At a webinar on how to stop fake news hosted by Foreign Policy magazine and Northwestern University’s Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, Northwestern Qatar Dean Marwan M. Kraidy noted that there are different ways fake news and disinformation have spread in the Middle East and the Global South explaining that emotions and negative content are key catalysts that drive the virality of fake news in the region.
“We need the social context, the emotional context, the emotional drivers of information to be understood,” Kraidy said. “We also need solutions that are broader than just the classroom or the seminar. If scale is a problem, localize it. If speed is a problem, slow it down. If systems are a problem, humanize the process.”
Kraidy joined international experts on the panel – How to Stop Fake News – including the Buffett Institute’s executive director, Annelise Riles; Vice President of the European Commission Věra Jourová; head of misinformation at Facebook, Justine Isola; and co-founder of stopfake.org, Olga Yurkova.
While fake news is as old as news itself, Kraidy said the reason it is particularly prevalent now “is the way in which the internet and social media have created platforms to amplify information instantaneously and globally.” He pointed at the intricate systems of machines and algorithms that make up social media and the shortage of trained professionals in the human authentication process as contributing factors.
Referencing Northwestern Qatar faculty and student research on fake news, Kraidy said that, “actors [in the Global South] use emotionally stirring language and find gaps in narratives to fulfill a particular geopolitical objective [and] in order to go viral,” and pointed out that this use of trickery and creativity will continue to play a central role in accelerating the spread of misinformation in the age of ‘deep fake.’
“We need the social context, the emotional context, the emotional drivers of information to be understood. We also need solutions that are broader than just the classroom or the seminar. If scale is a problem, localize it. If speed is a problem, slow it down. If systems are a problem, humanize the process.”
Highlighting the need for a holistic approach to acting against fake news, Annelise Riles, executive director of the Buffett Institute, said: “This is a technological problem, and it’s also a cultural problem. It’s a problem of economics and a problem of ethics. Solving this problem requires scientists, lawyers, and creatives all at once.”
Riles pointed out that universities are ideally positioned to address this need. “The mission of the Northwestern University Buffett Institute for Global Affairs is to bring the best thinkers together across nations, across professions, across disciplines, to find rigorous scientific answers to those big global challenges…That's what we do at universities...we're locally grounded, but we're globally networked. So, we can create that global conversation between experts and citizens. This is so important because getting the news right is one thing but getting people to believe it's right is a separate thing,” she said.
Kraidy also underscored the importance of traditional systems of learning that integrate humanities and social sciences in building a better understanding of the social context and the emotional drivers of information. This, he noted, will promote media literacy and allow ordinary users to authenticate the difference between fake and real news.
