• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News

The rise of disinformation: Where does the buck stop?

A new TLE podcast looks at some of the biggest issues facing the world, and crucially, how we might fix them.

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
2021-09-30 14:27
in News
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Disinformation is on the rise across the world – with devastating effects.

In January, the world watched in disbelief as protesters stormed the US Capitol, looting and occupying the chamber, the offices of House speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress.

Their indignation was fuelled by allegations that the election had been rigged against their candidate, Donald Trump, with conspiracy theories shared freely and widely – namely by the man himself.

Trump had claimed that the election “is about great voter fraud, fraud that has never been seen like this before,” in a 46-minute address posted on social media.

“It’s about poll watchers who were not allowed to watch. So illegal. It’s about ballots that poured in and nobody but a few knew where they came from. … It’s about machinery that was defective, machinery that was stopped.”

None of his assertions were true, but they were believed enough to underpin an insurrection.

Anti-vaxxers

The same could be said of beliefs held by anti-vaccine protesters who recently stormed the London headquarters of ITN and the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), under the belief that the vaccines they had recommended were not fit to be used.

RelatedPosts

Reaction as Shapps says ‘not partying’ PM ‘lost his mum’ but she died year later

Council ‘extremely disappointed’ as residents complain to try and remove Ukrainian flag due to ‘political reasons’

Today’s newspapers dominated by partygate pics – with one glaring exception

Watch: Flashback to PM telling house there was no party on Nov 13th goes viral again

They too – like QAnon and the Proud Boys – shared their views via social media, organised via social media and mobilised via social media, and they too, by their own admission, could see the same sort of Capitol insurrection happen in the UK due to distrust in politicians and distrust in the mainstream media among other things.

It is a point that Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe and chair of the UK Parliament Joint Committee on the Draft Online Safety Bill, was keen to emphasise on the first episode of The London Economic’s new podcast: Unbreak the Planet with Mike Galsworthy.

Discussing the rise of disinformation and, crucially, what can be done about it, Collins said: “I think it’s impossible to think of the rise of the anti-vaxx movement or conspiracy networks like QAnon without social media there to amplify them.

“Part of the problem is that the social media business model is based on engagement and it tends to see all engagement as positive.

“I think sadly what we are seeing is that disinformation is good for business.”

Where does the buck stop?

So where does the buck stop?

The responsibility to curb the dangerous spread of disinformation primarily rests on the shoulders of three different players: the people who upload the spurious content, the platforms that allow them to spread it, and the regulators and politicians who can legislate against it.

But that creates a strange paradox.

As Mike Galsworthy points out, “the rest of us can be regulated if we say something that is false, but you as a politician, can say something that is judged to be not true by many fact-checkers, and your ads can still fly.”

It is a point that Peter Stefanovic has been at pains to point out over recent years, saying mistruths in parliament put democracy at risk.

Collins, speaking in the TLE podcast, believes politicians have a degree of jeopardy in what they say, but not everyone is convinced.

“We’ve just had Dawn Butler walk out of Parliament over Boris Johnson saying things such as ‘it’s only because of Brexit that we can have freeports’, and every fact-checker under the sun will say that is not the case,” Galsworthy said.

“So if it does not start in our Parliament with politicians then it does feel very much like one rule for them and another for everyone else.”

Three solutions

One thing that can be agreed is that the rise of disinformation will not be quelled overnight.

As part of theUnbreak The Planet series, we will be looking at not only the problems but also potential ways of solving them, which can be broke down into three parts in this instance.

1 – Establish a regulator nationally and globally

2 – Grant regulators the legal power to audit and inspect

3 – Make perpetrators accountable to the law

Watch the first episode ofUnbreak The Planet with Mike Galsworthy below:

Related: Peter Stefanovic: 35 million reasons why the truth still matters in politics

Tags: headline

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

How hyperloop could transform transport in India

Jeremy Hunt: ‘My leadership ambitions have not completely vanished’

Watch: Push to get explicit song about PM to Xmas number one

National newspapers round on Boris Johnson’s government as Brexit chaos deepens

Lucky Numbers and Horoscopes for today 8 April 2022

Donald Trump is no Pig

Creamy Alfredo Sauce

Who would win in a second referendum?

Jeremy Corbyn attacks Amazon over tax payments

Top 20 ways to get better sleep

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.