Overview of misinformation ecosystem in australia, idian, south korea, philipines and viet nam

Information Disorder in Asia and the Pacific Overview of misinformation ecosystem in Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam March 2019 Editors: Masato Kajimoto & Samantha Stanley Authors: Asia Kanchan Kaur & Shyam Subhash Nair (India) Yenni Kwok (Indonesia) Masato Kajimoto (Japan) Yvonne T Chua & Ma Diosa Labiste (The Philippines) Carol Soon (Singapore) Hailey Jo (South Korea) Lihyun Lin (Taiwan) Le Trieu Thanh (Vietnam) The Pacific Anne Kruger (Australia) The research report is published by the Journalism & Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong with the support of Google News Lab INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA Table of Contents Introduction -1- India -2- Definition and terms -3- Prevalent modes of misinformation ecosystem -3- Actors, classifications, and motivations -5- Scale and Impact -6- Current state of legislation/policy -6- Current solutions and efforts to combat misinformation -7- About the authors -8- Indonesia -9- Definitions and terms -9- Prevalent modes of misinformation ecosystem -9- Actors, classifications, and motivation - 10 - Scale and impact - 12 - Current state of legislation/policy - 12 - Current solutions and efforts to combat misinformation - 13 - Case study - 14 - About the author - 15 - Japan - 16 - Definitions and terms - 16 - Prevalent modes of misinformation ecosystem - 17 - Actors, classification, and motivation - 18 - Scale and impact - 21 - Current solutions and efforts to combat misinformation - 21 - About the author - 22 - ii INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA The Philippines - 24 - Definitions and terms - 24 - Actors, classifications, and motivations - 25 - Prevalent modes of misinformation ecosystem - 28 - Scale and impact - 30 - Current state of legislation/policy - 31 - Current solutions and efforts to combat misinformation - 31 - About the authors - 32 - Singapore - 33 - Definitions and terms - 33 - Prevalent mode of misinformation ecosystem - 33 - Actors, classifications and motivations - 34 - Scale and Impact - 35 - Current state of legislation/ policy - 36 - Current solutions and efforts to combat misinformation - 37 - About the author - 38 - South Korea - 39 - Definitions and terms - 39 - Prevalent mode of misinformation ecosystem - 40 - Actors, classifications, and motivations - 40 - Scale and impact - 41 - Current state of legislation/ policy - 42 - Current solutions and efforts to combat misinformation - 43 - About the Author - 44 - iii INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA Taiwan - 45 - Definitions & Terms - 45 - Prevalent modes misinformation ecosystem - 46 - Historical context of misinformation - 46 - Actors classifications and motivations - 47 - Scale and Impact - 49 - Current solutions and efforts to combat misinformation - 49 - About the Author - 50 - Vietnam - 51 - Definitions and terms - 51 - Prevalent modes of misinformation - 52 - Actors, classifications and motivations - 52 - Scale and impact - 54 - Current state of legislations/policy - 55 - Current solutions and efforts to combat misinformation - 56 - About the author - 57 - Australia - 58 - Definitions and terms - 59 - Media landscape - 59 - Prevalent modes in the misinformation ecosystem - 60 - Actors, classification, and motivation - 61 - Scale and impact - 63 - Current state of legislation/policy - 64 - Current solutions and efforts to combat misinformation - 66 - About the author - 67 - iv INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Introduction By Masato Kajimoto (Published on 5 March 2018) This research paper is the first of a series of short articles that provide an overview of what is known about the scale and impact of disinformation in different Asian countries In this part of the world, there is nothing new about fraudulent news stories, bogus claims, fabricated facts, malicious disinformation, political propaganda, attacks on journalists, and other efforts to manipulate the information space to influence public conversations, beliefs, and opinions However, while concerns over “fake news” have prompted rigorous investigations in the United States and Europe over the past eighteen months, little is known about the way misinformation and disinformation is spread in many Asian countries where economic and digital development, especially smartphones, have transformed people’s lifestyles including their patterns of news consumption and distribution On which platforms do falsehoods spread? Who are the actors? What motivates them? Why do specific topics, issues, and individuals become targets for information disorder? What is the scale and impact of false or misleading news reports? Of course, Asia is comprised of many countries; we speak different languages, have different cultures and religious beliefs, and live under various political systems Naturally, the matters at the heart of the misinformation ecosystem in each country vary considerably In this research project, we aim to map the landscape of each country’s own “fake news” problems Many intertwined factors affect the situation, including culture, history, politics, economy, education, digital adoption, technology trends, media law, and press systems Our goal is not to encompass all such aspects, but rather to highlight salient characteristics that will inform academics, media professionals, tech companies, non-government organizations, and government organizations of critical issues and their impact on the community We believe these case studies would also inform the broader global discussion and research on misinformation already in progress; in some areas, Asian countries lead the rest of the world in technology use Mobile-only internet usage, heavy reliance on chat apps, the popularity of emojis and messaging app stickers—these are some of the phenomena we observed in the Asia-Pacific region a few years before they caught on internationally We don’t know how long the overall investigation will take in the end, but as a start, we are releasing an overview research article on information disorder in different Asian countries in this document -1- INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC - INDIA India By Kanchan Kaur & Shyam Subhash Nair (Published on 9 April 2018) Overview India has the second-largest number of residents on the Internet after China — more than 390 million1 — but the penetration level, according to figures available, is only about 30 percent.2 However, rapid development in the technology sector is expanding access to the Internet at a staggering pace The number of internet users in the country grew by 40 percent in 2015 to 277 million, making India the only country where the growth rate of internet users in that year was higher than the previous year’s 33 percent.3 The entry of Reliance Jio, a telecom firm owned by one of the richest Indians,4 in the Internet service provider (ISP) market, has had a significant impact on access to mobile internet in the country The Mary Meeker Report5 points out that Jio’s plans disrupted the ISP market by decreasing prices and making data plans more affordable In 2017 they were acknowledged as “a driving factor in India's rapidly expanding Internet usage.”6 The 2017 Meeker report focuses on the growing Indian market, highlighting the 10 percent decline in data costs per gigabyte on a quarterly basis.7 Declining smartphone prices have also contributed to the surge in internet usage in the country A report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India and market research firm IMRB International8 has indicated that though 60 percent of India’s urban population and 17 percent of rural residents use the internet, mobile phones are the primary access device for 77 percent of the former and 92 percent of the latter In parallel, the country has seen a change in its political, economic, social, and cultural character in the past few years.9 The ruling right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in power since 2014 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has changed the nature of political discourse in the country.10 The party, more than any other political parties, has used the power of the internet to spread its ideology — something it had been working on even before it came to Total number of Internet subscribers has increased from 367.48 million at the end of Sep-16 to 391.50 million at the end of Dec16, registering a quarterly growth rate of 6.54% (TRAI,2017) http://www.livemint.com/Industry/QWzIOYEsfQJknXhC3HiuVI/Number-of-Internet-users-in-India-could-cross-450-million-by.html 3http://www.livemint.com/Politics/yuDlyPkr72sQ8jTQqbrG0J/India-lone-bright-spot-in-Mary-Meekers-Internet-Trends-2016.html https://www.forbes.com/india-billionaires/#716d4588643b http://www.kpcb.com/internet-trends http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/06/01/reliance-jio-is-driving-indian-internet-growth-says-the-mary-me_a_22120777/ By March 2017, the average cost of 1GB of data was down by 20 per cent among incumbents, and if one were to include Jio, the average cost per GB stood at $0.33 or Rs 21 by March 2017 (http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-newstechnology/mary-meeker-internet-trends-2017-report-india-top-highlights-points-to-note-mobile-growth-4683709/) http://www.livemint.com/Industry/QWzIOYEsfQJknXhC3HiuVI/Number-of-Internet-users-in-India-could-cross-450-million-by.html https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/16/what-next-india-pankaj-mishra 10 http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/11/hindu-right-ideology-indian-textbooks-gujarat-20141147028501733.html -2- INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC - INDIA rule the country Reports indicate that the party had created a battalion of ‘cyber-Hindus’ that flooded online fora and social media even as far back as 1999.11 Definition and terms India is a country with over 22 official languages and over 2500 dialects.12 Yet, the phrase “fake news” has made its way to daily lexicon, including in the regional languages, to describe information disorder Like in many other countries, distinctions among different types and motivations of “fake news” production and distribution are not clearly defined in everyday conversations Prevalent modes of misinformation ecosystem Since its use by BJP in the 2014 election, social media has become a popular way to promote ideas, policies, and propaganda Though Indians use a variety of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, the most favored means of communication seems to be the WhatsApp mobile messaging platform The number of monthly active users for this platform in the country has risen ten-fold in the past four years — from 20 million in 2013 to 200 million active users in 2017,13 making India the largest market for WhatsApp as of February 2017.14 For its part, the government has tried to enter the digital communications realm through efforts such as “Digital India” and a citizen engagement community platform, mygov.in However, critics say these efforts have not really turned into effective governance15 as the platforms are mainly used by citizens to lodge civic complaints, and sometimes to pay taxes, fines and the like Reasons range from there being not enough ministers active on social media to the failure of the government to address crucial incidents like riots and accidents on social media.16 Several times, the government and its ministers have kept quiet17 when they were expected to say something about an event or topic.18 This information void creates an opportunity for misinformation to spread elsewhere on the Internet, particularly on social media India has its fair share of websites that spread misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda online Postcard News, a conservative website known for posting “fake news,” for instance, carried a story falsely accusing Booker Prize winner and outspoken writer Arundhati Roy of making statements against Indian Army19 to a Pakistani newspaper about https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/elections/story/20131111-social-media-internet-cyber-hindu-twitter-narendra-modi768368-1999-11-30 12https://www.daytranslations.com/blog/2016/09/closer-look-indias-languages-7831/ 13https://www.statista.com/statistics/280914/monthly-active-whatsapp-users-in-india/ 14https://www.thequint.com/news/world/whatsapp-messenger-monthly-user-base-over-1-billion 15 http://theconversation.com/narendra-modi-indias-social-media-star-struggles-to-get-government-online-73656 16 https://thewire.in/43460/the-difficult-task-of-translating-modi-govts-social-media-prowess-into-effective-governance/ 17 http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/maneka-gandhis-silence-on-jallikattu-row-continues/1/864075.html 18 http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pm-tweets-on-everything-but-silent-on-indians-attacked-in-us-congress/storyPZ9MedhRyfh98kKE3PrsPJ.html 19 The falsified claim read, “India cannot achieve its objective in the occupied valley even if its army deployment is increased from lakh to 70 lakh.” 11 -3- INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC - INDIA Kashmir.20 In response, a ruling party lawmaker tweeted that she ought to be tied to an army jeep as a human shield.21 It later turned out that she had given no such interview.22 Even though she denied making any such statement, however, Arundhati Roy was trolled and harassed on social media.23 Several other conservative websites in the country propagate unverified reports and rumours, including Satya Vijay,24 The Resurgent India25 and News Dog.26 With thousands of followers on their Facebook pages, who share their content without verifying, these websites penetrate every strata of the Indian society Several right-wing activists are known to follow these sites and redistribute information including unsubstantiated claims, creating echo chambers of certain views.27 As mobile devices have become the main gateway to the internet for most Indians, WhatsApp seems to have turned into India’s main channel of misinformation From laughable, rather harmless forwards28 to deadly hoaxes,29 this messenger service spreads it all.30 For example, false “news” stories circulated on WhatsApp includes rumors about tracking GPS chips in new currency notes (the Indian government in 2017 demonetized some currency and issued new notes), UNESCO awards to the Indian prime minister and the national anthem,31 Guinness World Records,32 religious ownership of media companies, fruit contaminated with HIV,33 and allegations of Islamic roots to famous opposition families, such as the Gandhis Sometimes such rumors have grave consequences Seven men were lynched in a north-eastern state in the country in May 2017 under false allegations on WhatsApp that they were kidnapping children.34 Vigilantes have been using social media to attack people they think guilty of offences or crimes, especially crimes related to alleged offences against cows and Indian culture The Indian army has been the target of social media hoaxes, both negative35 and positive (praises),36 the latter created primarily by right-wing hoaxers who appear to believe in powerful armies Fake news photographs have also affected the country’s relations with its 20http://postcard.news/70-lakh-indian-army-cannot-defeat-azadi-gang-kashmir-arundati-roy-gives-statement-pakistani- newspaper/ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/tie-arundhati-roy-to-jeep-says-paresh-rawal-facestwitter-flak/articleshow/58793214.cms 22 https://thewire.in/139162/paresh-rawal-arundhati-roy-fake-news-kashmir/ 23http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/09/11/bjp-may-have-created-a-monster-with-its-troll-army-but-amit-shah-understands-itmay-turn-on-them-one-day_a_23204198 24https://satyavijayi.com/ 25http://www.theresurgentindia.com/indian-army-cannot-defeat-azadi-gang-in-kashmir/ 26http://newsdog.today/a/article/582aa32712907171d12e2ae8/ 27http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/growing-tide-fake-news-india-171210122732217.html 28 http://viral.laughingcolours.com/news/10-VIRAL-Whatsapp-Forwards-In-India-That-Were-LIES/ 29 http://www.mid-day.com/articles/mumbai-is-safe-do-not-believe-whatsapp-rumours-rakesh-maria/16024176 30https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/world/asia/india-vigilante-mob-violence.html 31 https://check4spam.com/internet-rumours/narendra-modi-declared-best-pm-unesco/ 32 https://check4spam.com/internet-rumours/kannada-oldest-living-language-spam/ 33 https://check4spam.com/internet-rumours/fruits-blood-aids-virus-spam/ 34https://thewire.in/138667/whatsapp-message-turns-tribals-violent-leaves-seven-dead/ 35 http://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/kashmiri-youth-are-being-instigated-by-misinformation-campaign-on-socialmedia-army-chief-general-bipin-rawat/711029/ 36 http://www.vifindia.org/article/2017/august/10/doklam-chinese-lies-and-misinformation 21 -4- INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC - INDIA neighbour, Pakistan In September 2017, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN displayed a photograph that she claimed was the face of a victim of army pellets in the disputed state of Kashmir Later, it turned out that the photograph was of a Palestine resident who had been injured in an Israeli airstrike Actors, classifications, and motivations Even reputable media organizations fall prey to misinformation Whether it was the falsified Arundhati Roy story that several media outlets published and debated,37 or videos of a tornado in Sri Lanka that were passed off as those of the recent cyclone that landed on Indian shores,38 the Indian media has been quite irresponsible in disseminating videos and text that are not carefully verified It’s not just the mainstream media In their 2014 election campaigns, all political parties used the Internet, especially social media, to target first-time voters in particular (the BJP was said to be exceptionally successful).39,40 Political parties employ social media ‘armies’ that work on putting out information that suits and advances their ideologies A recent book, I am a Troll by Swati Chaturvedi,41 claimed that the ruling political party supported Internet trolls and created campaigns that were abusive to not just other political parties, but also journalists and other prominent