Title: The Danger of Fake News in Inflaming or Suppressing Social Conflict | Center for Information Technology and Society - UC Santa Barbara
Headings: The Danger of Fake News in Inflaming or Suppressing Social Conflict
The Danger of Fake News in Inflaming or Suppressing Social Conflict
Social Conflict, American Style
Pizzagate
Russia’s Internet Research Agency
Cambridge Analytica
Other Political Groups
Fake News and Social Conflict Abroad
Some Take-Aways

Content: Additionally, 44 websites had a clear political agenda. Twenty-two were alt-right, 4 were alt-left, and 7 were anti-globalist. Fake news poses a serious threat to American democracy. During the 2016 election, fake news was more prevalent on social media than genuine news and it’s unclear whether interventions from Facebook and Twitter, and the U.S. government will change this. Over 62% of Americans receive their news from social media [6]. This is makes a large portion of the public vulnerable because of the way fake news spreads in social media (as we discuss in our section on the spread of fake news by people and by bots ). Regardless who posts it, fake news intentionally undermines trust in the news and the government. Fake News and Social Conflict Abroad
Americans aren’t the only people with a fake news problem. As we’ve mentioned briefly before, fake news has led to violence in India and Myanmar, as well as Sri Lanka, and elsewhere. Although Indian police have made some successful efforts to stem the sharing and influence of fake news, the picture is more tragic in Myanmar, where the government appears to ignore or encourage it: