The War of False News...

In the last post we have showed how it's possible with false news on the web to create a dangerous politic crisis that can degenerate in demonstration , but also in riot (yesterday in Italy a crazy has shot at two soldiers in front of Government Palace).

Honestly we can say about "false news" or fakes, the problem follows the human story, we remembered Orson Wells and his “War of the Worlds” on 1938, or the aria “The calumny is a little wind” , from “The Barber of Seville” by Gioacchino Rossini...

The calumny is a little wind,

a very gentle little breeze

which numbly, softly,

lightly, kindly,

begins to whisper.

Little by little, mildly,

in a low voice, hissing,

it goes flowing, it goes buzzing;

in people's ears

it enters deftly

and makes heads and brains

stun and blow.

Getting out from the mouth

the clamour grows:

it slowly strenghtens,

it already flies from one place to another.

It seems like the thunder, like the storm

that in the depht of the forest

go whistling, grumbling,

and makes your blood run cold.

In the end it spills over and blow up,

it spreads, it doubles

and provokes an explosion

like a cannon shot,

an earthquake, a rain storm,

a general tumult

which makes the air peal.

And the miserable one who is defamed,

degraded, trampled,

scourged by the public opinion

fortunately dies.

Facebook, Twitter, and other Social Networks and search engines are full of news without validation and “who says” is not less important than “what says”. We have sure many digital friends and someone of them publishes on his profile metric tons of link, pictures, news ; sometimes they are fun, nice, likeable, sometimes they are irritating, they spreads false news, fake, malware, but our friend believes in it, without to ask if it true or not, without to search more info, so he begins to think vaccinations are only a deceit of Pharmacy Industries or Elvis is alive. We don't talk about crazy people, because this people is our colleague, maybe our teacher or brother.

This is the scenario, Internet as media grows his power and people day by day is always more zoned out.

So our lives changes and it is more dependent on web news , maybe it's time to ask ourselves :

“how it's possible to validate news and info on the Web?”

We don't want censorship, but it's not possible to allow people not vaccinates their children because they read on the web the opinions of some Guru …

then … http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-22329178

Do you understand?

Ok, so much for that , it's time to find answers...

A solution in terms of It , probably is impossible... 

The best way is surely to educate , to teach people to ask the first and most important question :

“Who wrote this?”

Do you accept to be operated on your injured knee by a teacher of History? 

 Not, you demand to have a surgeon.

Why therefore people accepts an opinion about medicine by “someone” and believe it?

Why therefore people accepts an opinion about Politics by “someone” and believe it?

A few years ago it was hard to find info, we needed to read many books, to pass long time to study or in a Library, and books were honest, we knew authors.

Books cost , a publisher checked the Curriculum Vitae of an author, it was not enough to write few words, there was necessity of arguments, documents, proofs and evidences.

Today it's enough to have many "like" , it's a risk, it's a danger, because ideas and words can kill.

The Example of M5S... Dishonest news and Politics in a blender

It's important to introduce that this post isn't a politic post, but a reflection about It innovation and his correlation with the change of form of politic and social participation.

Furthermore this post is a first part of two about the importance to validate news coming from web, and how without a validation it's possible to create a very serious crisis that can spread from web to real life of people with unpredictable effects.

The M5S , Italian party created in 2009 by Beppe Grillo a comedian and Roberto Casaleggio an expert of communication strategy, is a great example of populism that with a dishonest news can influence a politic scenario in dramatic way.

Casaleggio (left) and Grillo

After a very incredible result in national election 2013 , the M5S rejects all possible agreement to enter in a Government, because the their belief system is to reject "the old, dirty politic" and to propose a new iper-democracy from the web.

Already they had proposed a list of candidate voted by web and when in the middle of institutional crisis because of impossibility to make a government , Italy had to elect a new president of Republic , they decide to propose a candidate after the "quirinarie" a internet poll for registered voters of their blog, almost 50 thousand person.

The winner is Milena Gabanelli , journalist very famous for her TV show, but she rejects to become their candidate.

Second Place Gino Strada , Doctor and founder of Emergency ( http://www.emergency.it/en-index.html?51769d2529889 ), but also he rejects the candidature.

So they decides to propose the candidature to Stefano Rodotà , 80 years old , politic of left wing.

Stefano Rodotà

They immediately begin to say that this candidate is the candidate that Italians want and in the rough days while parliament fails for 5 time the election , they repeat that Rodotà is a candidate that italians want and some people begins to demonstrate in front of Parliament.

Many people by Facebook and Twitter say the same thing, many journalist of left wing say the same thing, other journalists ask data of this poll , but M5S don't provides results.

So after one crazy week, in the Saturday morning the parliament renews confidence in Giorgio Napolitano , the outgoing president.

M5S begins to call “Golpe” this and to incite people to march to Rome (as Mussolini in 1922).

Some people demonstrates, but at the same time on Sunday during regional election in Friuli Venezia Giulia the M5S loses almost 12% from 26% of one month before.

Tuesday after many questions about result of quirinarie M5S provides finally the result :

Registered voters : 48.292

Votes : 28.518

- Gabanelli Milena: 5.796

- Strada Gino: 4.938

- Rodota' Stefano: 4.677

after this long explanation , we arrive in the middle of our discussion... ...

Only 4.677 people voted Stefano Rodotà, but M5S with the help of twitter, Facebook and Web tells a fantasious tale that he is the candidate of 60 millions of Italians.

The Politics whips itself within a blender , a party goes in crisis , government is suspended , citizens are angry, all this because of false information...

This is a good example, but it's possible to make other as recent news about Obama hurt in a explosion or when Stocks of Apple lost the value because of unofficial email.

We can accept it?

It's problem only about public life?

In the second part of post , we will analyze other similar case but in private life and we will ask to ourself :”how it's possible to make a solution?”


Ps

I'm not English Native Speaker so if you notice some error , i apologize.

Why another blog?

When someone asked to Enrico Fermi ,father of Atomic Energy, if he would have made the same choices again about his research than provided a scientific bases for Atomic Bomb, he answered :”Ignorance is never better than knowledge.”
When someone talks about medical research the ethical issue is present and discussed, because our acts, our researches about Dna, Cloning , vivisection etc etc change lives of human being.
When someone talks about eco impact of a new street or a new railway the ethical issue is presented and discussed... a new street creates vantages and problems, good and bad, lights and shadows …
When someone creates a innovation in It field, above all in costumer market, is discussed the ethical issue ?
When vendors introduce new IT technology, they ask themselves if it good thing? If the change of lives of people by a new technology creates a good future or bad future?
If you speak about IT degeneration,  the people thinks of Matrix or Terminator scenarios, lot of things for guys , not real, Sci-fi... but if you speak about Cloning , the people is worried...
Why in IT this issues is not debated by mass media , there is not danger in IT innovation?
IT changes lives of people only in good way? the freedom is real in the new world where our data are in the cloud or in the cyber space?
This is a sense of this blog, we don't want to talk about technique, but understand how the innovation It will change our lives.