people.42 In December 2015, India's state-run Press Information Bureau tweeted a doctored image of PM Narendra Modi surveying the Chennai floods The bureau initially tweeted a picture of the PM looking at submerged fields and buildings through a plane window Hours later, they tweeted the same image again, but with a much clearer scene (crudely) digitally transferred onto the window The second tweet was deleted but not in time to prevent social media ridicule.43 Some state governments, mainly run those by the BJP, have issued spurious health warnings to women,44 such as recommending sexual abstinence during pregnancy In these cases, the resulting backlash usually leads to the department concerned simply deleting the offending post Spreading misinformation can be a profitable business in the country, too.45 Websites such as Postcard News, an Indian version of Breitbart, have cropped up and made a successful business model out of distribution of provocative, often false, news stories with catchy clickbait headlines Social media also plays a crucial role in the dissemination of hate speech https://www.newslaundry.com/2017/07/17/india-and-its-fake-news-epidemic https://www.thequint.com/news/india/old-cyclone-video-makes-rounds-as-ockhi-cyclone 39https://www.voanews.com/a/social-media-emerges-as-a-key-tool-in-indias-election/1931238.html 40https://gadgets.ndtv.com/social-networking/features/did-social-media-really-impact-the-indian-elections-527425 41 The author’s claim is backed by the account of Sadhavi Khosla, an entrepreneur and erstwhile Modi supporter, who says she was a BJP cyber-volunteer for two years until late 2015 However, Chaturvedi’s slim volume offers no clinching proof that the BJP orchestrates online harassment or cyberbullying; see https://www.ft.com/content/6dd90462-e3bd-11e6-8405-9e5580d6e5fb 42 https://www.buzzfeed.com/pranavdixit/bjp-trolled-indians?utm_term=.hhj2r1xRO#.apzxDrjQ3 43http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34991822 44 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/court-battle-continues-between-rss-linked-arogya-bharati-andmamata-banerjee-government-over-garbh-sanskar-programme/articleshow/58569027.cms 45https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/growing-tide-fake-news-india-171210122732217.html 37 38 -5- INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC - INDIA built on the foundations of misinformation,46 with the intention of provoking violence Religion is often at the crux of such content Scale and Impact While there are few estimates of how much of the content online is misleading, it can be easily said that the impact has been dangerous.47 People have been killed48 and fuel has been added to communal discord.49 India has been ranked fourth (index value: 8.7/10) on the Social Hostilities Index50 in a research conducted by Pew Research Center to study social hostilities involving religion The aforementioned case of lynching as a result of a WhatsApp hoax was not an isolated incident Similarly, Mohammad Akhlaq was dragged out of his home and killed by a Hindu mob in September 2017 for allegedly slaughtering a cow.51 In this instance, a Whatsapp message led to a meeting outside a local temple where the priest allegedly pronounced the man to be guilty of eating beef These instances exhibit how commonly fake stories are believed even though they are circulated with clearly doctored images and unverified text Information disorder could bare deadly consequences in India as misinformation sometimes leads to mob formation and lynching Current state of legislation/policy In response to the spread of information disorder online, the Indian government has sometimes shut down access to the Internet all together.52 This is especially true in restive areas such as Kashmir,53 where Internet access has been blocked more than 20 times in the first six months of 2017.54 As well as curbing freedom of speech and access to information,55 the shutdowns have exacted an economic cost The Brookings Institution says that the country lost US$968 million due to these disruptions.56 Indian law is not clear on misinformation Law enforcers in the city of Varanasi, the prime minister’s constituency, issued orders that essentially say that any misleading information http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/ZAHBp4YDLp1BcCnlIuwFON/Hate-speech-and-the-role-of-social-media.html http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/growing-tide-fake-news-india-171210122732217.html 48https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/a-whatsapp-message-claimed-nine-lives-in-jharkhand-in-a-week/storyxZsIlwFawf82o5WTs8nhVL.html 49 http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-bjp-haryana-leader-vijeta-malik-shares-bhopuri-movie-still-to-show-plight-of-hindus-inwest-bengal-2495403 50http://www.pewforum.org/2014/01/14/appendix-3-social-hostilities-index/ 51 https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/09/30/beef-killing-up_n_8219828.html 52 https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/news/the-internet-was-shut-down-29-times-in-2017-and-it-s-only-july-so-much-forfree-internet-326082.html 53 http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/07/06/complete-internet-shut-down-in-jandk-ahead-of-burhan-wanis-first_a_23020192/ 54 https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/india-shut-down-internet-29-times-in-2017/59627417 55 http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/govt-issues-first-ever-rules-to-carry-out-internet-shutdowns-in-india/storyDrn0MnxJAp58RoZoFI7u4L.html 56 https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/intenet-shutdowns-v-3.pdf 46 47 -6- INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – VIETNAM • Entertainment-driven Profit-driven authors tend to use Facebook because it is becoming an online market for many Vietnamese users Fashion, cosmetics, organic foods, educational courses and other things are selling on Facebook in the country Shocking “news” posts such as an airplane accident, kidnapping, rape, typhoon, massacre, or unsafe food on a Facebook page could increase the number of page views by thousands, making it easier to reach more users (who are also potential customers of its products or services) A politically-driven smear campaign is an observable strategy that often employs misinformation For instance, a viral image of Vice Chairman of Quang Ninh People's Committee Vu Thi Thu Thuy was attached to fabricated statements about the East Sea and Vietnam-China relations, which, according to Quang Ninh Information and Communications Department, “smear the honor and prestige of the leaders of Quang Ninh Province.”5 Hoaxes and jokes (for example, a story about something as far-fetched as a vampire) are the main staple of entertainment-driven misinformation In March 2017, two 12th grade students in the Song Ma District uploaded a personal photo of two students having a motorbike accident in the middle of an empty road on Facebook, claiming that the accident was caused by "vampires.” The two students said a ritual of “tying lucky threads” would stave off the vampires About 20 ethnic minority students, mostly boarding students, went home to do exactly that; some students were so afraid that they took a leave of absence from school In some areas, particularly highland villages in Song Ma District (Son La Province) and Dien Bien Dong District (Dien Bien Province), people did not dare to go out at night Some families asked their children to skip school Many people wore red or black threads on the wrist to exorcise According to the authority, people in more than 100 villages in the communes of Song Ma and Dien Bien Dong were affected by this news Interviewed by Song Ma District police, the two students who initiated the vampire scare said they downloaded images of traffic accidents from online newspapers, edited them, and wrote the fake post that cultivates superstitious beliefs They said their purpose was to make their friends believe that there are ghosts.6 Another far-reaching hoax involved a giant crocodile On August 21, 2017, a Facebook post claimed three crocodiles were discovered in the river It read: "People managed to catch two together, weighing 67 kg and 83 kg, but the remaining one has not been caught Residents in Zero Thoi Binh, Ca Mau should be aware, because the creature is so huge And people who are around should be wary Especially children should not bathe in the river and row to the nearby area." This information was shared by many, making people in Ca Mau particularly anxious The authorities investigated this information and found it to be false The author of the post, who https://news.zing.vn/bo-cong-an-dieu-tra-vu-boi-nho-pho-chu-tich-tinh-quang-ninh-post763804.html http://cand.com.vn/Phap-luat/Kiem-diem-2-hoc-sinh-tuyen-truyen-tren-Face-book-ve-ma-ca-rong-bat-nguoi-o-Son-La-433030/ - 53 - INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – VIETNAM makes a living by transporting crocodiles for traders, said he posted the bogus story just for fun After being discovered, the author took it down and was subjected to administrative fine of 10 million VND (approx $500 USD).7 Such seemingly innocuous “good fun” hoaxes now