Bibliography +research

Yasmine Madih

PHIL 375

Prof. Russ Payne

June 09, 2022

Writing Assignment Draft

Fake news is becoming a norm in society, with people being duped without realizing

which news is genuine or fake. Social media platforms are the main suspects for spreading fake

news on their sites. Non-journalists are using these platforms in Africa to distribute and produce

information. Fake news spreads quickly across Africa because they do not conform to

professional ethics and principles of journalism. The spread of fake news is typical and apparent

across social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. However, the problem of spreading

fake news on the Facebook platform is worse than on other media sites such as Google and

Twitter. Most people are susceptible to fake news on Facebook because a larger population uses

the platform for entertainment and to receive information. Media use for the production,

consumption, and distribution of news and information challenges traditional news. The motive

and target of fake news on Facebook vary according to a group’s goal and plan.

Fake news is not easily defined and is not helpful in any necessary way as long as the aim

and mission are achieved. Fake news refers to the intentional presentation of false facts that

presents the phony part of the concept but not the news (Bernal, 2018, 515). The information is

usually relevant, new, and essential to being accepted by society as trustworthy. News

consumption and distribution have changed in the past couple of years, with researchers finding

ways to decipher where the problem is and how it can be changed. Fake news affects society as

users are poorly informed and undermine their trust (Villalobos, 2021, 31). However, as much as

fake news is present in the media, people cannot point out what is true from what is fake.

However, it is not that easy because anyone, even politicians, can post anything that society will

perceive to be true. Levinson (2019) states that society lives in a reality where politicians and

entrepreneurs can spend money on advertisements on social media where the advertisements are

both accurate and lies. People cannot decipher the information either as lies or true because the

information presented has new and current ideas and information. Fake news on Facebook is

becoming a significant problem because the company ignores adverts done for politicians.

The issue of fake news is a problem on Facebook because the company emphasizes

profits. Profit-making is a priority for all companies trying to compete with the other companies

and top the economic chart. Francis Haugen explains that the profit-making business at Facebook

is a moral failing compass from the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg (Bhuiyan, 2019). The

pressure is to please shareholders and maximize their value and money at any cost. For example,

the Bernie Sanders Campaign in 2016 saw the highest surge of disturbing images on Facebook

Groups of Hillary Clinton. The images that were spreading from the campaign did not seem

natural, and we knew that someone was spending money on the advertisements so that people

could join the groups (McNamee, 2019, 13). Money is a priority for the company, and it only

acts upon such situations after the event has happened. Money as the reason why Facebook

tolerates fake news is because of capitalism-surveillance. Bhuiyan (2019) states that surveillance

capitalism is a business model where the company uses surveillance to investigate and

manipulate users’ choices and behavior through the use of data. People fall prey to this type of

business model on Facebook and other internet sites such as Amazon, Twitter, Instagram,

Facebook, and Google. The data analysis process and creating profiles on Facebook make it

easier for advertisers to identify what the site users are interested in, thus using that data to create

and spread fake news (Bernal, 2018, 520). User’s data has been used for various reasons, some

malicious or beneficial, which is wrong in the end.

Facebook has made many enemies among the public and researchers by allowing the use

of users’ data. Fake news is a problem that has received much attention, especially after the 2016

United States election. People created different groups to spread false and fake news to instigate

and influence voters to vote for or against a specific candidate. For example, during the 2016

elections, the Bernie Sanders Campaign group spread disturbing images of Hillary Clinton across

many groups on Facebook (McNamee, 2019, 13). Fake news seems geared towards political

interference while the public is utterly unaware of the issue and the effects it creates. However,

fake news on Facebook is possible because of the money-oriented nature of the company and the

exemption benefits for specific groups. Like all companies, Facebook focuses on profit-making

instead of the privacy and safety of user information. The incentives and rewards on Facebook

invoke many people to use the application to spread fake news for the likes and comments,

which translates to some amount of cash. Politicians, military agents, and government offices are

exempted from Twitter and Facebook and allowed to post fake or false information (Levinson,

2019). It happens without considering the effect and discomfort the news will have on society.

Fake news spreads in society because people cannot identify what type of news is a lie or the

truth. The company allows politicians to post lies or false information because specific

considerations exempt political speech and prevent the company’s reviewers from deleting such

posts.