As social firms rake in profits spreading fake news, UK is left counting the cost with chaos & terrified communities
LAST week, when sickening incidents of rioting first broke out in the UK, Sir Keir Starmer warned social media companies not to allow their platforms to be used to incite violence.
The Prime Minister spoke directly to the billionaire owners of Facebook, X, Snapchat and others, saying: “Violent disorder clearly whipped up online: that is a crime.
“It’s happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.”
What has happened to stop the peddling of hate since then?
Absolutely nothing. If anything, it’s got much worse — even as the riots have spread alarmingly, and at huge cost to communities across the country.
Indeed, it’s clear from their lack of action that social media giants couldn’t care less about the PM’s warnings.
Why would they?
For years successive Governments have promised crackdowns but done precious little to curb its worst excesses.
And so we have seen dangerous disinformation trigger and then continue to fuel the riots, starting with the fabricated claims that an illegal migrant committed the tragic Southport murders of three young girls.
In contrast, traditional media remains heavily regulated, rightly abiding by strict legal rules around the reporting of crime and disorder.
Editors risk going to prison if they get it wrong.
Imagine the fury if a newspaper or its website had spent days falsely claiming — as was hugely widely shared on Facebook and X — that Somali migrants had murdered dog-walker Anita Rose?
The publication would face demands to be shut down. Heads would roll.
In contrast, the social media bosses take no responsibility for the dangerous content they circulate to millions.
Facebook has been repeatedly shown to stoke social unrest; from race riots in France, to deadly violence in India and the January 6 Capitol Hill uprising in the US in 2021.
Owner Mark Zuckerberg (net worth £134billion) and his chief apologist Nick Clegg (reported salary £15million) simply shrug all this off as “untrue”.
Yet disinformation — for vast profit — is now a part of their lucrative business model and key to their unchecked power.
Last night police chiefs mobilised an army of 6,000 cops as more rioting, plotted and planned on social media, was expected across the country.
If Sir Keir is serious about getting a grip of this vital issue — and really means to end the peddling of lies and hate — then we need to hear some proper ideas.
The days of letting Facebook and friends behave like publishers, but have none of the accompanying responsibilities, must end.
It’s time to finally clean up the social media sewer.
Lies rewarded on socials
By Will Payne, Sun Director of Digital
Since last week’s sickening attack in Southport, social media has, unsurprisingly, been awash with ‘facts’ about the alleged attackers identity, race, religion and motivation as people try to make sense of the horrific murder of three little girls.
Unfortunately almost all of these ‘facts’ have been totally and utterly false.
But such is the power of Facebook, X, Tiktok and a host of other platforms, used by billions daily, those lies have spread like wildfire.
And because those hugely influential social channels are barely regulated and take next to no responsibility for the content they publish, the fact the information is completely incorrect doesn’t matter one bit.
In fact, because social media algorithms reward extreme views that reinforce people’s prejudices and fears, fake news is actually rewarded.
That is a terrifying thought. The more extreme the information, the further it will spread, irrespective of whether there is a grain of truth to it.
Not only that, because the algorithms are so sophisticated and highly attuned, they know exactly how to keep you scrolling, by serving you with more and more content that reinforces your beliefs.
So before long, all you are seeing is the same news and the same extreme commentators with no counter-balance or alternative view point, creating a dangerous echo chamber.
At that point it’s hardly surprising people become convinced that social media reality is actual reality.
Just remember social media algorithms are designed for one reason and one reason only, to keep you there. If that’s with fake news, so be it.
Truth is ultimately irrelevant when it comes to social media. The bosses don’t care and take no responsibility. When they are printing money, with no fear of reprisals, why would they?
Just imagine for a second if a regulated newspaper, website, TV or radio station published some of the dangerous lies and propaganda that has been swirling around social media over the last week.
We would be sanctioned by regulators, pilloried by the rest of the traditional media and boycotted by advertisers. We would be finished. And rightly so.
Everyday journalists up and down the country come into work aiming to source information, fact check it, ensure its accuracy and then publish it.
Whatever your newspaper or website of choice, if it’s professional and regulated by IPSO, you know that every effort will have been made to verify the accuracy of the information published. We are journalists and our job is to bring you the news.
If we get something wrong, we are held accountable, which is how it should be.
There are people out there trying to convince you the ‘MSM’ is the enemy and that they are the source of ‘real truth’.
They are lying, but social media has given them the perfect platform to spread those lies far and wide.