look just like real news articles and people, especially those in remote areas, seem to be easily convinced that the information displayed this way is true, prompting them to act on it in ways they would not have had they heard the rumor orally, perhaps Scale and impact The scale of misinformation spread in Vietnam can be estimated indirectly through engagement metrics on social media and through mainstream media reports about widely shared instances The farthest-reaching case thus far was a post on a Facebook fan page of Nguyen Quoc Cuong (nicknamed Cuong Dollar), a well-known, wealthy entrepreneur in Vietnam The post claimed Mr Cuong would give scratch phone cards worth 50,000-200,000 VND (approx US$2 - $10) to anyone who liked the page, shared the entrepreneur’s status with friends, and left their phone numbers in the post comments The fan page immediately attracted hundreds of thousands of engagements as many users publicly posted their phone numbers and personal information,8 although Mr Cuong had nothing to do with the page at all—it was all a hoax The creator of the Facebook page is said to have impersonated Mr Cuong in order to gather personal information to sell men’s wear online A dozen local news websites belatedly reported the story to alert people about the scam and about growing “fake news” issues.9 Not all false news generates this much attention In an interview with The Laborer Newspaper, Mr Vo Do Thang, the director of the Internet Security Training Center Athena in Ho Chi Minh City, explained that with the number of internet users in the millions, information spread online could reach thousands of people immediately in Vietnam and affect the lives of many people.10 http://cand.com.vn/Phap-luat/Kiem-diem-2-hoc-sinh-tuyen-truyen-tren-Face-book-ve-ma-ca-rong-bat-nguoi-o-Son-La-433030/ and https://news.zing.vn/nguoi-cho-ca-sau-bia-chuyen-tren-facebook-bi-phat-10-trieu-dong-post776224.html Dan Tri News (2017) More than 100.000 people being trapped because of supposing getting free pre-paid phone cards from Cuong Dollar http://dantri.com.vn/doi-song/hon-100-nghin-nguoi-mac-bay-vi-tuong-cuong-do-la-tang-the-cao-dien-thoai20171002102702043.htm https://vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/cong-dong/y-kien-cua-toi/lap-trang-cuong-dola-minh-nhua-tang-the-cao-cau-like-facebook3650094.html 10 Laborer Newspaper (2017) Fake news lead to real consequences: Need to stop https://nld.com.vn/ban-doc/tin-gia-gay-hau-quathat-phai-chan-dung-20170711211410325.htm - 54 - INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – VIETNAM Current state of legislations/policy The term “fake news” is not officially mentioned in Vietnam’s laws because it has just become prevalent over the last two years However, the spread of fabricated rumors is regulated by libel laws: The Decree 174/201/ND-CP of the Government on the administrative punishment in the field of post, telecommunications, information technology and radio wave frequency indicates that: “Providing, exchanging, spreading or storing, using digital information in order to threaten, harass, distort, libel, damage the reputation of the organizations or the honor, dignity and credibility of the people will be fine in cash from 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 VND” (approx US$500 - $1000).11 The Decree 122 of the Criminal Law in 1999 (with corrections and supplements in 2009) stated: “Those who spread the information which they know clearly that it is fabricated in order to defame or damage the legal rights and benefits of the others or fabricate that the other are criminals and accuse them at the authority will be punish from warning, probation up to two years or put in jail from three months to two years”12 If the author of the fabricated news cannot be identified and only the person who shares the information can be identified, the Article 226, as amended by Article 27 of the Criminal Code state: “Those who commit acts of posting information on the computer networks, telecommunication networks and Internet in contravention of law provisions,…, infringe upon the interests of agencies, organizations or individuals and infringe upon social order and safety, thus causing serious consequences, shall be subject to a fine of between ten million VND and one hundred million VND [approx US$500 - $5,000] or be put in jail in six months to three years.” In addition, offenders may also be subject to a fine of between twenty million VND and two hundred million VND (approx US$1,000 - 10,000), banned from holding certain positions, practicing certain occupations for one to five years.13 Many authors of fabricated information were found to have violated the law and had to pay in cash administrative fines from 5 million to 20 million VND (approx US$200 - $1,000) over the last two years Even though these laws are strict, they don’t seem to be effectively acting as a deterrence With the number of social media users increasing to 55 million, the authorities are facing difficulties in reviewing all the information posted on social media and detecting those who intentionally spread “fake news” 11 http://vanban.chinhphu.vn/portal/page/portal/chinhphu/hethongvanban?class_id=1&_page=1&mode=detail&document_id=1709 29 12 http://moj.gov.vn/vbpq/lists/vn%20bn%20php%20lut/view_detail.aspx?itemid=6163 13 http://www.moj.gov.vn/vbpq/lists/vn%20bn%20php%20lut/view_detail.aspx?itemid=28021 - 55 - INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – VIETNAM Current solutions and efforts to combat misinformation Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and his government, according to Mr Nguyen Thanh Lam, Head of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information, considers “fake news” as a serious issue and requested that relevant ministries, especially the Ministry of Information and Communications, take drastic measures to solve the issue.14 Functional agencies, such as the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information, the Department of Information Safety, the Department of Telecommunications of the Ministry of Information and Communication, are attempting to prevent malicious information and fraudulent news on social networks by informing the public through the state-owned mainstream media They also work with the security departments, who subsequently “punish” the offenders The Ministry also asked social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube to cooperate in blocking accounts that have attempted to spread fake news Mr Nguyen Thanh Lam said in a media interview that YouTube is more cooperative than Facebook In his VTC News interview, he said, “When Google discovers the accounts that post the malicious content, they block them relatively radically They do not just block the video clips themselves They also block the revenue of the account holders who help distribute that clip online However, when the account owners were blocked on YouTube, they set up Facebook pages to continue spreading the malicious information With Facebook, we have to spend more time and more energy to persuade the platform to cooperate…”15 Exposing unfounded information and debunking hoaxes have also been a featured activity of mainstream media in recent years Educational programs such as News Literacy,16 MedLit Project,17 and Smart Readers18 have been organized regularly to help increase the level of awareness among young people about the issue and teach them how to be more responsible in sharing information on social media The impact of these campaigns seem to be rather limited, however The beneficiaries of these programs are mainly white-collar workers and students in big cities Meanwhile, those who VTC News (2017) Head of Department Nguyen Thanh Lam: “Social media is corrupting our lives” https://vtc.vn/cuc-truong-nguyen-thanh-lam-mang-xa-hoi-dang-tha-hoa-hanh-vi-song-cua-chung-ta-d342049.html 15 VTC News (2017) Head of Department Nguyen Thanh Lam: “Social media is corrupting our lives”: https://vtc.vn/cuc-truongnguyen-thanh-lam-mang-xa-hoi-dang-tha-hoa-hanh-vi-song-cua-chung-ta-d342049.html 16 News Literacy Program is a cooperative program between the Stony Brook University (U.S) and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam It officially started in 2016 with the main aim is to equip the students and the public in Vietnam the skills to recognize fake news 17 The MEDLIT-project has officially been established in October 2015 by a grant from the European Commission within the framework of the Erasmus Plus program, specifically the call for Capacity-building in the Field of Higher-Education The mission for the consortium is to expand academic structures of knowledge exchange and transnational knowledge development in the field of Media Literacy Vietnam universities are partners of this project One of the outcomes of the MedLit Project is the Media Literacy MOOC which is open for free in Open Learning Platform: https://www.openlearning.com/courses/media-literacy-vietnam/HomePage (use the activation code: medlitvietnam to access the course) 18 Smart Readers was a series of workshops held by the group of Vietnamese young lecturers to teach students and high school students about media literacy and news literacy since 