EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
Fake news hacks call for creation of reality checker, say analysts
The fake news annoyance is spinning into a full-throttle political nuisance. Hackers — state-sponsored and otherwise — are working to weaponize open-source tools and social media to spread misinformation and sway government elections.
Facebook’s Russian hacking scandal was a preview of things to come, according to Dave Vellante (@dvellante, pictured, right), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio. “The midterm elections, 2020, is really going to be won or lost on social media,” he said.
Vellante examined the threat along with co-host John Furrier (@furrier, pictured, left) at the BigData SV event in San Jose, California. They discussed how new technology can enable corruptors and possibly stamp them out.
Keeping the meme wars clean
The public must get sharp about validating news outlets and messages on social platforms like Facebook and Twitter. There may be hidden political actors pulling the marionettes strings on journalists and others. “A lot of people don’t believe that you can actually manipulate social media that way,” Vellante said.
“Here’s the anatomy of the hack: If you control the narrative, you can control the meme; if you can control the meme, you can control the idea; if you can control the idea, you can control the belief system; if you can control the belief system, you can control the population,” Furrier said. This is the ground on which a new social-networking cold war is being fought.
Sounds nasty, but there is a silver lining. Out of widespread distrust, a platform that can prove its integrity and neutrality could come to the fore. Also, new infrastructure and new software could give rise to a Google for social networks, according to Furrier. Whoever can shine a light on what is real and what is not, will ultimately have all the internet at their doorstep, he added.
“If you’re in the media business, and you’re not thinking about this, you will be out of business,” Furrier concluded.
Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the BigData SV event.
Photo: SiliconANGLE
Since you’re here …
… We’d like to tell you about our mission and how you can help us fulfill it. SiliconANGLE Media Inc.’s business model is based on the intrinsic value of the content, not advertising. Unlike many online publications, we don’t have a paywall or run banner advertising, because we want to keep our journalism open, without influence or the need to chase traffic.The journalism, reporting and commentary on SiliconANGLE — along with live, unscripted video from our Silicon Valley studio and globe-trotting video teams at theCUBE — take a lot of hard work, time and money. Keeping the quality high requires the support of sponsors who are aligned with our vision of ad-free journalism content.
If you like the reporting, video interviews and other ad-free content here, please take a moment to check out a sample of the video content supported by our sponsors, tweet your support, and keep coming back to SiliconANGLE.
