When your politician share false information

[mapuc]

I must share something that have occurred a few times on my FB-wall

I have some Danish politician as friend on FB and the other day one of them showed a picture and made a note under it.

He was angry about Red Cross Planting trees to honour the fallen Palestinians who had died during act of suicide bombings.

I admit that even I got angry when reading about it. Until some one made a statement that it was a lie and a big lie.

I made some investigation of my own and to what I can see it is a lie and from exactly where this story has it origin I don't know

If it had only been him sharing this false information everything would have been fine. Later on two other politician Had shared this info.

The next day this info had been shared so many times.

When a lie is being told many times...can't remember the exact phrase.

Markus

[mapuc]

Here's the article I was referring to

http://www.yourjewishnews.com/2013/05/27143.html

Markus

[Oberon]

Winston had a saying for this:

"A lie can travel halfway around the world in the time it takes the truth to get its shoes on."

Lots of fake news stories depend on provoking an outraged reaction from the reader who then passes them on without stopping to research the veracity behind them, and so on and on it flows. The internet has just increased our flow of information to maximum, be it false or accurate. If I had a pound for every time I've seen one of those "Warning, don't flash your lights at a car..." type reposts on facebook, I'd be a very rich man.
Thankfully, Snopes (http://www.snopes.com/) is a godsend and usually pretty good at smashing the rumour mill, but usually the masses will just reply with "Oh, well, it doesn't hurt to be careful." Indeed, careful about passing on false information...

[Sailor Steve]

I have to agree. I don't remember what the subject was, but I saw a blog some time ago that had people up in arms, screaming for something to be done. Every now and then someone would post a link to the original story, which showed it to be a fake, and everyone would just ignore it and keep on ranting. It was quite a show.

[mapuc]

I have to agree. I don't remember what the subject was, but I saw a blog some time ago that had people up in arms, screaming for something to be done. Every now and then someone would post a link to the original story, which showed it to be a fake, and everyone would just ignore it and keep on ranting. It was quite a show.


Same here. When this female politician shared this info(second person to share) many of her friends and some of mine gave their opinion on this.....until I posted my answer telling her and those who had written in her thread, condemning Red Cross, that it was a lie.

As far as I can I will fight against lies when possible.

Markus

[Jimbuna]

As Oberon quoted...the internet makes it easier and quicker for the falsehoods to travel.

[ETR3(SS)]

Anytime a story comes up on my FB news feed I like to play whack-a-mole to disprove it if it is indeed false. One time I couldn't confirm or deny a story so I reposted the story asking for help to do so. I got quite the colorful response.

[Oberon]

And then, of course, there's the press...take for example the recent story that the government has told people to wear jumpers in winter to keep warm, which has lead to left leaning websites and facebook groups (such as Condemned Nation) to produce and forward stuff like this:

http://imageshack.us/a/img607/9379/g76f.jpg

But the problem with this is...Cameron never actually said that, as this BBC article sets out:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24586951


So, not only do you have the problem of politicians and people believing things that the internet has made up, you also have news publications making stories out of things that were never said, and then that just feeds into the relevant camps diatribe.
These days trying to sort the truth from the lies or spin can be a full time job... :doh:

[STEED]

^ He hinted it without saying out right.


Jumpergate


Give me a break, gate this gate that gate bloody gate. I'm sick of it!

[Jimbuna]

Well we certainly don't want any Watergate next to that electric fire or the old dear will get electrocuted.