The Naked Poison IIproblem of fake news on social media platforms like Facebook misinforming Americans was seriously addressed by none other than President Barack Obama Thursday.
Speaking during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he said that if people "can't discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems."
SEE ALSO:Did a fake news writer hand Trump the White House?
The president briefly dived into the controversy of fake news sites during the session, articulating the very real threat they pose to basic functions of democracy.
Explaining the need to protect civil liberties like free speech, Obama said this is more challenging in the digital age, when "there’s so much active misinformation, and it’s packaged very well, and it looks the same when you see it on a Facebook page or you turn on your television."
He warned that, with Americans being so misled, it's harder for the country to "know what to protect."
"We won’t know what to fight for," he said. "And we can lose so much of what we’ve gained in terms of the kind of democratic freedoms and market-based economies and prosperity that we’ve come to take for granted."
"If we are not serious about facts, and what's true and what's not, and particularly in an age of social media where so many people are getting their information in sound bites and snippets off their phones, if we can’t discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems," he added.
Obama: "If we are not serious about facts, and what's true and what's not... then we have problems." https://t.co/pO2n4KtSJv
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 17, 2016
For the last three months of the election, fake news outperformed real news stories on Facebook, according to a Buzzfeedinvestigation this week.The analysis found the 20 top performing fake news sites received over a million more shares, comments and reactions than the top 20 actual news sites like theNew York Times or Washington Post.
The obvious implication is that these false news stories could have unfairly swayed voters during a crucial election — a possibility CEO Mark Zuckerberg mostly dismissed days earlier.
"Only a very small amount is fake news and hoaxes. The hoaxes that do exist are not limited to one partisan view, or even to politics," he wrote in a Nov. 12 Facebook post. "Overall, this makes it extremely unlikely hoaxes changed the outcome of this election in one direction or the other."
Topics Facebook Barack Obama Donald Trump President
Best iPad deal: Save $100 on 13
Nintendo's Switch Lite is disappointing if you already own a Switch
'Stranger Things' Season 3 moment gets meme'd into sweet oblivion
Why the Spider
Outdoor speaker deal: Save $20 on the Soundcore Boom 2
Here is why Jar Jar Binks is trending on Twitter
Trump's brilliant cybersecurity solution is to send messages by courier
You'll soon be able to ask Alexa for medical advice in the UK
Robin Triumphant
In an instant messaging world, a delayed response is anxiety inducing
Today's Hurdle hints and answers for April 29, 2025
Parents say their Hatchimals are swearing like sailors in their sleep
The 5 best moments from the U.S. Women's National Soccer team's victory parade
Relive 1997 with 20 songs turning 20 in 2017
Norrie vs. Diallo 2025 livestream: Watch Madrid Open for free
Zoom lets a website turn on your Mac's camera without permission
'Friends' to leave Netflix, head to HBO Max streaming service
The 9 most cringeworthy brand fails of 2016
'The Last of Us' Season 2, episode 3's opening credits has a heartbreaking change
The bare minimum you need to do to be healthy in 2017
Help us solve the mystery of Kendall Jenner's shortsYosemite launches online bear trackerTeen investigative journalists oust shady principal, give us all hope for futureA floating techno9 ways the MLB can make baseball more excitingThis postal service is delivering KFC, because there's not enough mail nowI'm an iMessage sentimentalist running out of storageSouth Korea's biggest messenger app gets clearance to launch an onlineAlcatel's new phone has two cameras on the back. And another two for selfies'Persona 5' explained: Is this 100Netflix puts troubling rumors about 'The Office' to rest in the best wayYosemite launches online bear trackerLucky dog gets the cutest mini versions of his human's dinner every nightSix reasons Mastodon won't surviveAllow us to destroy this Harry Potter theory that Snape is still aliveThis meditative drone video of Augusta National will have you ready for the MastersOne lonely filmgoer helped Shia LaBeouf's movie make a record $8 at the UK box office'The Purge' is getting a TV show because apparently we need more nightmare fuelBed bugs were blood#StopHindiChauvinism has taken over Indian Twitter Amateur artist tries to restore an ancient Jesus sculpture, and OMFG iPhone XS Max: How it compares to Pixel 2 XL, Note 9 Riot Games COO accused of sexual and physical harassment The likelihood of #NeverTrump fan theories during and after the Republican National Convention Hands on with the Apple Watch Series 4 Woman's tweet to bookstore's Twitter account ends in love story Facebook's Rosetta AI can read all the memes Geoffrey Owens lands TV roles, after being job shamed Aaron Paul joins the cast of 'Westworld' for Season 3 Holy hell, the 512GB iPhone XS Max costs $1,449 Tim Cook talks iPhones, Apple Watch, and then quickly gets out of the way at Apple event Kim Kardashian Snapchatted Kanye West's phone call to Taylor Swift YouTube removes pro Selena Gomez criticized after weighing in on the Taylor Swift/Kanye West drama Journalists report being forced from convention floor after 'Never Trump' protests So how's Tom Hiddleston handling this whole Taylor Swift feud thing? NASA video shows the terrible beauty of Hurricane Florence from space Taylor Swift responds to Kanye and Kim Kardashian's 'character assassination' Photos of Hurricane Florence from space are truly scary to behold 100 nude women showed up to protest at the Republican National Convention
2.4515s , 8224.65625 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Naked Poison II】,Unobstructed Information Network