Opinion: Warning! Fake News can cause real harm

Social media has become a minefield of information‚ but like those old prospectors you learn about in the movies (or at Gold Reef City)‚ finding the gold from the coal can make all the difference. In the wild west that is social media‚ real news and fake news live and shoot side by side in an uncomfortable fit.

You’ve seen it as you scrolled down your Facebook timeline over breakfast or on your Twitter feed as you sit with a friend pretending to be busy when you’re actually bored out of your skull: the headlines are just too crazy or outlandish to believe. Is Kim K really having quadruplets? And did that snake really come out of that person’s you-know-what?

Fake news has become the buzz word‚ made more popular by the tales of US president Donnie (Donald) Trump winning the election with the supposed help of an alleged Russian fake news syndicate.

I remember reading about his “grand coupe” in a series of articles detailing this syndicate’s “dirty underhand tactics” during the French‚ English and Dutch elections earlier this year. I confess I was so enthralled in it that I nearly wanted to write a book on conspiracy theories and move underground in fear of the Russians coming to get little ol’ me. So this is what it was like during the cold war?

Now it may be that the “Russian propaganda machine” is too busy trying to take over the world to worry about South Africa or its celebrities‚ but the one thing I have learnt over the last few years is that nothing and nobody is really safe from the menacing grasp of fake news.

Just this week as the country was left shocked by the sudden death of Rhythm City actor Dumi Masilela‚ my Facebook timeline was invaded with supposed stories about his relationships‚ deadly diseases and even his salary prior to his death. Some of these were made to look very believable‚ others were just there to shock.

A look across a number of these supposed news accounts unearths an avalanche of fake news stories about popular celebrities‚ hoping to catch out the naïve. We also saw it last month when a fake story about pastor Mboro visiting hell was splashed across headlines without considering its source‚ or when Trevor Noah had to deny for the third time that he had died.

And while many of us have become good at spotting the fakes‚ there are far too many who are not. There is a real need to fight this plague. I saw it in London recently when entire centre spreads in newspapers were dedicated to information on spotting fake news. And while many may think it is “just fun”‚ like poison‚ it can harm.

The first‚ like in the case of Dumi Masilela‚ is the harm it can do to someone’s reputation. I do not profess to know anything about traditional mourning ceremonies of any culture other than my own‚ but even I know that blatant lies about someone after their death is cruel and disrespectful. His family told me that they had ignored any false reports about Dumi after his death but while they refused to look‚ perhaps dozens of curious fans did and some of them most definitely believed the reports to be true.

Closely related to this is the harm that can be done to celebs profitability. In the celeb world where endorsements are king‚ fake news can be as devastating as bad news. If false stories‚ like a musician backing a controversial political figure or being involved in an affair that did not happen‚ are taken as gospel‚ they can impact what fans think of their heroes and can affect the way that the public sees them. This can affect their “pull” as a brand influencer and‚ by extension‚ if and how much they are paid for endorsement deals.

Another effect is the harm it does to trustworthy publications who have to deal with the field of “news” being polluted by imposters who often piggy back off their name or pretend to be these sites using similar website designs.

While some international celebs‚ including Kim Kardashian‚ Angelina Jolie and Harry Potter author JK Rowling‚ have fought back with lawsuits‚ South African celebrities often choose to slam fake reports using their own social media.

But sometimes‚ like with Mboro‚ the fake news around them becomes so prevalent that they claim there is a crusade against them and voice their opposition through media interviews with reputable news agencies. That’s how George Clooney addressed “news” about his mother-in-law’s disapproval of his marriage: by writing an open editorial in the USA Today in 2014.

At the same time‚ celebs also try to use the scourge of fake news to suit them. Using it as a scapegoat‚ they try to escape hard hitting stories by claiming it is fake news or “trash news“. They wait for publications to respond‚ perhaps hoping that their bluff will not be called and the truth will not emerge.

An example of this was actress Pearl Thusi’s recent crusade against reports that her relationship with sports presenter Robert Marawa was on the rocks. She targeted TshisaLIVE‚ which published the report as “trash“‚ only for Robert to come out a few days later to confirm that the couple had indeed broken up.

As a child I was fascinated with the story of an ancient Greek hero called Hiero who‚ after a military conquest‚ commissioned a golden crown be made to honour his victory. The crown was made but found to have contained a mixture of gold and silver to trick the hero. This was discovered by Hiero’s advisor Archimedes through one of the first known methods of measuring the volume of irregularly-shaped objects.

Like the story of Archimedes and the golden crown‚ every one of us will have to distinguish the difference between the gold and silver (or the bad) when it comes to news online. So next time you see a story that seems a little too far-fetched‚ think before you click- it could just cause more harm than good.