Fake news, disinformation tackled in forum
SINGAPORE — Hundreds of media practitioners, academicians and other stakeholders across the Asia Pacific region converged on Saturday at the bustling Google headquarters in this island-city state — tackling issues ranging from the proliferation of fake news, how to combat disinformation and building trust through fact-checking.
Daily Tribune was among the newspaper companies from various parts of the region invited during the two-day Asia Pacific (APAC) Trusted Media Summit 2019.
Several subject-matter experts from organizations like First Draft, International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), Google and Facebook made their presentations which included updates on the prevalence of fake news and disinformation on various platforms, particularly in the social media.
Academicians from different countries also presented updates on the existence of fake news in their respective nations — mostly linked to local elections and politics.
All speakers emphasized the negative effects of the irresponsible use of the Internet, particularly social media platforms, to mainstream journalism which is currently suffering from trust issue due to the prevalence of disinformation.
Citing a survey in the United Kingdom, one resource person stressed how the British public have relatively low trust from the mainstream media — only 26 percent.
While the decline in trust to media is a worldwide phenomenon, it is now considered to be alarming as fake news have been proven harmful not only to individuals who fall victims to such but on shaping public perception, like during elections.