Media council, Facebook to fight fake news

FALSE NEWS HAS GRAVE CONSEQUENCES ON PERSONAL AND SOCIETAL LEVEL — OFFICIAL

False news can have a political dimension where one party posts false information designed to damage another party, or…, with sensationalist or misleading material being … posted.

Facebook has teamed up with the National Media Council (NMC) to pool their respective resources in an effort to combat the proliferation of false news.

A joint campaign will commence in UAE newspapers and on Facebook today, said a press release issued by the NMC yesterday.

The newspaper advertisements have been designed to educate the public on how they can assess the credibility of news they are reading on social media. Additionally, a tool will appear at the top of the Facebook News Feed for a few days in the UAE.

Educational tool

When people click on this educational tool, they will see more information and resources in the Facebook Help Centre. This includes tips on how to spot false news, such as checking the URL of the site, investigating the source and looking for other reports on the topic.

“The issue of false news is one that has increased in prominence with the explosion in use of social media in recent years. False news can have a political dimension where one party posts false information designed to damage another party, or it can have a financial dimension, with sensationalist or misleading material being deliberately posted. It could also be combination of elements, but the bottom line is always the same — the truth suffers.

“People end up believing falsehoods, which can have serious consequences on a personal as well as societal level,” said Mansour Al Mansouri, Director-General of the NMC.

Al Mansouri stressed the NMC is at the forefront of protecting news consumers from being fed lies and disingenuous information through its regulatory function that constantly reviews and evaluates the UAE’s media landscape.