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A comment on Tiny number of 'supersharers' spread the majority of fake news. Parent comment

Re:Tiny number of 'supersharers' spread the majority of fake... by jemmyw on Saturday June 01, 2024 @04:27AM (#40543909)
It's news that's untrue and made up, rather than mistaken reporting. I know we can never know real truth in all circumstances, and there'll always be situations of vagueness and ambiguity. But there's still the things that did happen, to some level of veracity, and the things that people made up. The dissemination of shit people have made up while also lying and saying it's the truth does seem to present a problem.
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Re:Tiny number of 'supersharers' spread the majority of fake... by BoingBoomTschak on Saturday June 01, 2024 @04:56AM (#40544049)
Unless people are caught red-handed fabricating those, how can you know it's fake? You think that cross-referencing or having "reliable sources" like Wikipedia will help you know what's going on on the other side of world (e.g Ukraine/Russia)? It's probable even the people in the involved countries don't truly know what's going on.

The only facts are what I can perceive with my own senses and what comes directly from people I know enough to have a judgment I consider reliable on their trustworthiness.

Fact is that entities using the expression fake news are often not better than the ones they accuse.

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Re:Tiny number of 'supersharers' spread the majority of fake... by jemmyw on Saturday June 01, 2024 @07:52AM (#40544957)
I'm well aware that Western media aren't necessarily reporting the ground truth about that war. But it's an interesting one in that there's so much camera footage, mostly from Ukrainians, but also from Russian soldiers with smartphones. So, while current events are always skewed in reporting, osint has been able to piece together a more accurate picture afterwards.
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Re:Tiny number of 'supersharers' spread the majority of fake... by kmudrick on Saturday June 01, 2024 @07:30AM (#40544813)
>The only facts are what I can perceive with my own senses and what comes directly from people I know enough to have a judgment I consider reliable on their trustworthiness.

"My Mama says that alligators are ornery because they got all them teeth and no toothbrush!" - The Waterboy

If the Waterboy trusts Mama does this make it a fact?

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Re:Tiny number of 'supersharers' spread the majority of fake... by BoingBoomTschak on Sunday June 02, 2024 @06:36AM (#40552991)
I don't see your point, you can judge you own mother untrustworthy. The point is that you need to have an extended and real life contact with someone before deciding to trust them.

Ultimately, the word "fact" in this context means "what someone considers a fact". You can be wrong, but if you can't trust your own senses or judgment, how can you live in this world? Well, rhetorical question, since there are no sincere solipsists.

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Re:Tiny number of 'supersharers' spread the majority of fake... by alpaca128 on Saturday June 01, 2024 @06:35AM (#40544475)
> The only facts are what I can perceive with my own senses

Our perception and memories are known to be very unreliable.

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Re:Tiny number of 'supersharers' spread the majority of fake... by yakshaving_jgt on Saturday June 01, 2024 @07:17AM (#40544723)
The russian federation have repeatedly been shown to produce fake news.

Massive amounts of fake news.

Suggesting that nobody can really know the difference between fantasy and reality is a misinformation tactic used by the kremlin to create more useful idiots who suggest the same.

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Re:Tiny number of 'supersharers' spread the majority of fake... by BoingBoomTschak on Sunday June 02, 2024 @06:38AM (#40553010)
Can you imagine that "the kremlin" says the same to its population? Why do you think your own powers that be are any different?

Reading your comments in this thread, I know beforehand that my replying will be useless, but I'm bored.

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Re:Tiny number of 'supersharers' spread the majority of fake... by yakshaving_jgt on Sunday June 02, 2024 @06:54AM (#40553075)
The kremlin said that Ukraine invaded russia. The rest of the world said russia invaded Ukraine.

If you can’t see which one is right and which one is wrong, then yes, there’s no point in you replying, to anyone, about anything.

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Re:Tiny number of 'supersharers' spread the majority of fake... by throwaway290 on Saturday June 01, 2024 @05:59AM (#40544332)
> The dissemination of shit people have made up while also lying and saying it's the truth does seem to present a problem.

The problem is that what you think of as "made up shit" and "lying" can be manipulated without you knowing.

For example, Covid lab leak theory was deliberately made to look like fake news by some guys who would lose money if it were true: https://web.archive.org/web/20210709212358id_/https://www.bm...

There is no need to be a conspiracist to simply understand that with 100% likelihood at any time there is something true that you think is fake news, no matter which side you are on.

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Re:Tiny number of 'supersharers' spread the majority of fake... by jemmyw on Saturday June 01, 2024 @07:45AM (#40544911)
I followed that news story at the time. There was plenty of speculation in the media, but the facts were laid out - there was a lab in the city, they were studying these types of viruses, that type of virus was also present in local wildlife that was traded.

Then it became clear that the Chinese govt wasn't going to investigate or admit if it was a leak, accidental or not. At which point I file as we'll never know + who cares at this point.

And then after that it blew up as a political football in the US. It's not fake news, it's just pointless opinions.

Fake news is saying it was a lab leak, or it wasn't a lab leak. Neither is a true statement. Both are polarising and ill informed positions.

In any case, I don't disagree with your premise that we can be manipulated quite easily.

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Re:Tiny number of 'supersharers' spread the majority of fake... by throwaway290 on Sunday June 02, 2024 @12:00AM (#40551218)
Saying it was a lab leak, or it wasn't a lab leak is not fake news. It's just an opinion, anyone can have one.

But reputable media reporting on people saying "it may be a lab leak" as conspiracists is manipulation and "fake news". I didn't know it was so widely believed on US left but apparently it was.

> At which point I file as we'll never know + who cares at this point

We just went through a pandemic with pretty bad effects, so... everyone?

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Re:Tiny number of 'supersharers' spread the majority of fake... by jemmyw on Sunday June 02, 2024 @04:12PM (#40556896)
> so... everyone?

Yes you misunderstood because I worded that badly and glibly. We can't know and the issue is so muddied and we had a lot to deal with. The virus was already out, knowing wouldn't put it back. The best reaction is to reconsider all these labs anyway.

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