Fake news travels from public social media to private channels, and the Dutch are not worried

Today, disinformation is spread more often through private online channels, such as Telegram and WhatsApp, as well as private Facebook and Twitter groups, than through public social media. This is what many experts tell BNR after being asked. At the same time, according to a report by the media authority, the Dutch are less concerned about fake news. “Therein lies the danger,” warns Gwenda Neelen, a sociologist and researcher on online manipulation.

‘Street. Anthony College, where Sigrid Kaag received her MA in Philosophy, is nothing more than a training institute for the Western Secret Services. For example, party leader Thierry Baudet of the Forum for Democracy addressed the House of Representatives two weeks ago. Then Chamber President Bergkamp cut him off, while the government left the Chamber after Kaag.

Before that, a broadcast by Ongehoord Nederland about “racism against the white man” appeared on Public Broadcasting, with video images that turned out to be unrelated to the claim. But as with the spy comments in the room, the seed was already planned for many TV viewers.

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Gwenda Neelen, a sociologist and researcher on internet manipulation, notes that “fake news is now well hidden in factual news.” It is, as it were, camouflaged with facts, but the essential content is distorted or suggestive. Then you think you are reading something critical, but the opposite is true.

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Remarkably, the media authority sees that fewer and fewer people are facing fake news across all age groups. “This is in part because social media companies are taking more action against the spread of fake news, such as banning and suspending accounts and removing incorrect messages,” says Alexander Bleiter, an expert in online journalism and fact-checking at Leiden University.

Partly due to the removal of fake news on major internet platforms, concerns about misinformation and misinformation in the Netherlands remain small compared to countries such as France, the United States and the United Kingdom. But Gwenda Nielen, a sociologist and researcher on online manipulation, notes that the Dutch also learn about fake news less well due to the decline in Facebook and Twitter, among other things. “That’s too bad,” she says.

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Nielen believes that now too often fake news is distributed through private channels, and this brings new risks. “However, like-minded people can radicalize more quickly if they are in an echo chamber where only their ‘own right’ is tolerated.”

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Bleiter cannot say whether the Dutchman is also learning about fake news because of the new ‘disguise’: “I don’t dare do it. What makes more sense to me is that people encounter it more often, because of the crackdown on social media companies. Against fake news.

Bleiter also says that people are becoming more accustomed to fake news, and thus avoid social media when it comes to news. You also see a movement of people who are starting to avoid it more through increased use of news websites and news media. They have developed a strategy to avoid fake news.

It’s hard to talk about an increase in fake news. “There are no numbers on this, but the number certainly hasn’t gone down,” both experts say.