This article is part of 7 day challenge, today is day 2.
In the previous post, we saw how the social media influence and impact real lives due to fake news. Today, let us analyze how it started and how it evolved.
The root of 'fake' news can be traced right from the beginning of the human-kind. It was not exactly named 'fake news' back then but it is more of rumors, false information(intentional and unintentional). Rumors, misinformation, spin, lies and deceit have of course been around from the time humans exist. These things have existed even before the technology came into existence.
Even during the time of Kings & Emperors, rumors and miscommunication were a problem though it was easier to contain them. It wasn't exactly called 'fake news' but there were 'false information' 'conspiracy theory' 'deception', sometimes spread deliberately to gain power or to spread the fear among other smaller kingdoms.
Asian connection..
Chanakya, an ancient Indian philosopher, wrote the first known text explaining how propaganda could be applied to warfare around the year 300 BC. The propaganda can also be exaggerated, in which case it becomes a 'false information'.
In 5th, 6th and 7th century Greece, as Athens became a western hub for culture and commerce, the ruling ancient Greeks shared carefully crafted propaganda through public speeches, handwritten books, theater, and false documents.
Greek empire was saved..
Surprisingly, once fake news also saved Greek empire. It happened when Persian army invaded Athens, he Greek commander Themistocles sent letters in a deceptive manner to look like they are coming from the Persian army spies, the letters contained false information about the Greek forces and eventually the trick paid off and Greek empire was saved. Quoted source.
Invention of print media
When the printing press was started in early 1400s, fake news and false information also found their way into the form of printed materials. Religious literatures were published with modified views favoring & against religions. Many different sect and groups had differing view and all those found their way into the 'paper'(print).
When the newspaper printing and circulation had begun, there were rampant false information and propaganda. It soon became a game changer for many publishing houses since fake news was a fastest way to earn profit. It also gave way for paid news, which we still notice in our everyday newspaper.
In recent times
The word 'fake news' exploded like anything during the 2016 US elections, there were allegations and counter-allegations about the fake news. There were multiple websites which published fake stories, these were further fueled by the social media networks. Again from the social media accounts they were picked up by the mainstream media bombarding the same thing again and again.
If we look at the Google trends data, the term 'fake news' started gaining momentum in the end of 2016. People started to search more 'fake news', probably some of them enjoyed reading false stories. In 2017, the search term was higher and many websites deliberately published fake news.
As we can see there is no end to this. I believe one day we will have a solution to stop the rapid propagation of 'fake news' but it can be done only with the co-operation of human beings. In my previous post i had mentioned few closing points, I would like to repeat some of them here.
Call to action | Points to remember
- When you read a news/blog, check for its recency(published date) and relevance. Sometimes older news go viral and deceptive at times.
- Do not blindly believe any news article or news channels, what you see might not be true always.
- Report any wrong news or false information, if you happen to spot it. A video of any incident which happened long back in other country might be projected as something which has happened in your own city, this will create unnecessary panic within people. So be cautious and vigilant. Report it to concerned authorities.
A glimpse of what is coming up in this 7 day writing challenge:
You can also read my previous posts on the same topic, by clicking on the links below.
Day 0 - Announcement - Plan - Prizes
Day 1 - Social media
Day 2 - Going back in time
Day 3 - AI to build fake stories
Day 4 - Exploiting technology to fuel
Day 5 - The science behind it
Day 6 - Financial impact
Day 7 - The future