Presentation given by Sheila Webber (Sheila Yoshikawa in Second Life) as part of a Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable in the 3D virtal world Second Life (tm Linden Labs) on April 12 2018. The report itself is at https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/final-report-high-level-expert-group-fake-news-and-online-disinformation

1. Some points
from the EC
report on
disinformation
Sheila Yoshikawa/ Sheila
Webber
April 2018
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/final-report-high-level-expert-group-fake-news-and-online-disinformation

2. • Example of a more substantial international
effort
• Group set up by European Commission in
January 2018 “to advise on policy initiatives to
counter fake news and disinformation spread
online”
• 39 members: media/communications
academics; media organisations (e.g.
Facebook, Bertelsmann, Sky); fact-checking
organisations; citizen groups
Sheila Webber, 2018

3. Disinformation defined
• Includes all forms of false, inaccurate, or
misleading information designed, presented
and promoted to intentionally cause public
harm or for profit
• Excludes illegal content & also satire and
parody
• Avoids term “fake news” on grounds that this
has been misappropriated to mean anything
disagreeable to someone
Sheila Webber, 2018

4. Issues such as:
• Politicians/ governments may spread
disinformation: also may not support a free
press which would enable many points of view
• Some news media do not have high journalistic
standards
• Citizens may spread disinformation “highly
polarized societies with low levels of trust
provide a fertile ground for the production and
circulation of ideologically motivated
disinformation”
• Digital media makes it all more complicated
Sheila Webber, 2018

5. No “simple solution”
Proposed strategy based on:
1. Enhancing transparency of online news
2. Promoting media and information literacy
3. Developings tools to help people/ journalists
tackle disinformation
4. “Safeguard the diversity and sustainability of the
European news media ecosystem”
5. More research
Sheila Webber, 2018

6. Step 1: short term
• Forming a coalition of stakeholders (media
companies; factchecking agencies; academic
experts etc.) to draw up a self-regulation Code
of Practices & ensure implementation & review
• Review whether this is working after a year
• Governments/ EU support development of a
network of independent European Centres for
(academic) research on disinformation + a
central Centre of Excellence
Sheila Webber, 2018

7. • The European Commission “Sharpen actions in
support of media and information literacy for all citizens
and the promotion of media literacy in EU curricula
reforms”
• Individual countries similarly
• Pay more attention to developing MIL strategies & education
for all population groups
• “Refrain from interfering with the editorial independence of
media” & encourage a pluralist media scene
• News media organisations cooperating to develop MIL
and e.g. “continue investing in quality journalisms and
equip newsrooms with professional automatic content
verification tools”
Step 2: Longer term
Sheila Webber, 2018

8. In virtual worlds.....
Are these proposed strategy points relevant?
Could we do anything about them?
1. Enhancing transparency of online news
2. Promoting media and information literacy
3. Developings tools to help people/ journalists
tackle disinformation
4. “Safeguard the diversity and sustainability of the
European news media ecosystem”
5. More research into disinformation
Sheila Webber, 2018