“fake news (ˌfeɪk ˈnjuːz) noun: false, often sensational, information disseminated under the guise of news reporting”
“Fake news” wasn’t consistently a term that people used before the American election of 2016. However, it has quickly established itself, in the words of many, as one of the “greatest threats to democracy.” The majority of the “real” news domestically in recent weeks has focused on two key issues.
The Referendum on the 8th Amendment
Campaigning for the abortion referendum, which decides whether or not the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution will be repealed, will soon be in full-swing. The amendment, as it currently stands, bans abortion in almost all circumstances. It has thus far proven to be a particularly divisive issue with some of the online vitriol signaling an ignorance and disregard for the other side’s beliefs.
Facebook & Cambridge Analytica.
The impact from the controversy stemming from the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the Facebook data breach has been resounding, with wide coverage internationally leading to a call for people to delete their Facebook accounts, leading to a plummeting of the tech giant’s stock to $159.15.
Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, has since been forced to come out and issue a public apology for the social media giant’s lack “breach of trust” with users of the platform.
The involvement of data analytics in influencing both the US election and Brexit has led to widespread condemnation of those in charge. Relative to previous political campaigns, there was a disproportionate amount of money spent on creating highly targeted ads to people who had the potential to be easily swayed towards voting Trump or voting to Leave the European Union.
The potential impact in Ireland
Make no mistake about it, the same tactics that were employed by both the Trump and the Leave campaigns will be at play right up until the date for the vote, Friday, May 25th. Currently, there exists no Irish regulation to counteract this issue, meaning that there will undoubtedly be widespread use of microtargeting to deliver messages to those who will be more inclined to be influenced by them. The Save the 8th campaign has already taken steps in this direction by hiring self-described “all-service political consultancy” and data-analytics agency, Kanto Consulting.
Thomas Borwick (pictured above) is probably one of the most influential people that nobody has ever heard of. He has extensive experience in the field of political consultation, with his work experience reading like a laundry list of right-wing success stories. This includes previous employment at Cambridge Analytica, acting as a consultant to SCL group, the parent company of Cambridge Analytica, as well as featuring as the CTO of the Vote Leave campaign, which spent more than half their budget on highly targeted social media campaigns.
Representatives of the Save the 8th campaign insist that the appointment of Kanto has been to create and track their campaign website. However, given Borwick’s track record and experience, serious questions could be posed as to the sincerity of these statements. Borwick is a man who has previously been involved in both the Brexit referendum campaign and has links to Cambridge Analytica, the company which many have attributed Trump’s campaign success to. Both of these campaigns can undoubtedly be considered two of the most successful digital targeting campaigns ever seen. The fact that this campaigning method will be in practice for the referendum on the eighth amendment is alarming enough in itself, however, having a figure like Borwick assuming a prominent role spearheading that effort in a referendum on these shores is a terrifying prospect, bringing into question the legitimacy of our democratic process.
So what can you do about it? Nothing really. There is currently scant regulation in place to address this issue, meaning the tide of fake news is about to arrive thick and fast. The trench warfare that has been evident in the Repeal and Save the Eighth campaigns so far is about to be cranked up to a whole new level in both the national press and online.
ianguerin 