When governments around the world show their disgust over fake news, it amuses me because they engage in that a lot.
l have covered the military in the past, and that was where l was given an insight into what military intelligence people call “cover story” that becomes propaganda in theatres of war. If they won’t admit it, let them know that it is also fake news of a kind.
Over the past few years, fake news has grown to become a new phenomenon that has taken the globe by surprise. Others are not exactly sure what it is because it has become difficult to define.
It is like when hacking started and no one knew how to deal with it. Its definition as a crime worried criminologists for a while. It could not fit robbery if someone from a remote place stole your files on your computer. It also didn’t well fit into what could be said to be theft. Then, others who used it for political purposes created another puzzle. This group of people used it as a tool to fight their enemies and so, what kind of crime could that be?
So, like the past, what exactly is fake news today?
Wikipedia says it is “false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.”
If it damages reputation of an individual or that of an entity, the laws of defamation and libel are there to cure this mischief. Therefore, criminalizing fake news for damaging reputation is like using a sledge hammer on a fly.
There are also those who claim that it creates fear and panic. How does a state deal with this? This is also an area that needs to be properly looked at. Simply shouting wolf when there is none, should not be seen as a crime.
Others think differently about the term that first appeared in the 1890s when sensational reports in newspapers were common. (Wikipedia)
Thus, should sensational reports, which may be overblowing issues out of proportion be criminalized to punish people who engaged in that? Will that be right?
For some scholars who have attempted to write on the subject, “the term does not have a fixed definition, and has been applied more broadly to include any type of false information, including unintentional and unconscious mechanisms, and also by high-profile individuals to apply to any news unfavourable to their personal perspectives.”
They therefore conclude that, “fake news” is a term that has come to mean different things to different people.
“At its core, we are defining ‘fake news’ as those news stories that are false: the story itself is fabricated, with no verifiable facts, sources or quotes,” the scholars claim.
These lead us to the realms of propaganda that is intentionally designed to mislead the reader.
In this area, isn’t it governments that spin a lot? In Ghana, there have been instances that some stories from official sources turned out to be false. Shouldn’t we define those as false news and make the government pay for that?
We also need to be aware of the monetisation of news portals that put out stories that are designed as ‘clickbait’- written for economic incentives (the writer profits on the number of people who click on the story).
Fake news is not alone, there is also misinformation which is “false or inaccurate information that is mistakenly or inadvertently created or spread; the intent is not to deceive,” but to achieve an aim.
Who does this better apart from governments around the globe? Should we start putting them on trial?
Francis KOKUTSE, an Accra-based veteran journalist, writes this on his Facebook page
