Readings

The readings for this week are about Fake News:

• 13 Russians Indicted as Mueller Reveals Effort to Aid Trump Campaign

• How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump

• How WhatsApp Destroyed A Village

• Why Facebook is losing the war on hate speech in Myanmar

• How the "Knights of New" Became Fake News Pawns

And trolling and anonymity:

• Trolls Are Winning the Internet, Technologists Say

• How dangerous is cyberbullying?

• The Future Of The Culture Wars Is Here, And It's Gamergate

• Melania Trump Wants to End Online Bullying. Her Husband Doesn’t Help.

• When online anonymity is a good thing

Optional: Fake News

These articles discuss recent news regarding "Fake News":

• Twitter users are twice as likely to retweet fake news stories than authentic ones

• Fake news sharing in US is a rightwing thing, says study

• Twitter begins emailing the 677,775 Americans who took Russian election bait

• The Alt-Right Are Savvy Internet Users. Stop Letting Them Surprise You

These articles consider the impact of "Fake News" on the 2016 Presidential Election:

• Donald Trump Won Because of Facebook

• The top 20 fake news stories outperformed real news at the end of the 2016 campaign

• How Teens In The Balkans Are Duping Trump Supporters With Fake News

• We Tracked Down A Fake-News Creator In The Suburbs. Here's What We Learned

These articles discuss Russia's role in spreading "Fake News":

• How Russian Facebook Ads Divided and Targeted US Voters Before the 2016 Election

• Russians Used Reddit and Tumblr to Troll the 2016 Election

• Russian troll factory paid US activists to help fund protests during election

• Russian Propaganda Remains on Reddit

These articles discuss the impact of the information wars occurring on the Internet:

• Hillary Clinton Was the First Casualty in the New Information Wars

• UW professor: The information war is real, and we’re losing it

• We desperately need a way to defend against online propaganda

• How Fake News Turned a Small Town Upside Down

These articles consider how technology companies curate their content:

• Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News

• Censors and sensibility

• Facebook Tweaks Its 'Trending Topics' Algorithm To Better Reflect Real News

• Google and Facebook Failed Us

These articles consider how "Fake News" impacts these companies bottom lines:

• Facebook says 126 million people in the U.S. may have seen posts produced by Russian-government-backed agents

• Google has banned 200 publishers since it passed a new policy against fake news

• Twitter drops hammer and sickle on RT, Sputnik ad buys over election shenanigans

• As Germans Seek News, YouTube Delivers Far-Right Tirades

These articles discuss the idea of a echo chamber or filter bubble:

• The social media “echo chamber” is real

• Fact-checking in a 'post-fact world'

• Blame the Echo Chamber on Facebook. But Blame Yourself, Too

• The Filter Bubble Revisited

Optional: Trolling / Anonymity

These articles examine the problem of trolling:

• 545: If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say, SAY IT IN ALL CAPS

• What happened when I confronted my cruellest troll

• The Imminent Death of the Internet Troll

• The Future of Free Speech, Trolls, Anonymity and Fake News Online

These articles explore Gamergate:

• "That life is over": Zoe Quinn looks beyond GamerGate

• The death of the "gamers" and the women who "killed" them

• Gamergate Goons Can Scream All They Want, But They Can't Stop Progress

• GamerGate's Archvillain Is Really A Trolling Sketch Comedian

These articles consider the Reddit's approach to regulating trolling:

• Reddit troll ban helped cut hateful speech

• “Repugnant” online discussions are not illegal thoughtcrime, court rules

• Reddit cracks down on abuse as CEO apologizes for trolling the trolls

• New and improved "block user" feature in your inbox.

These articles consider the Twitter's approach to regulating trolling:

• A New Harassment Policy for Twitter

• The Existential Crisis of Public Life Online

• Why I've Stopped Reading Twitter Mentions

• This researcher programmed bots to fight racism on Twitter. It worked.

These articles consider cyberbullying:

• Cyberbullying: teens and kids

• The shock and pain of cyber-bullying

• How to Stop the Bullies

• Cyberbullying in the workplace: 'I became paranoid'

These articles consider the First Lady's efforts in combating cyberbullying:

• Melania Trump picks her cause if she’s First Lady: Cyberbullying

• Melania Trump Hosts Cyberbullying Event While Donald Is Busy On Twitter

• What Melania Trump Doesn't Understand About Bullying

• Parkland survivor tells FLOTUS: To combat cyberbullying, start with Trump Jr.

These articles consider the role of anonymity in trolling:

• Who Spewed That Abuse? Anonymous Yik Yak App Isn’t Telling

• Google Plus Finally Gives Up on Its Ineffective, Dangerous Real-Name Policy

• Facebook is changing the way it enforces its real name policy

• Changes to Facebook's "Real Names" Policy Still Don't Fix the Problem

Questions

Please write a response to one of the following questions:

1. From the readings, what exactly is meant by the term "Fake News"? Do you find the deluge of this content as harmless, annoying, or dangerous? Should technology companies monitor and suppress "Fake News"?

   • Take a look at your Facebook or social media feeds and that of your friends and family. Does it contain "Fake News"? If so, how much? What is your response when you see such items?

   • What is the responsibility of social media platform providers such as Facebook and Twitter in regards to regulating "Fake News"? Are you comfortable with a private entity censoring information?

   • What is the responsibility of news or content aggregators such as Facebook and Google in regards to regulating "Fake News"? Are you comfortable with a private entity classifying information as "fake"?

   • What role do you believe "Fake News" played in the 2016 presidential election? Is the current focus on "Fake News" warranted or not?

   • How much do you rely on social media such as Facebook or Twitter for your daily news? Are you living in an echo chamber or even concerned about a filter bubble? If so, what are some ways to break out of the bubble?

   Finally, does the rise of social media and "Fake News" mean we live in a "post-fact" world? Does truth stand a chance in a world dominated by "Fake News"?

2. From the readings and from your experience, what exactly is trolling? How does this behavior manifest itself and what are its causes and effects? Likewise, what is cyberbullying and how is it different from regular bullying?

   • What ethical or moral obligations do technology companies have in regards to preventing or suppressing online harassment (such as trolling or stalking)?

   • What do you make of Gamergate? Is this evidence of the dangers of anonymity on the Internet or is this behavior something we simply need to tolerate in order to maintain freedom of expression?

   • Is cyberbullying a major problem on the Internet? Do people, especially children, need special protection from harassment or should they just "deal with it"?

   • Is trolling a major problem on the Internet? What is your approach to handling trolls? Are you a troll?!?!?

   • Are "real name" policies useful or harmful in combating online abuse? Do you use services that require you to use your real name? Why or why not?

   Finally, is anonymity on the Internet a blessing or a curse? Is the Internet itself a platform for useful and fruitful discussion or is it a wasteland of memes and trolls? What good can come out of an online dialogue?