital and media literacy.

It’s not always easy to spot fake news. If you’re in doubt, here are some helpful tips on how to spot fake news:

Check the Website

 

• Look at the URL. Does it end with a ‘com.co’? Probably fake.
• Heaps of popups and ad banners?
• Check their About page

Read the Article

 

• Do they cite their sources?
• Are the links to legitimate websites?
• Is there a strong bias?

 

Still Doubting?

 

• If you’re still unsure, don’t share it
• Contribute to truths, don’t spread lies

 

 

Here’s a helpful infograph you can share:

 

-Maria

 

 

 

Does the #Truth matter anymore?

Truth & Technology

In a Guardian article, Katherine Viner asks: In an age where social media news reporting has dominated over media institutions, and everyone has their facts, ‘does the truth matter any more?’

Source: Sébastien Thibault

Technology is rapidly developing. This isn’t necessarily good or bad. But what is worrying is whether or not we have the skills to adapt to it. In an age where attention, clicks, and data are the new economy, less than 40% of us actually go further than the headline, and read the article.

Read before you Share

Here’s a random thought, how about we all read a full article before we share it to our friends? – simple enough yeah? In reality, statistics show that:

59 Percent Of You Will Share an Article without even Reading It

Why you ask? First, the human attention span is getting shorter everyday- why else are we so attracted to GIFs and MEMES?

Second, we are lazy (to put it bluntly). It requires time and effort to read an article.

Third, some headlines are just too intriguingly funny, weird, touching or interesting not to share right away. In fact, we love the attention from friends and social media when we share an article and the ‘fake’ reputation that we read.  It’s no wonder that the strength and popularity of a piece sometimes comes down to the strength of its headline.

But do we really want to become a generation of lazy, manipulated, misinformed users? 

In the war against fake news, we’ve already tried multiple solutions.

1. we’ve used algorithms by digitally identifying false information and validating information- but, how reliable is this? Can machines differentiate humoristic or sarcasm or even bias?
2. Our friend Facebook has actively installed tools to prevent misleading/spam posts. They have provided us options to hide content with our own classifications of what is false. – but, have any of you used these tools yet?
3. Even Governments have been active, countries such as Malaysia have turned to legislation and laws to combat fake news. However , censorship and freedom of speech concerns render the laws ineffective and counterproductive as debates of whether fake news should be considered ‘illegal’ continue

The real solution lies in you

We can’t escape from bias but we can’t escape from facts either. Think twice before you share the next thing you read. 

Cecilia

Fake News, What is it?

Fake News is the deliberate spreading of false information through the mainstream media. It most commonly manifests itself in sensationalised news that has not been fact checked. The result is the spreading of untrue ideas, which, if given enough attention, can become true in the minds of the masses.

American President Donald Trump made the term famous when he used it to attack journalists that challenged, opposed or disagreed with him during his election campaign of 2016. Trump continues to vilify the media describing them as “disgusting”. (see article below)

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/aug/03/trump-whips-up-crowd-anger-as-he-vilifies-media

Consumers of media must be vigilant in fact checking their news. Being critical of the information you are receiving is important to upholding the truth and not allowing fake news to dominate the screens.Below is an article titled, How to Spot Fake News which offers advice on how to astutely navigate the media sphere.

https://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/how-to-spot-fake-news/

Jake