Finland is winning the war on fake news. Other nations want the blueprint

https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/05/europe/finland-fake-news-intl/

by elorant • 7 years ago

46 12 7 years ago

edition.cnn.com

panpanna• 7 years ago

Well, Finland has in past been (1) invaded by Russia and (2) been targeted in disinformation campaigns.

They know they will be the next ukraine if they don't watch out.

growlist• 7 years ago

'The race is on to figure out a fix after authorities linked Russian groups to misinformation campaigns targeting Catalonia’s independence referendum and Brexit'

Thus far there's not a single shred of evidence that Aaron Banks etc. worked with Russia on the Leave campaign, indeed, this exact allegation is currently the subject of litigation between Banks and a Guardian journalist, Carole Cadwalladr. Perhaps the weasel words 'authorities linked' are how they got it past CNN's lawyers.

Somewhat ironic that a piece on fake news should itself recycle what currently amounts to an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory.

ryanlol• 7 years ago

Clearly the author hasn’t visited any Finnish message boards :) Even the mainstream ones are full of weird conspiracy theory nonsense, it just happens to mostly be foreign conspiracy theories e.g. Epstein murder

originalvichy• 7 years ago

The resilience also depends on political unity. We are mostly united against anything Russian. Finland does not want or need Russian politics and talking points. That’s why it’s easy to repel pro-Russia propganda.

cia-killer2• 7 years ago

Fake news isn't just Russian propaganda, it also originates from places like the NYT. Look at the covington catholic situation, Jussie Smollett, saying 17 intelligence agencies agreed when even James Clapper admitted it was three, and so much more. I could write an entire book on things the NYT has been wrong on.

gorbachev• 7 years ago

That may be true in the context described in the article, but right-wing populists, racists and neo nazis are definitely having the upper hand elsewhere using EXACTLY the same playbook Trump is.

Smoosh• 7 years ago

It's all part of the same, global phenomena. "You can't trust traditional sources of truth, there is no objective truth, I can spread lies as everyone does it, I will believe what I want, I will believe my team/side, I can do whatever I want as there is no objective right or wrong."

cia-killer2• 7 years ago

Why should I trust the NYT when they frequently exaggerate and lie about things I know about? Is it unreasonable to assume they also lie and exaggerate about the areas I don't know about?

watersb2• 7 years ago

Why should I believe this?

My brain said this to me as a snarky comment. But further reflection yielded insight that is probably already obvious to you:

Disinformation attack isn't intended to promote any particular claim or narrative. If you happen to believe the nonsense, maybe that's a nice bonus for the attacker. But they are aiming for something far more insidious.

They want you to believe that nothing is true, that truth simply cannot be discovered, that anyone claiming to do so simply wants attention for personal gain.

So of course Russia, as a state actor, has mastered this technique.

krageon• 7 years ago

Russia

All countries use disinformation, with the larger regimes being significantly more dystopic. It's not useful to point the finger at a single one, except to spread propaganda further.

watersb2• 7 years ago

My only direct experience with Russia is a month during the summer of 1990. Walking around the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg, almost every street corner a small table set up, someone selling old books they had kept hidden for decades. People crowding around, seeking words written before Stalinist purge.

Living with friends that summer, I would ask about these books (my grasp of Russian became sufficient to find my way around the organized city center, but I couldn't read much of the books, although some were engineering texts).

They would smile and say. "Well, we are re-writing history once again."

Noam Chomsky makes it abundantly clear that US culture is no different in regard to historical narrative. But I haven't had that pervasive sense that there is no such thing as a true story, not in the US, not until these past few years.

twoflower9• 7 years ago

Sounds like fake news has made it's way into the Finnish school system

Finland is winning the war on fake news. Other nations want the blueprint

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