2014 The members of this group also published a manual book named “How to be a smart reader” which is considered as the first printed book in Vietnam to provide the public a guidance to differentiate between news and fake news 14 - 56 - INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – VIETNAM do not have high levels of education or who live in remote and poor areas are not trained in these skills About the author Le Trieu Thanh, Ph.D is a lecturer of the Faculty of Journalism and Communications of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam She also manages some teaching projects in the field of news literacy in the country - 57 - INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – AUSTRALIA Australia By Anne Kruger (Published on 3 March 2019) Overview Political misinformation is the highest “fake” news concern among Australians; however, “poor journalism” is actually the most experienced form of misinformation or disinformation in Australia.1 The concern over political misinformation is perhaps not surprising given Australia’s volatile national political scene where a change of leadership mid-term has become the ‘norm’ in the current decade - with four successful leadership spills since 20102 - and a total of seven prime minister changes since December 2007.3 This has had much to do with tensions focused on climate change policy and energy policy in Australian politics.4 Experts note Australia has less processes in place, making it easier to depose a sitting Prime Minister, compared to other countries with a Westminster system of government.5 The current term will expire at the end of August 2019, and therefore a federal election will be held before then Australia has long been acknowledged for its healthy freedoms, including political rights and civil liberties,6 which allow a free-flow exchange of information in society both online and offline However, experts note the revolving door of leadership has the potential to undermine public trust in news and institutions, and potentially provide targets for misinformation campaigns.7 Australia’s geography is a key factor in its misinformation ecosystem – both domestically and internationally Domestically, there is a ‘digital divide’ between dense capital city urban areas, compared to the sparse landscape of the geographically vast regional and country areas; with mobile news consumption lower among regional and rural news consumers.8 Digital inclusion (measuring frequency and type of internet access and relative proportion of household Digital News Report: Australia 2018, University of Canberra, commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford, Research was conducted by YouGov using an online questionnaire at the end of January/beginning of February 2018 Brown, Andrew ‘Kicked out on the spot: Why Australia has so many leadership spills’ The Sydney Morning Herald September, 2018 https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/kicked-out-on-the-spot-why-australia-has-so-many-leadership-spills-20180830p500nq.html Kimmorley, Sarah ‘Australia has now had seven prime ministers in just 10 years – here’s who they are and how long they were in office’ Business Insider Australia https://www.businessinsider.com.au/list-of-australian-prime-ministers-2018-8 Camilleri, Joseph ‘Likes, ‘fake news’ and cover ups: How has is come to this in Western democracies?’ The Conversation https://theconversation.com/lies-fake-news-and-cover-ups-how-has-it-come-to-this-in-western-democracies-102041 Brown, Andrew ‘Kicked out on the spot: Why Australia has so many leadership spills’ The Sydney Morning Herald September, 2018 https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/kicked-out-on-the-spot-why-australia-has-so-many-leadership-spills-20180830p500nq.html As noted by the Washington-based non-government organization Freedom House, 2017 Dr Claire Wardle, ‘Navigating the News’ Media Literacy Week conference, University of Tasmania and the Australian Broadcast Corporation Live Stream (3:28) Digital News Report: Australia 2018, University of Canberra, commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford, Research was conducted by YouGov using an online questionnaire at the end of January/beginning of February 2018 - 58 - INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – AUSTRALIA income spend on data costs) is 8.5 points higher (on a scale of 100) in capital cities than in country areas9 From an international and geopolitical perspective, Australia’s relatively remote location and non-major economic or political power status on the global stage has to some degree likely protected it against the targeted misinformation social media campaigns seen in recent elections among its allies in the US and UK10; nor has Australia experienced the often-violent ramifications of politically-driven social media campaigns of its near neighbors in Asia such as in Indonesia and the Philippines While free from major targeted campaigns and issues, Australia does, however, experience misinformation and disinformation of a scale to influence large sectors of society Australia is also increasingly the subject of news coverage in Asia that picks up on false and/or sensational reports about Australia—even when the Australian public and media debunked or dismissed the false stories domestically.11 Definitions and terms This paper broadly adopts the misinformation spectrum as defined by First Draft News12 where “misinformation” refers to inaccurate or misleading content shared by people who do not recognize it as such; and “disinformation” denotes fabricated or manipulated information with clear intention to deceive The First Draft News definitions consider the motivations behind the production of the misinformation Likewise, scholars at the University of Canberra note, “there can be economic motives to spreading fake news (driving web traffic and ad revenue) as well as domestic political and even international security dimensions, whereby fake news is weaponised as a form of information warfare”.13 Media landscape According to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report Australia 2018, ABC News Online is the most accessed online brand for news, followed by News.com.au, nine.com.au, Yahoo7, Sydney Morning Herald (smh.com.au), BBC News Online, Daily Telegraph (dailytelegraph.com.au) and Buzzfeed News Sites such as ‘Junkee’ were listed second-last in terms of brand access for news, at 26 Traditional platforms most accessed began with free-to-air commercial television station Channel 7, followed by ABC, commercial television station Channel 9, Channel TEN, Thomas, J, Barraket, J, Wilson, CK, Cook, K, Louie, YM & Holcombe-James, I, Ewing, S, MacDonald, T, 2018, Measuring Australia’s Digital Divide: The Australian Digital Inclusion Index 2018, RMIT University, Melbourne, for Telstra 10 Kevin Nguyen, Storyful Australia, interviewed by the author, October 25, 2017 11 “Ipswich or Karachi” ABC Media Watch http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/episodes/ipswich-or-karachi/9972456 12 https://shorensteincenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/PREMS-162317-GBR-2018-Reportde%CC%81sinformation.pdf?x78124 13 Commentary Fake News, Real Problems: What Is Disinformation And How Do We Confront It? Michael Jensen Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra Mathieu O’Neil Associate Professor of Communication, News & Media Research Centre, University of Canberra http://apo.org.au/system/files/174861/apo-nid174861-877051.pdf - 59 - INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – AUSTRALIA then a regional or local newspaper was listed (relevant to the geographical location), before SBS, BBC News and the Herald Sun Right-wing radio station 2GB was listed last at 25 on the list.14 Australia’s public broadcaster the ABC is considered the most trusted news provider and has significantly shifted its focus to a ‘mobile-first’ digital model, while still providing traditional broadcast news bulletins However, the ABC Director of News noted the average age of the traditional evening television news bulletin in now 73 and stated “forty percent of our audience for the 7pm news service has disappeared in (the last) decade”15 The major newspaper owners are considered politically polarized: The Rupert Murdochowned News Corp (founded in 1923) controls roughly 70% of daily circulation under various mastheads; and Fairfax (founded in 1841), roughly 20%16 Note, in July, 2018, Nine and Fairfax announced a proposed merger, with the new entity to be known as ‘Nine’ yet the newspaper mastheads and editorial control were expected to remain.17 The merger was approved by the competition regulator in November 2018 Australia’s political culture has been dominated by two major political parties: the Coalition (Liberal and National parties), considered center-right; and the Australian Labor Party, considered centerleft (for more see the Parliament of Australia Infosheet18) A study of the use of Twitter in Australia’s federal election campaigns in 2013 and 2016, indicated that (polarized) political discussions on Twitter does not necessarily depart markedly from mainstream public conversations in Australia19 Prevalent modes in the misinformation