South African election hoaxes and the danger of going viral

BusinessTech recently published a story about a hoax article doing the rounds about 80,000 ballot papers that had already been marked in favour of the ANC.

The story, which was shared thousands of times on Facebook and posted by gossip news site, Gossip Mill Mzansi, cited an unnamed police officer as a source of the news, and little else.

Subsequently, Colonel Amelia Dreyer of the South African Police Service confirmed to BusinessTech that the story is a hoax.

How many people read the article and now believe the story to be true? How can we “police” said articles if they are patently false?

Helena Webb a researcher at Oxford University cites the misinformation surrounding Hurricane Katrina as an example of these hoaxes and how to correct them.

“During this time, a Twitter user known as @ComfortablySmug posted a series of “breaking news” updates about the effects of the hurricane. These included reports that the stock exchange had flooded, Manhattan was going to experience a total power outage and that the subway system would be closed for a week. These updates were frightening but false.

These situations have become known as “digital wildfires” and are particularly likely to spark in times of tension; “for instance, there have been numerous cases of unverified and/or inflammatory content spreading rapidly on social media in the aftermath of recent terrorist events”.

So how does Webb and her team suggest we tackle this issue while at the same time dodging the minefield that is ethics and freedom of speech?

“We have come to focus on self-governance as a potentially responsible and effective means of regulating content. Social media users would manage their own and others’ online behaviours – for example, by posting to correct false information, dismiss rumours, counter hate speech etc – and it could be supported through further technical mechanisms”.

Want to learn to tell the difference between a fake and the real thing? HowStuffWorks has a useful online guide on how to spot fake news stories on the Internet.

You can also check out this Conversation article for more information on “Digital Wildfires”.