The information revolution has disrupted traditional media gatekeeping, leading to the unchecked spread of misinformation. The rise of deep fake technology, creating indistinguishable false content, exacerbates this issue. Governments are struggling to regulate, and potential solutions like immutable life logs raise privacy concerns.
Benjamin Day published The Sun which was the world’s first penny press newspaper that was entirely ad-supported. This gave rise to advertising as a means to support the cost of news. Warren and Brandeis defined the Right to Privacy which contributed to the decline of yellow journalism. We need a similar reconceptualisation of regulation today to address the menace of ad driven news.
The “backfire effect” is a cognitive bias that causes people to double down on their beliefs despite evidence to the contrary. This makes fake news hard to combat because it taps into regional cultural norms and beliefs, making it resonate deeply with its intended audience. The only effective remedy is to engage with fake news at a subliminal level, recognizing its impact on political views and opinions.