ecosystem Three quarters of Australians have experienced ‘fake’ news, with the majority of this being ‘poor journalism’20 as noted in the overview According to the Sensis Social Media Report 201721 Facebook remained the most popular social media platform among Australian internet users at 96% New research shows 81% use Facebook Messenger and 25% use Facebook Live to watch live or recently recorded videos; more than one in three have published videos or pictures using the story function on Facebook (44%), Snapchat (37%) or Instagram (36%); Digital News Report: Australia 2018, University of Canberra, commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford, Research was conducted by YouGov using an online questionnaire at the end of January/beginning of February 2018 15 Gaven Morris ABC News http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-10/fake-news-era-legacy-hobart-media-literacyconference/10223510 16 Muller, Denis Mixed media: how Australia’s newspapers became locked in a war of left versus right The Conversation, June 19, 2017 17 Janda, Michael., Chalmers, Stephanie “Fairfax to lose its name in $4billion takeover by Nine.” Updated July 26, 2018 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-26/nine-announces-fairfax-takeover/10037712 18 The Parliament of Australia Infosheet 22 - Political parties https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_practice_and_procedure/00 Infosheets/Infosheet_22_-_Political_parties 19 Bruns, Axel and Moon, Brenda Social Media in Australian Federal Elections: Comparing the 2013 and 2016 Campaigns Social Media Uses and Content Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 2018, Vol 95(2) 425–448 © 2018 AEJMC 20 Digital News Report: Australia 2018, University of Canberra, commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford, Research was conducted by YouGov using an online questionnaire at the end of January/beginning of February 2018 21 Sensis Social Media Report 2017 Chapter – Australians and social media www.sensis.com.au/socialmediareport 14 - 60 - INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – AUSTRALIA Twitter is rising in popularity to 32% in terms of usage, Instagram 46% and Snapchat has almost doubled in popularity to 40% of social media users; penetration of LinkedIn has dropped from 28% to 18%.22 The breakdown of use is important to note, as the Reuters Institute Digital News Report Australia 201823 found people encounter different levels of ‘fake’ news depending on their main sources (modes) of news: Those who use websites and apps mainly encounter poor journalism (49%) more than any other platform including social media (39%) “Completely made-up” fake news was less common overall, but those who use newspapers as the main source encountered it more (28%) compared to TV (24%) or online (26%) According to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report Australia 2018, over the past twelve months, general trust in news has risen from 42% to 50%; trust in news on social media remains low at 24%; whereas trust is highest in established news brands; public broadcasters and print newspapers24 Data from the 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer showed trust in traditional and online news sources in Australia is higher (52%) than news accessed via social media and search engines (35%).25 Research commissioned by The Conversation26 noted young people in Australia consume news from ‘traditional news’ areas (such as television, family, teachers) rather than social media; yet they are not confident in their ability to identify ‘fake news online.’27 Actors, classification, and motivation In Australia, misinformation typically surfaces around news articles, videos, misquotations in politics, and general ‘interesting person of the day’ stories, (celebrities or other prominent/eminent people) Social Media verification experts28 note Australia is also prone to ‘copy and paste’ journalism in some online commercial websites, relying less on original reporting by journalists and more on copying ideas and text previously produced by reporters This practice makes Australia vulnerable to misinformation such as repetition of human error stemming from a lack of rigorous fact-checking when ‘lifting’ the original articles (not to mention failing to correctly acknowledge reporters) This feeds into concerns Australians have over accessing ‘poor context’ or poor quality journalism rather than weaponized fakes as noted in the introduction Sensis, 2017 Digital News Report: Australia 2018, University of Canberra, commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford, Research was conducted by YouGov using an online questionnaire at the end of January/beginning of February 2018 24 Digital News Report: Australia 2018, University of Canberra, commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford, Research was conducted by YouGov using an online questionnaire at the end of January/beginning of February 2018 25 Edelman Trust Barometer 2018 22 23 26 https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/ data/assets/pdf_file/0009/1331847/EMBARGOED_to_Monday,_November_20,_2017._Ne ws_and_Australian_Children,_How_Young_People_Access,_Perceive_and_are_Affected_by_the_News-small1.pdf 27 Tanya Notley & Michael Dezuanni The Conversation Most Young Australians Can’t Identify Fake News Online 28 Kevin Nguyen, Storyful Australia, interviewed by the author October 25, 2017 - 61 - INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – AUSTRALIA Whilst mild compared with other countries, Australia is subject to scams, misinformation and disinformation From health bloggers to fake news advertisements on government websites and factual mistakes by politicians—the misinformation had the scope and scale to influence large parts of society and even globally In 2014 an experiment by an Australian production company trialing new video production and distribution techniques resulted in a number of hoax videos that went viral globally, beginning with a video of a man jumping off a cliff and swimming face to face with a shark In 2016 Woolshed Co “admitted it was behind eight of the biggest viral hoaxes, which between them have gone viral in over 180 countries and had been viewed a total of 205 million times”29 The company was a recipient of government-backed funding from screen Australia In a clear case of intention to deceive for financial gain and fame, Australians were by duped by author and wellness advocate Belle Gibson beginning in 2013 Ms Gibson claimed she healed herself from terminal brain cancer and other cancers by eating whole foods and promoted her recipes in high-profile blogs, a mobile app and through book deals By 2015, however, her publisher30 began investigations into her claims and Belle Gibson later admitted she had never had cancer31 By September 2017, the Federal Court in Melbourne found Ms Gibson guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct and fined her $410,000 AUD ($320,000 USD).32 The case showed the vulnerability of Australians to online blogs—before the investigations, Ms Gibson had been a regular guest on mainstream TV programs and interviewed by mainstream magazines and publications A more recent case in November 2017 illustrated Australia’s vulnerability to misleading information from influential social media sites including popular blogs, YouTube and sites such as Instagram that are followed by hundreds of thousands of teenagers and young people across the country Brisbane-based raw food blogger and entrepreneur Olivia Budgen controversially wrote on her Instagram site “Cancer and disease are your body trying to save you”33 – however, the caption was later taken down Controversial Australian politician Pauline Hanson spread misinformation regarding childhood vaccinations in March 2017 Falsehoods about vaccinations causing autism or other issues in children have abounded on the internet for years and the correlation/causation effect has been debunked Yet, the One Nation party leader told the ABC’s high profile current affairs talk show Insiders34 that parents should have their children tested first, before they allow vaccinations Experts noted there is no blood test to screen whether children will have Crisp, Ainsleigh, July 2016 How a small Melbourne production company fooled the world - eight times.Mumbrella https://mumbrella.com.au/melbourne-production-company-social-media-viral-fooled-world-8-times-379214 30 Stayner, Guy March 10, 2015, Belle Gibson:Cancer survivor, The Whole Pantry author, app developer claims 'misdiagnosis’ ABC News http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-10/cancer-survivor-author-belle-gibson-misdiagnosis-whole-pantry/6295426 31 (Updated April 22, 2015) http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-22/wellness-author-belle-gibson-admits-cancer-diagnosis-nottrue/6413712 32 Percy, Karen September 28, 2017 Disgraced wellness blogger belle Gibson fined $410,000 over false cancer claims ABC News http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-28/disgraced-wellness-blogger-belle-gibson-fined/8995500 33 Deabler, Alexander November 20, 2017 Fitness guru under fire for saying cancer is ‘your body trying to save you’ http://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/health/health-advice/fitness-guru-under-fire-for-saying-cancer-is-your-body-trying-to-saveyou/news-story/1c2bd24630040bb92494699ad1d41915 34 Insiders with Barry Cassidy, ABC Episode: March 5, 2017 Pauline Hanson joins Insiders http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/paulinehanson-joins-insiders./8325966 29 - 62 - INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – AUSTRALIA adverse reactions.35 Ms Hanson later apologized36 however, still insisted vaccination is a “personal decision.”37 The example showed how misinformation—in this case factually incorrect and misleading from high-profile people in positions of responsibility—can reach National audiences regarding issues that have long been debunked However, it can be noted that healthy debate was heard freely and platforms widely discussed and disparaged Ms Hanson’s views Other cases of misinformation include human error when using social media as a reporting resource In February 2018, a major commercial television news organization used the wrong photo from Facebook in an attempt to show a picture of a missing sailor38 The man, Keith Jones, was missing at sea and the Nine Network used the wrong photo, despite other news organizations using the correct ‘Keith Jones’ picture In an example of disinformation, Australia’s official meteorological agency, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), has been the target of scams and false advertisements on its website39 In January and February 2018 false ads mimicked a CNN website with fabricated stories about Bitcoin and Elon Musk quitting Tesla.40 The false advertisements have enormous reach across Australia as the BOM is relied upon for emergency information, detailed forecasts and updates Although, the BOM said “on the days (the false) ads appeared” they only accounted for “0.006 percent of the more than 35 million ads presented on the bureau website.”41 In another case, on 16 October 2017,42 the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Media Watch TV program debunked a viral video that purportedly showed a robbery in the Queensland city of Ipswich Media Watch noted the Daily Mail had reported Asian gangs were on the loose in Queensland’s South East However, the video of the robbery was actually recorded in Pakistan, not Australia Scale and impact In November 2017, the Australian public voted ‘yes’ in support of gay marriage, with the vote conducted over an extended period of time via a National postal survey The media was on alert that such a topic of debate may attract extreme campaigners, willing to interfere and Macartney, Kristine March 7, 2017 Is there a test your child can take before getting vaccinated, as Pauline Hanson said? The Conversation https://theconversation.com/is-there-a-test-your-child-can-take-before-getting-vaccinated-as-pauline-hanson-said74159 36 Kozial, Michael, March, 10, 2017 I was wrong: Pauline Hanson apologies for vaccine allergy remarks The Sydney Morning Herald https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/i-was-wrong-pauline-hanson-apologises-for-vaccine-allergy-remarks-20170309guuiup.html 37Gribbin, Caitlyn, Pauline Hanson apologises for vaccination test remarks, still insists immunisation a ‘personal choice’ ABC News http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-09/pauline-hanson-apologises-test-comments-insists-choice-personal/8338294 38 “Wrong picture”.Media Watch ABC TV February 26, 2018 https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/episodes/wrongpicture/9972340 39 Commercial advertising Bureau of Meteorology http://www.bom.gov.au/advertising/ 40 McGhee, Ashlynne, February 19, 2018 Scams, fake news advertised on Bureau of Meteorology website ABC News.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-19/scam-ads-on-weather-bureau-website/9459570 41 Ibid https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-19/scam-ads-on-weather-bureau-website/9459570 42 “Ipswich or Karachi?” Episode 36, October 16, 2017, Media Watch, ABC TV http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s4750260.htm 35 - 63 - INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – AUSTRALIA spread misinformation Storyful followed tens of thousands of accounts (using Storyful’s inhouse monitoring tools) relating to the Same Sex Marriage debate Yet results from Storyful’s monitoring tools showed groups on social media were “measured”43 and, while many were inappropriate, they were far from the level of trolling the company had seen on such issues in the United States While the general media is quick to debate and dispel misinformation claims such as Pauline Hanson’s vaccination and the medical lifestyle stories of Belle Gibson, the stories have a far reach to the majority of Australian citizens via digital and traditional means For example, information about Belle Gibson from social media was picked up and reported on by traditional/mainstream media who did no further checking until her story came undone from her publisher’s concerns noted above Australia’s misinformation vulnerabilities from the global web are increasingly evident For example, research by the University of Adelaide showed most Chinese international students studying in Australia don’t read English language news sites, rather they browse Chinese social media sites such as WeChat.44 Researcher Jian Ying, found the sites offer up sensationalism and fake news: “Beat-ups from Australian WeChat accounts have covered everything from “secret” nuclear pollution to the return of the White Australia Policy.”45 Elsewhere, the ABC investigated hundreds of questionable Facebook accounts, which claimed to be linked to the tiny rural town of Texas (population 900), in the state of Queensland ABC reporters had been searching for Australians fighting in Syria, and instead “stumbled upon scores of Facebook profiles of US military personnel allegedly based in Syria who all claimed to be from Texas, Queensland.”46 The ABC investigated 500 of these Facebook accounts and confirmed 448 “contained suspicious signals”.47 The majority of the suspicious accounts had stolen photos and identities from the internet The ABC noted “investigations in the United States have since found that many of these fake profiles were set-up by foreign operatives” and the most logical cause is that of “mistaken identity”—the foreign operatives didn’t scroll down far enough in the dropdown menu (to find Houston, Texas in the US) when creating the fake accounts.48 Current state of legislation/policy Australia appears to have no plans to legislate specifically against ‘fake news’ The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade published its ‘International Cyber Engagement According to data from Kevin Nguyen, Storyful Australia, interviewed by the author October 25, 2017 “Nuclear secrets and deadly coffees: A look at Australian fake news on Chinese social media.” ABC News By Danielle Li, Xiaoning Mo, Bang Xiao, and Michael Walsh Updated 21 July 2018, 7:45am http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-0721/nuclear-secrets-and-deadly-coffee-australian-fake-news-on-social/10002246 45 Ibid http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-21/nuclear-secrets-and-deadly-coffee-australian-fake-news-on-social/10002246 46“Facebook and the bad hombres of Texas”, ABC Queensland Digital Story Innovation Team By Michael Workman and Stephen Hutcheon Updated 18 Jul 2018, 7:35pm http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-18/facebook-fakes-and-the-bad-hombres-of-texasqueensland/10005054 47 Ibid http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-18/facebook-fakes-and-the-bad-hombres-of-texas-queensland/10005054 48 Ibid http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-18/facebook-fakes-and-the-bad-hombres-of-texas-queensland/10005054 43 44 - 64 - INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – AUSTRALIA Strategy’ in 2017 which noted “Australia is a strong supporter of an open, free and secure Internet, and advocates for policy settings that support this position.”49 Former digital editor of the Lowy Institute, John Gooding, noted the strategy “emphasizes Australia's commitment to 'raise concerns about cyber-enabled interference in democratic processes through bilateral and multilateral opportunities, and to a 'multi-stakeholder approach to Internet governance'.”50 But Gooding noted that “this framing casts digital platforms as passive, static hosts of cyber-enabled interference, rather than as potentially active propagators”51 and the strategy is not viewed widely in Australia as one that strongly tackles issues of ‘fake news’ The future of public journalism in Australia took a high-profile position during a 2017 Senate inquiry to address media laws Submissions to the enquiry52 also focused (albeit to a lesser extent) on so-called ‘fake news’, and the need for a healthy domestic journalism service and quality journalism education combined with industry collaborations to protect against misinformation Yet, most of the outcomes and focus centred on the subsequent change of media ownership laws in Australia to reflect a new digital era: In September 2017, Parliament relaxed media ownership