Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and Google are working together with the FBI, Homeland Security and other espionage services to create a strategy for the presidential elections of 2020. The goal of this collaboration is to form a new approach to tackle the weak points in the security of social media. The reason for this partnership was the presidential election of 2016 which was affected heavily by fake news on social media. (NOS, 2019)
Social media was the largest source for fake news in 2016, with nearly 42% of the total fake news on the election. There is even debate whether Trump would have won the elections if it weren’t for these fake news stories on social media. Research shows that about 156 stories about the elections were fake news, 115 pro-Trump and 41 pro-Hillary Clinton. This was the first time an election was so immensely impacted by fake news on social media. (Allcott et al., 2019)
Now in 2019, a daylong meeting at the FBI Headquarters in Silicon Valley was necessary to battle fake news in the upcoming elections and make sure they will be as fair as possible. All of the companies and institutions agreed that sharing of information is crucial to understanding where the threat is coming from.
I, personally, think this collaboration between these big tech companies is crucial to keep the integrity of the elections. The sharing of data will help all of these companies and institutions to detect fake news faster before it reaches the large public.
However, I believe this trend has to be extended further than just the presidential elections. Fake news is an everyday thing and should be battled accordingly. These companies should keep working together and try to keep the amount of fake news to a minimum since all people are affected by it on a daily basis.
Allcott, Hunt, and Matthew Gentzkow. 2017. “Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31 (2): 211-36. Available at: https://www.aeaweb.org/research/charts/fake-news-impact-presidential-election-2016
NOS. (2019, 5 september). “Techbedrijven werken samen met FBI aan strategie voor verkiezingen in VS” Available at: https://nos.nl/artikel/2300391-techbedrijven-werken-samen-met-fbi-aan-strategie-voor-verkiezingen-in-vs.html
Dear Sven,
Thank you for this article. It is something that I have been reading into lately as well. For extra brainfood, you might want to check the documentary “The Great Hack” if you haven’t already.
I must say that I totally agree with you on the fact that companies should work together when it comes to preventing ‘fake news’ and unsavoury use of data. However, do you not think that companies like Facebook for instance will never fully and transparently cooperate in such a manner. They are the ones that benefit (financially) from walking into grey area and using/selling data. By complying they would essentially turn off the tap of one of their greatest revenue source. So it seems it wouldn’t be in their best interest, at the moment.
Do you have any other thoughts on how this ‘working together’ you mention would come to play?
Kind regards,
Willem Prisse
Very actual topic! The collaboration between tech companies will definitely help to prevent fake news. However, it is hard to judge if the article contains ‘fake news’. There is for example overlap between satire/ parody and fakenews. Besides, several people are afraid that articles will wrongly marked as fake news, or that it can be used as censor method by the government. The definition of ‘fake news’ needs to be defined really specific.
Interesting read Sven!
42% of fake news is an incredible amount. I fully agree with your point, that the big tech companies should work together and not provide a platform for the fake news.
Which data would be helpful in finding out whether news across multiple sources of news, social media and networks is fake? It seems hard to me to judge whether news is really fake or simply someones’ opinion.
Did the big companies already published anything about their plans to stop fake news from influencing or even deciding the 2020 elections in the USA?
Thank you,
Sander
Hi Sven,
I agree with you that the big tech companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube have to work closely together with authorities in order to cope with the extensive amounts of fake news that is out there. However, it is also important to set boundaries and that these companies keep their integrity. If authorities have full access to everything, they may misuse their newly gained power to propagate. As such, the solution might become the problem it was suppose to solve.