Half of Americans viewed fake news to be a greater threat than terrorism, illegal immigration, violent crime or racism, a study conducted by the Pew Research Centre revealed.
Following the 14th general election, the newly minted Pakatan Harapan government promised to repeal the Anti-Fake News law brought into effect by the previous Barisan Nasional administration.
The law was aimed at curbing the wanton circulation of fake news by PH through social media channels, specifically the distribution of doctored videos and fake media releases purportedly issued by BN politicians.
SUBANG JAYA: Half of Americans viewed fake news to be a greater threat than terrorism, illegal immigration, violent crime or racism, a study conducted by the Pew Research Centre revealed.
According to findings, almost 70 per cent of US citizens felt fake news and misinformation had greatly affected their confidence in the administration.
Experts are warning of a deepening crisis if the situation is left unchecked.
According to The Guardian, a number of Democratic contenders for the 2020 US presidential race recently became targets of fake content that has widely been shared across the social media.
The British daily cited the case of a doctored video featuring House speaker Nancy Pelosi that suggested she was either drunk or suffered from a case of speech impairment.
The paper claims the video was disseminated by current US president Donald Trump and raked in millions of Facebook views, though the validity of the claim isn’t known to The Third Force.
An excerpt from The Guardian read:
“Facebook was criticized for being slow to respond to the altered Pelosi videos, and some questioned if it was effective to simply demote the content and make it more difficult to find.
“Meanwhile several Democratic presidential contenders have had to weather their own headlines in a fake news cycle: A fake image purported to show a blackface doll on Senator Elizabeth Warren’s desk; a series of sensationalized stories circulated about Kamala Harris’s relationship with a former male colleague; and the South Bend mayor, Pete Buttigieg, was falsely accused of sexual misconduct in a story that amounted to a hoax. And we are still 18 months away from the actual election.”
Following the 14th Malaysian general election, the newly minted Pakatan Harapan (PH) government promised to repeal the Anti-Fake News law that was brought into effect by the previous Barisan Nasional administration.
The law was aimed at curbing the wanton circulation of fake news by PH through social media channels, specifically the distribution of doctored videos and fake media releases purportedly issued by BN politicians.
Singapore recently approved a similar law that is set to police even chats and online forums.
THE THIRD FORCE