limits after major owners lobbied the government over rising digital competition and plunging ad revenue Previous laws were over 25 years old and originally were ‘designed to stop any one media company growing too large and restricting the diversity of voices.’53 But, as the Special Broadcasting Services (SBS) reported, ‘in more recent years, big media companies such as Fairfax have lobbied the government to relax the laws as they struggle with falling ad revenue.54 Australians’ concerns over ‘poor journalism’ were further heightened by the 2017 high-profile defamation case by actress Rebel Wilson (Wilson v Bauer Media Pty Ltd) that represented the largest payout for a defamation case in Australian legal history (later reduced on appeal, which was contested by Ms Wilson55) Ms Wilson sued Bauer Media over one print edition article in Woman’s Day magazine and seven articles on their websites The articles broadly alleged that Ms Wilson was a serial liar and had lied in relation to her age, her real name and her upbringing: The judgement,56 “found Bauer Media paid an anonymous source for Australia’s International Cyber Engagement Strategy, Cyber Policy Section, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade October 4, 2017 Chapter: Internet Governance and Cooperation, p 59 http://dfat.gov.au/international-relations/themes/cyberaffairs/aices/pdf/DFAT%20AICES_AccPDF.pdf 50 John Gooding, November 1, 2017, The Interpreter, Lowy Institute https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/australia-sstake-shaking-fake-news 51 Ibid.https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/australia-s-stake-shaking-fake-news 52 Davies DK, Fulton DJ, Lidberg AP, Murrell DC, Richards PI, Ricketson PM, Romano AP, Sykes MJ, Wake DA Submission from the Journalism Education & Research Association of Australia (JERAA) to the Senate Select Committee on the Future of Public Interest Journalism 2017 53 Morgan, Miles., Elton-Pym, James September, 15, 2017 “Media shake-up as broadcast laws pass parliament.” SBS News https://www.sbs.com.au/news/media-shake-up-as-broadcasting-laws-pass-parliament 54 Ibid https://www.sbs.com.au/news/media-shake-up-as-broadcasting-laws-pass-parliament 55 Australian Associated Press ‘Rebel Wilson to take Defamation Appeal to High Court’ The Guardian, Australian, 12 July, 2018 https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jul/12/rebel-wilson-to-take-defamation-appeal-to-australias-high-court 56 Peter Bartlett, Dean Levitan and Adelaide Rosenthal (2018).‘Criminalising Journalism: the MEAA Report into the State of Press Freedom in Australia, 2018.’ https://pressfreedom.org.au/the-year-in-australian-media-law-9da4265c9269 49 - 65 - INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – AUSTRALIA information without properly investigating the allegations it knew the imputations being conveyed to be false and proceeded to publish nonetheless; and, it also repeated the offending imputations by repeatedly publishing similar articles with similar imputations in an attempt to keep the information circulating ” Ms Wilson was awarded more than 4.5 million AUD (about 31.9 million USD) in damages over a series of articles in 2015 that were found to be defamatory.57 This included aggravated damages, at 650,000 AUD (about 460,000 USD)—above the statutory cap of 389,500 AUD (about 275,700 USD) that ordinarily applies for non-economic loss While the result initially appeared a win for quality journalism, the traditional and mainstream media joined forces on appeal, concerned the extension of the statutory cap would create a chilling effect on journalism, however, the court rejected the media’s right to intervene.58 The Australian government is developing strong policies on cyberbullying and set up the office of the e-safety commissioner in accordance with the Enhancing Online Safety Act, 201559 The site addresses cyberbullying and social media and has provided well-resourced education guidelines that have the potential to include a focus on ‘fake’ news Current solutions and efforts to combat misinformation Australia has well-resourced fact-checking organizations, which include in-house media factchecking units, broadcast programs and collaborations between mainstream media and academia Examples include the public broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) long running television programme Media Watch; a collaboration between the ABC and RMIT University in Melbourne with the online and video program ABC RMIT Fact Check The independent online media outlet The Conversation, also uses sources from academia and the research community, and includes an in-house fact-checking unit Both the ABC RMIT Fact Check and The Conversation were accredited by the Poynter Institute’s International Fact Checking Network (IFCN) in 2017 The process of accreditation requires rigorous evaluation by a pool of external professionals Mainstream media organizations, including both commercial entities and the public broadcaster, are also regular clients of online and social media verification service provider Storyful Further research into exactly how digital natives are interacting with social media and chat apps is recommended For example, research by Queensland University of Technology student Jessica Alchin investigated how Australia’s ‘social media generation’ of 18- to 25-year-olds recognize and respond to news that is potentially fake: The research focuses on whether heavy reliance on social media could increase vulnerability to fake news in the 18-25-year-old age group (A small) focus group provides insight into the processes through which the target age group identifies fake news, uncovering the individuals’ opinions and behaviors The findings from the focus group Ibid https://pressfreedom.org.au/the-year-in-australian-media-law-9da4265c9269 Ibid https://pressfreedom.org.au/the-year-in-australian-media-law-9da4265c9269 59 https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-the-office/legislation 57 58 - 66 - INFORMATION DISORDER IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC – AUSTRALIA suggest that the age group is actively engaged in the construction of meaning when consuming news, and is not passive receivers of information The general findings reflect the current body of knowledge on fake news: the age group is somewhat susceptible to fake news However, this cannot be attributed to social media itself, more likely owing to the new structure of information sharing undermining the traditional role of journalists as gatekeepers This research provides a basis for further investigation.60 This research should be taken as a lead to focus on larger scale studies into online consumption and critical thinking by digital natives in Australia It should be noted that many universities in Australia have dedicated ‘digital media labs’ and research foci Crossover into society has begun with researchers participating for example, in the ABC’s ‘Media Literacy Week’ in September 2018, which included interaction and competitions for secondary school students.61 About the author Anne Kruger was presenter and reporter for Australia’s iconic program Landline, before leaving to further her studies in economics and financial news reporting In 2014 she began working as a presenter and producer at Bloomberg TV in Hong Kong, but in that same year China’s Special Administrative Region was hit by a wave of misinformation and disinformation during Occupy Central - and Anne’s work focus changed dramatically As an Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Hong Kong she collaborated with external stakeholders including digital open source verification technologists Meedan and founded the Cyber News Verification Lab Anne contextualized news literacy ‘train the trainer courses’, consulted for UNESCO Asia and led research projects She is a Google News Initiative trainer, an assessor at the International Fact-Checking Network (Poynter) and has over two decades’ experience as an international journalist and anchor at CNN International, Bloomberg TV and ABC (Australia) Anne recently completed her PhD in social media verification education Jessica Alchin: Navigating fake news trends with 18-25-year-olds Journalism, Media and Communications Discipline Faculty of Creative Industries, Queensland University of Technology Bachelor of Creative Industries, Honours Thesis December 2017 61 http://www.abc.net.au/education/media-literacy/ 60 - 67 - ... Nevertheless, Want Want has continued to take a more pro-China stance, reporting on news in favor of China News of its founder Tsai Eng-meng speaking in support of mainland China10 or exclusive interviews with officials of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and the... fake news within the larger context of misinformation and disinformation See the discussions of fake news in Tandoc, Lim and Ling’s work: Tandoc, E C., Lim, Z W., & Ling, R (2017) Defining “Fake... Political parties, commercial media, pro-China media owners, and Mainland China operatives on the Internet are seemingly motivated to influence public opinion; some of whom gain economically in the process To combat misinformation, the media industry has established professional organizations,