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Should there be a law that makes us label satirical fake news?
Before the internet, people usually weren’t fooled by satirical fake news. It almost always appeared on comedy shows like Saturday Night Live or in outrageous print journals like Weekly World News. Audiences laughed because they knew at the get-go that it was satire.
When it was time to consume real news, people then turned to a handful of familiar sources that they could trust. They read reputable newspapers and magazines, or tuned into television and radio stations with reliable and well-funded newsrooms.
CJFB-TV Swift Current went off the air May 31st 2002, reflecting the decline of local television newsrooms.
Today, media consumption is different. Like the past, we can still turn to reliable and professional news sources like the CBC or the Regina Leader-Post. However, that’s not the only place to find news. We can also use social media or search engines to gather and read news, where we are offered countless sources from around the world.
With social media, not every link brings us to a reputable news story. Intermingled amongst the real news is fake news of all varieties, including satirical fake news. Because satirical fake news looks like real news and swims in this sea of real news, people are more easily fooled into believing that satirical fake news is real.
When we mistake satire for real news, we become misinformed. If we share it, we become spreaders of misinformation. This means that regardless of intentions, the satire can take on some characteristics of “bad” fake news discussed on pages 4 and 5.
Yet with satire, being fooled is inevitable. In fact, misleading people is part of the fun. Satire is a playful art, and often uses irony and obfuscation to hide its real meanings. Everybody won’t be fooled all of the time, but some people will be fooled some of the time.
Because satirical fake news can mislead, demands have been made to label it as satire. Advocates believe that labels would prevent misinformation from spreading, because people would be aware that they were reading satire.
Sunday Sport, Walking Eagle News and The Beaverton.
Some companies have voluntarily heeded these calls. For example, Google News gives satirical news sites the option of adding a satire label to search returns. Much the same, The Babylon Bee includes its tagline “Fake News You Can Trust” on all its pages.
However, there is no legal requirement to label fake news as satire. Satire scholar Robert Phiddian believes this is a good thing. Most every law produces intended and unintended consequences. He has outlined some consequences that could arise if satire labels became mandatory.
As Phiddian sees it, labels could “fall off” as the satire circulates online. Similarly, people could make honest mistakes and fail to label their fake news as satire. Even worse, he worries that bad actors would ignore labelling rules altogether to perpetuate hoaxes. After all, people would be more easily fooled if they expected satire to be labelled but it wasn’t.
The University of Regina’s Gordon Pennycook and MIT’s David Rand believe that our susceptibility to fake news is partly driven by lazy thinking. They suggest that the best way to fight fake news is simple: take a breath and ask yourself “is this accurate” before sharing.
Phiddian concludes that “I have a right to be fooled.” Instead of turning over satirical fake news to the judgment of some state authority, it’s up to each of us to be conscientious citizens who consume news with some degree of critical thinking.
Robert Phiddian may or may not be correct. Regardless of what side you fall on, there’s no easy way to prevent people from being taken in by satirical fake news.
But whether we’re fooled or not, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that satire can be a lot of fun. This fun often contains insightful commentary and criticism about our society. When thought of this way, we can see how satirical fake news can help us become better citizens. Perhaps just as importantly, satirical fake news can help give us all a better sense of humour.
People are more inclined to believe something if it reinforces what they already think. This premise is shown in a study of two popular fake news sites: The Babylon Bee and The Onion.
The Babylon Bee tends to lean to the political right. The Onion tends to lean to the political left. Researchers found that left-leaning people were more likely to fall for outrageous Onion stories that made conservatives look like fools. On the other side, right-leaning people were more likely to fall for outrageous Babylon Bee stories that made liberals look like fools. And on the whole, right-leaning people were fooled somewhat more often than left-leaning people.
Human nature, as it turns out, makes all of us susceptible to fake news. This reality does not necessarily mean that we should be cynical about the news. However, it can’t hurt to have a little healthy doubt about what we read.
