[Best of 2019] What World War II can teach us about fighting fake news

Just because a story is online, doesnt mean its true.

Dont feed the beast.

Use the S.H.A.R.E checklist.

The internet is great, but it can be used to spread misleading news and content.

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Understanding Rumor

Whats the old saying,plus ca change, plus cest la meme chose?

Or, translated roughly, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The UK is using 21st century tools to fight a problem thats frustrated governments for centuries.

Rumors could also harm national morale.

The governments of the time were keenly aware of the dangers posed by fake news.

Faye predominantly describes the US response to Axis rumors.

After the catastrophic defeat at Pearl Harbor, it was demoralized, with much of its naval assets destroyed.

Furthermore, the country wasnt especially enthusiastic about getting entangled in another bloody conflict.

Recognizing this, the government developed so-called rumor clinics, which you could conceivably describe as theSnopes.comof the era.

This was an important job.

All members were required to undergo an intensive two-week psychological warfare course.

Once theyd completed basic training, they were ordered to record all rumors discovered locally.

These would be shared during meetings of the clinic and sorted into two piles.

These rumor clinics werent entirely successful.

In many respects though, this was a blessing in disguise.

It published a weekly newspaper column which analyzed and refuted rumors, much like the modern-day fact-checking servicesFullFactandSnopes.

Prevalent rumors were chosen for analysis and refutation.

It was, however, hamstrung by a fraught relationship with the intelligence institutions of the time.

Nothing Ever Changes

Much of the advice went against the practices of Allport and Knapp.

By calling a silly story a rumor you automatically lend it dignity, wrote the OWI.

Its interesting to see how this conversation is replaying in peacetime.

People are still unsure how to address the problem of fake news.

In the absence of a tried-and-true methodology, it remains a complicated and menacing social minefield.

Surprisingly, Facebooks strategy backfired.

Instead of persuading people the stories were false, the warnings instead made people more convinced in their veracity.

Furthermore, they actually made some users more likely to share them.

The War Continues

Its hard to quantitatively analyze the successes of the rumor clinics.

Some approaches were more successful than others.

The Boston clinic, for example, was extremely good at outreach.

Things become a lot more transparent when you look at the failures of the era.

This manifested itself in programs being arbitrarily suspended, and the emergence of several different rivaling approaches.

Perhaps it doesnt matter.

The Allies triumphed in World War 2.

Furthermore, one could argue theres something innate in human nature that causes us to gossip and lie.

Fast forward a few millennia, and you encounter some truly brutal examples of jurisprudence against gossips and liars.

Credit: By Postdlf, CC BY-SA 3.0

This punishment was primarily used against women.

However, there are historical records of it being employed against particularly mendacious males.

The finer details of theS.H.A.R.E campaignare somewhat thin on the ground.

Were particularly interested in the cost of the campaign, and how many people its reached so far.

When we hear back from them, well be sure to update this post.

The government has been lying to the people for the past two years.

Dont lecture us about #fakenews, wrote one person.

Apply this to yourselves then we will start listening, said another.

Thats should be a [sic] official commercial before any BBC show, said another Twitter user.

Bring back the Scolds Bridle, I say.

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