Brian Stereterand CNNSenior media analyst, tweet recently that “verification of facts” has become a dirty word. Follows the evaluation of a stereter DeadAnnouncement that it would cancel the facts of facts-in order to respond to the post-2016 response to the multiplication of the so-called fake news. Now, with Donald Trump Preparing for a second term, many former critics of fake news dropped their fears of misinformation and compatible with it. This shift reveals Big technology Legacy Media Campaign, at best, at best, at worst, make efforts to oppose frank silence.
This fake news includes FLIP-Floppers Self-described democraticElon Musk, who supported and donated amazing 250 million dollars To his campaign. Through its alliance with Trump, MUSK reappeared with an appointment to participate in the leadership of the newly created government efficiency Ministry (Dodge). In 2022, Musk claimed that he obtained Twitter – which was called X – in order to protect and promote Freedom of expression By ending what he saw as Twitter for the truth. Instead, Musk seems ready to use its platform as a propaganda tool that enhances a positive image of Trump’s presidency. After Trump’s election, Musk announced that he would change the algorithm of his platform to promote.Positive and beautiful contentAnd it indicates that since Trump is the president, Musk does not need a negative content on X.
The shift reveals an uncomfortable fact: Moderation has never been to eliminate fake news. Instead, it is a tool practiced by those in power to form novels and enhance influence. That is why it is somewhat interesting that the Trump -friendly billionaires have also expressed their interest in controlling social media platforms, such as Kevin OlieriTrump ally “”Shark “ Fame that is now trying to buy Tiktok. Social media platforms often resist moderation for work purposes, but in light of political pressure, they will work on the orders of the march of who is in power. What this means for users is that the statute is always biased, and what they want to see, nothing more, and nothing less.
Fears about fake news and their impact on democracy were still on a good basis. Misinformation Eat general confidence, distort reality, and weaken democratic systems. However, post -2016 solutions offered to combat this, and focused largely about billionaires that pledged to provide information. Not only did this approach to alleviate the spread of fake news, but also encouraged a small group of elites to expand their wealth and influence in the world.
Since Trump appeared as a political figure in 2015, media warnings about his attacks on journalists as a presenterFake news“It was loud and continuous. These warnings were not baseless. Trump’s speech was undermined and raised concerns about the threats of the free media – especially when it presented ideas like Abolish broadcast licenses. These concerns escalated during the epidemic, with misleading information about the Covid-19 spread like wildfire. Even the World Health Organization described the crisis “Infederation“
In response, Liberals and Media personalities I pushed to increase Moderate content On large technology platforms. Listening sessions in Congress Compressed technology giants for behavior and acquired companies by reducing access to minimum governor and progressive News means (referred to as ”adpocalypse“) , ban Controversial usersParticipate in developing tools such as NewsguardA tool to determine fake news, but often criticize Because the institution is biased. On January 6, 2021, with the outbreak of violence in Capitol in the United States, technology platforms were urged to decline, which led to Trump ban And the suppression of controversial topics such as Claims of fraud in the elections.
President Joe Biden continued the Crusader campaign with measures such as the ban on the social media platform Tikhak (Partingly claim to reduce misleading) and suggest a The Board of Directors of the Ministry of Internal Security misleadingWhich was ultimately canceled after a general protest. Media platforms are in line with these efforts by removing content from Russia todayand The Russian government owns, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
After Trump was elected in 2024, everything changed. The major technology companies, which had previously managed Trump or the content it prefers, faced a president who can now press regulations, increase taxes, or cancel the government contracts they relied on. In response, Mark Zuckerberg announced from Mita that his company would be abandoned Fully check the facts In 2025, it was the final blow to those who lived under the illusion that billionaire technology companies would marginalize misleading information and enhance the truth. Instead, Mita pledged to work with the Trump administration to combat foreign threats and strengthen “civil content”. Moreover, Dana Whitethe CEO and President From the final fighting championship and Trump’s supporter, it was added to the Meta and Meta panel Move Some of the California content to Texas.
Meta’s attempt in favor of the Trump administration reveals that power and profits, not a source of concern for the truth or democracy, is what motivates billionaires to indicate that they were fighting fake news. In this process, the same strategies designed to combat wrong information have strengthened the systems that perpetuate it. In fact, a handful of powerful people, often controls the incoming administration, in the flow of information in the United States, and they interact with the audience who was conditional on the belief that the way to save democracy and eliminate billionaires. This approach is not only hostile to democracy, but also a foolish task. Fake news cannot be eliminated; It is a secondary result of human creativity and imagination. Attempts to eliminate them often increase control and concentration of power, leaving societies more vulnerable to manipulation.
The only effective solution is literacy in critical media. Critical media literacy People know how to think, not what he thinks. It aims to give students skills, terminology, questions and knowledge necessary not only to determine the validity of the information, but they are enabled and independent users who can negotiate their relationship with the media. In order to make the nation more severe than the media, schools, societies and homes will need to address media literacy with the same seriousness that they deal with in need of the citizen to be able to read, write and perform mathematics.
Real contract lessons. Trusting billionaires and technology companies to work as the realmal gateway to the realm of democracy; I was at risk. Instead of enabling the public to communicate with information, these efforts have built stronger tools to control and distort novels. The war was called fake news with opposite results, and the systems that sought to dismantle and deepen the general doubts of information. The lesson is clear: In democracy, the true resistance of fake news comes decisively from the media citizen, not the strength of billionaire gates guards.
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