Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Misinformation Rules

When I see a paragraph shrinking under my eyes like a strip of bacon in a skillet, I know I'm on the right track.
— Peter De Vries, born in 1910 a year before Jozef Imrich senior

Fact-check things before you share them on social media...it takes less than a minute to do so. (Whenever I don't do this, it bites me ...)

Praising in good and bad time fatboy slim 




Treachery and the Cold War - Mail Online - Peter Hitchens blog



 


The Artist Whose Medium Is Big Data


Laurie Frick imagines a future in which your smart watch will know how your body is responding to someone. Then it will combine with Facebook data about their personality. And that will let you know whether that person makes you lethargic, raises your blood pressure or depresses you. "If you start training people that, 'Look at what's happening to your inflammation levels or whatever. This is the best thing for you and you can let go of the guilt.' " … Read More

Go figure: Treasury policy analysis needs wider view than just economics ...




Lloyd makes calls on free speech and union-bargaining policies.
Penny Wong vs the APS commissioner, round two. If an MP "casts aspersions" on a public servant personally, it's only fair they can discuss the matter with friends over office email. And if it comes out in public, that's OK too.

When Art Became A Commodity, Things Turned Ugly


As contemporary art is increasingly viewed as an asset class—alongside equities, bonds, and real estate—Georgina Adam sees artworks often used as a vehicle to hide or launder money, and artists encouraged to churn out works in market-approved styles, bringing about a decline in quality. … Read More

ATO to investigate 'systemic abuse' of $22 billion in work expense claims



"Google Prevails In Suit Over Blog Post": Wendy Davis of Digital News Daily has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued today

ICAC warns NSW govt to better screen new hires

Top secret clearance a two-year wait


New Deputy PM faces questions over rent




Why Workers Are Losing to Capitalists Bloomberg


Digital Transformation Agency chief Gavin Slater has described the stark differences between the public service and his previous employment at NAB
Public service a large and complex beast



WHEN bankruptcy trustees were appointed over a hectic weekend late in 2008, there seemed no end to the losses caused by the collapse of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Cash in the bank was no more than $150m. But the losses have been less, and the assets available for compensation greater, than had been feared. On February 22nd Irving Picard, the bankruptcy trustee overseeing the liquidation of Mr Madoff’s firm, announced that a fund set up to reimburse customers would make its ninth distribution, of $621m, bringing the total handed out so far to $11.4bn. Another $1.8bn in held in reserve for contested claims. This is on top of a separate distribution of $723m last November from a separate fund run by the Department of Justice. Another $3bn remains to be distributed in that fund and the bankruptcy trustees hold out hope that substantially more will be recovered and returned.
Mr Madoff, who will turn 80 in April, is serving a 150-year sentence in a North Carolina prison. At his... Money stolen by Bernie Madoff is still being found







Assessing site design and other methods children learn for how to spot fake news are now frighteningly obsolete.


Florida shooting misinformation

Last week’s shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 dead and several injured spawned the usual hoaxes that follow American tragedies: fake images of the shooter, posts claiming he was a member of Antifa, false identifications and phony screenshots of his Instagram account. Then there were those that aren’t so typical.
Imposter tweets targeted journalists attempting to cover the shooting, leading to a cascade of online harassment. Twitter at first denied that was against their policies, then said the rules should be revised. Conspiracy theories about students organizing gun control demonstrations took off, trending on YouTube and populating search results (at least for a while). There was an incorrect story that led to careless sharing by professionals and many corrections. Another story led to a congressional aide being fired.
Some students took the conspiracies in stride, but as Snopes’ Bethania Palma put it, “we’re living in a dystopian hellhole of false information.” So what’s the solution?



·        POLITICO Magazine asks: “Are we putting too much pressure on the Parkland survivors? We shouldn’t expect quick wins on gun control — we should be preparing these kids for a long, bitter fight.”
 

The concerted attack on public sector union workers is a coordinated effort financed by wealthy donors Economic Policy Institute

$120 million drug shipment hidden in highlighters seized at border


This is how we do it

This is bad

(AP 



A closer look


  • The New York Times has a deep dive into Brazil’s anti-fake news efforts.
  • Where are the Japanese fact-checkers?
  • Discuss: “Media literacy programs in schools are so outdated, they’re backwards.

Coming up


 


This is fun

  • ESPN “fact-checks” Lonzo Ball’s rap lyrics.
  • Other sites have fake news. SoundCloud has fake music.
  • A local fact-checking project in Nevada is using Abe Lincoln for its ratings.

If you read one more thing

Fake news is an existential crisis for social media.

Quick fact-checking links

The Pope was fact-checked, and it did not turn out well for him.  //  The Secret Service is fact-checking now?  //  Will the Bad News video game help kids spot fake news?  //  Buyers of political ads on Facebook will be verified with postcards this year.  //  The Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism has launched two fact-checking websites, Udeme and Dubawa.  //  The American Bar Association fact-checks politicians’ blathering about treason.  //  Social media platforms need to admit they are trafficking in “automatic weapons,” says John Battelle.  //  Italy is trying to combat Russian influence on its upcoming election.  //  By far, Facebook and Instagram were the go-to sites for Russian interference in the 2016 election, says the Justice Department.  //  Broadcast personality Afia Schwarzenegger will host the “Political Police” comedy fact-checking show on TV Africa.  //  A good thread on what conspiracy theories offer to believers.  //  This game teaches how people spread online misinformation.  //  Here’s a fact check of what a Facebook executive said about Russian disinformation.  //  What we still don’t know about fake news and its growth.  //  Twitter fact-checks a “Hulk Hogan” interview.
Until next week,

You can't pay tax if you don't make profits.' Oh, really? - Crikey

 

Half-built home of accused tax fraudster Adam Cranston listed for sale