Fake News Proliferation: Risks and Response Strategies

Introduction

The purpose of this white paper is to provide an overview of the recent proliferation of so-called "fake news" and what steps are being taken by government agencies and industry leaders in response. These are important trends because the quality and timeliness of the advice and recommendations provided by the Office of the Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Policy and Strategy (OADNI/P&S) — concerning executive direction policies and corresponding legislative requirements — directly depend on the accuracy of the information aggregated and analyzed for those purposes. Therefore, it is essential for the OADNI/P&S to ensure the accuracy of all information it uses to formulate advice and recommendations and to avoid reliance on fake news in its calculus. Moreover, it is also important for the OADNI/P&S to develop policies that can help other members of the intelligence community identify fake news and take steps to mitigate its proliferation.

As the term connotes, fake news is by definition false, but it is also intentionally designed to mislead or otherwise fool users into believing its veracity — and even taking action based on what they have heard, seen, or read. In this regard, one university library guide notes that "the term fake news means news articles that are intentionally and verifiably false, designed to manipulate people's perceptions of real facts, events, and statements" (What is Fake News, 2022, para. 4).

In addition, fake news differs from other types of news that may simply be inaccurate, biased, misleading, or even outright wrong, in that its authors know the information is false but intentionally publish it anyway in order to achieve some nefarious purpose. Additional definitional clarity is provided by the same source, which notes that this definition "eliminates unintentional reporting mistakes, rumors that don't originate from a news article, suspicions/interpretations/conspiracy theories, satire, and biased (but not false) reports" (What is Fake News, 2022, para. 5). It is noteworthy that satire in particular has become the source of countless fake news reports on topical issues — articles appearing in outlets such as The Onion, for example, are frequently taken at face value by American consumers besieged with information and are shared with friends and family members as legitimate news.

Furthermore, fake news is becoming ubiquitous on many online extremist political platforms and numerous social media sites, and it is increasingly challenging to distinguish fact from fiction. This is due in large part to the ability of fake news promoters to generate content that resembles legitimate journalism so closely that even experts are misled. In sum, fake news promoters are skilled at using just enough factual information to make even the most outlandish claims sound sufficiently plausible that casual readers may be duped into believing them. The negative impact of fake news is compounded when consumers share this type of information with others who are similarly deceived into believing its truthfulness.

Taken together, it is clear that fake news represents a timely and increasingly significant problem for the American public in general and the national intelligence community in particular, making this issue of special interest to the OADNI/P&S and its stakeholders.

The Problem of Fake News

At present, distinguishing fact from fiction is not only challenging — it is impossible in some cases without exhaustive forensic-type analysis. Trying to take a small sip from the information firehose that characterizes today's media environment invariably produces suboptimal results. The waves of information flooding the media have created infinite opportunities for fraudsters of all kinds to leverage fake news in ways that unjustly benefit them or otherwise succeed in misleading consumers with respect to purchase decisions or political issues. These opportunities have been amplified by the use of popular social media platforms that boast billions of users around the world.

While the vast majority of social media users do not intentionally post information they know to be false, many people are misled into believing fake news when it is shared on their platforms by other users — including close family members — whom they know and trust. Most social media platforms have some type of moderation mechanism in place to prevent users from posting outright lies and other fake news, but some articles on these sites are difficult to identify as false and therefore remain intact. The type of moderation used also has a major effect on how effectively social media platforms prevent fake news from being posted and eliminate it when it is discovered.

In virtually every case, however, fake news promoters have managed — with varying degrees of success — to defeat these preventive protocols and the efforts of human moderators. Major social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and others have implemented real-time systems that allow their members to report cases of suspected fake news for human-based follow-up review (Ng et al., 2021). Even here, though, significant challenges remain. A study by Wang et al. (2021) found that "it remains unclear whether these reporting systems that harness the 'wisdom of the crowd' are effective. Notably, concerns have been raised that the popularity of videos may hamper users' reporting of fake news" (p. 1012).

