'Misinformer of the Year' award goes to Mark Zuckerberg
Rupert Murdoch, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck.
Those are some of the big media figures Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is joining with this year's dubious distinction of "Misinformer of the Year."
That's the title given to the social media mastermind from Media Matters for America, a progressive media watchdog group that tracks conservative news outlets. After a wild 2016 election, the group started paying closer attention to media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Google, YouTube, and others.
SEE ALSO:Facebook doesn't scan Messenger for fake news. But it definitely shouldTraditionally the group roasts a media personality working either behind the scenes or as the face of blatantly biased information. But this year, in the wake of so much fake news that spread almost effortlessly through social networks, the group looked at how this phenomena is happening.
That led them straight to Zuck.
Facebook has claimed it's working on its fake news problem, and even reversed course on its "who, us?" stance about its impact on the election.
"After the election, I made a comment that I thought the idea misinformation on Facebook changed the outcome of the election was a crazy idea," Zuckerberg said in a statement earlier this year. "Calling that crazy was dismissive and I regret it. This is too important an issue to be dismissive."
While MMFA President Angelo Carusone credits Facebook for trying to curb the fake news problem, its various steps in the past year have fallen short.
Media Matters decided enough is enough, citing the lack of genuine commitment from Zuckerberg to do anything about the problems highlighted in the election.
"Much of what Facebook has done in 2017 has amounted more to a public relations effort than a deeper systemic and underlying approach," Carusone said in a phone call about the award. "What the election did was really illustrate the underlying problems — enabling all this right-wing misinformation and misinformation more broadly."
Facebook did not respond to a request for comment. Zuckerberg's Facebook page says he is currently on parental leave.
"What the election did was really illustrate the underlying problems — enabling all this right-wing misinformation and misinformation more broadly."
Facebook has repeatedly failed in one major way: to provide reliable, accurate information in its newsfeed and through its constantly changing algorithms, Carusone said.
"People don’t just want timely, relevant content, but have an expectation of content being reliable," Carusone said.
Small efforts like the newly implemented "trust indictor" icon aren't enough to overcome this giant problem.
With two-thirds of Facebook users getting news on the site, according to 2016 data from Pew Research Center, the platform has become how a lot of people see the world.
One of the most highly trafficked fake news stories ever is the false story that Obama banned the pledge of allegiance in schools -- something sites like factcheck.org and Snopes had to debunk. Thanks to Facebook, stories like that thrived.
A fact-checking program implemented on the site also didn't go far enough, Carusone believes. "Fact-checking is just window dressing," he said. It doesn't help that the fact-checking journalists themselves didn't think the program was very effective.
What really stands out to Carusone is the deadly impact of fake news.
"You can look back at fake news stories that were spreading exclusively in Myanmar that led not just to kidnappings but murdering of individuals," he said.
This is serious stuff beyond a potentially compromised election.
"This is not just people getting harassed, but getting killed," he said.
Carusone wants to be fair and distinguish between Facebook and its founder. The Media Matters president acknowledges Facebook as a company has acknowledged it has a fake news problem, but it still hasn't made big, significant changes. "Facebook isn’t taking the necessary steps to address the problem," he said.
Facebook, to its credit, did take action in October to better control targeted advertisements on its site. Fake information was spreading through ads targeting specific populations, like a post of actor Aziz Ansari telling people to text in their votes. That's legit fake news and Facebook set up systems to block it.
Tweet may have been deleted
What really bothers Carusone is the inaction to prevent this misinformation debacle from happening again. "What are the mechanisms put in place to inoculate us from having a similar thing happen again?"
And for that inability to take on the ongoing fake news problem and plan for the next big election, Carusone thinks Zuckerberg's misinformer title is more than fitting.
Featured Video For You
Trolls are tweeting fake photos from the Las Vegas shooting
TopicsFacebook
-
Webb telescope just snapped image of huge black hole gobbling materialDoes ChatGPT work for finding Black Friday deals? We tested it ourselves.Does ChatGPT work for finding Black Friday deals? We tested it ourselves.South Korean reporters on way to North Korea's nuke test site [PHOTOS]“笋货”上市采购旺!清远西牛麻竹笋迎秋季尝鲜热Trump, Kim wage intense tug天全县开通群众路线教育实践活动官方微博微信平台Trump says 'we'll know next week' about Kim summit [VIDEO]16 of the Most Epic Sandwiches Around the PlanetFacebook data powers American inequality study by economist Raj Chetty
- ·Apple Watch bands: 5 favorites to consider as Apple Watch 10 looms
- ·The 4 best Amazon Prime invite
- ·雅安天气变化属正常 未来一周气温波动不大
- ·North Korea slams 'ignorant and stupid' Pence, renews summit threat
- ·7 Reasons to Explore Boston’s Lesser
- ·N. Korea's carrier reduces flights on Pyongyang
- ·Benitez rules himself out of Arsenal and Everton jobs
- ·Very good dog stars in very own trailer for a faux action movie
- ·How 3D Game Rendering Works: Texturing
- ·US envoy confidant about achieving N. Korea denuclearization
- ·Ancelotti sacked despite Napoli's Champions League progress
- ·Woman finds beautiful kebab shop photoshoot on her phone after night out
- ·高燃!哨响表停赛不止,2024广东“村BA”开赛在即,一分钟带你重温高光瞬间。
- ·Uber wants to deactivate fewer driver accounts for unfair reasons
- ·Black Friday Kindle deals: Kindle Scribe at its lowest price ever
- ·US envoy confidant about achieving N. Korea denuclearization
- ·DOJ accuses TikTok of collecting and sharing users' personal views, as the app fights a ban
- ·石棉县黄果柑销售突破1亿元大关
- ·中国人寿完成首批马航坠毁客机客户预赔付工作
- ·Uber wants to deactivate fewer driver accounts for unfair reasons
- ·North Korea says it conducted important test to develop multiple warhead missile
- ·为民服务亮承诺 广大群众来监督
- ·A comprehensive guide to the biggest Twitter Parties you attended in summer 2016
- ·中国人寿完成首批马航坠毁客机客户预赔付工作
- ·18 Places for Epic Outdoor Adventure Across Colorado
- ·品春茶看表演 祭茶祖立品牌
- ·21 College and University Museums
- ·Best Black Friday deals at Best Buy: TVs, laptops, headphones, and more
- ·Hybrid solar cell captures energy from the sun and raindrops
- ·Youth football event organizers looking to invite US teams to N.Korea : official
- ·NASA rover snaps photo of its most daunting challenge yet
- ·South Korea, US will continue military exercise
- ·Anyone can use Facebook to boost a message. Even Russian agents.
- ·Fati makes history as Barca send Inter crashing out of Champions League
- ·两个改造提升项目进入收尾阶段
- ·Watford turn to Pearson for Premier League rescue mission