In fact, multimedia in general and videos in particular have made even seemingly outlandish fake news highly compelling and convincing. Many consumers do not recognize news articles with embedded videos as fake, or they believe that the social media host would not allow such articles to remain online if they were false. As Wang et al. (2021) conclude, "Videos not only affect users' ability to detect fake news, but also impact their willingness to report and their engagement (i.e., likes, shares, and comments) which would further spread fake news" (p. 1013). In other words, even well-meaning consumers can unknowingly spread potentially harmful fake news simply by engaging in their favorite online activities, and this reality has made combating the proliferation of online fake news especially challenging (Wang et al., 2021).

While fake news has existed since time immemorial — and most consumers recognize that otherwise honest vendors will engage in puffery to market their goods and services — the advent of online platforms that facilitate the spread of fake news capable of influencing political decisions makes these trends of special interest to the OADNI/P&S.

Why the Problem Is So Intractable

Not only is the problem of fake news multifaceted, but each aspect of the trend is also especially resistant to change. First and foremost, fake news has been used to deceive people throughout history, but the practice has become so sophisticated in recent years that it has attracted the attention of the federal government. According to Rao (2022), "Such deceptive practices are so prevalent that the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC's) guidelines explicitly state that ads are deceptive if they convey that they are independent, impartial, or from a source other than the sponsoring advertiser" (p. 534). Indeed, even major corporations and celebrity spokespersons have been heavily fined by the FTC for these types of deceptive advertising practices, and computer-assisted applications are making the production of fake news advertising easier than ever before.

This problem, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. One of the most serious issues stems from the proliferation of fake news on social media platforms and online extremist sites. Wang et al. (2021) report that "given the ability and incentive to post fake news on social media, the source of fake news has shifted from official media to a much broader, and often anonymous, population — social media users" (p. 1012). User-generated fake news content is flooding the Web, and the motivations behind these activities vary significantly. In fact, the only thing that most fake news stories posted online share in common is their intent to deceive.

During a period in the nation's history when the mainstream media is replete with stories about looming civil conflict, the existential risks of climate change, and the latest pandemic variant, it is little wonder that anxious Americans will believe fake news that resonates with their existing fears. The all-too-human tendency to react to fake news that aligns with people's existing mindsets makes this problem especially threatening to the nation's body politic.

This present era stands in sharp contrast to just a few decades ago, when Americans relied on trusted sources such as Walter Cronkite to provide their evening news with a sense of authoritative certainty. As Wang et al. (2021) point out, "Historically, publishing news has been exclusively controlled by official news media, such as newspapers or TV news stations, and the public read that official news. Unofficial news was often regarded as urban legends or rumors, the circulation of which was often limited" (p. 1012).

In sharp contrast, online sites have been monetized in ways that actively encourage the use of fake news techniques to garner additional attention — so-called "clickbait" — and therefore additional revenues. While these practices may appear comparatively innocuous on the surface, they can detract attention from pressing problems or actually change people's minds about political issues that affect their personal lives. Wang et al. (2021) report that "during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, many anonymous users posted fake news on Facebook and Twitter, attracting millions of page views to their websites, thereby misleading millions of viewers while gaining substantial revenues from advertisements" (p. 1012).

Based on the foregoing, it is clear that the stakes surrounding fake news are high for American consumers and government authorities alike. The integrity of the nation's online commercial marketplace is directly involved in this scenario, meaning that tens of billions of dollars are at risk due to the proliferation of fake news. More importantly, the future of the republic itself is at stake, as fake news threatens the very foundations of the democratic institutions that protect the nation's interests at home and abroad.

Conclusion

Fake news is as old as humanity itself, but it got a major boost with the invention of the printing press and then the Internet. The research is consistent in showing that fake news can be whimsical, outrageous, and even entertaining — but only when it is recognized for what it is. When people take fake news reports at face value and change their beliefs or engage in actions they would not have otherwise taken, fake news becomes a significant threat to individuals, institutions, and democratic governance alike. In the final analysis, the same caveat emptor advice given to buyers is equally applicable to news consumers: verify before you trust, and think critically before you share.

References

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