When Qatar secured a meeting with the Louvre museum management in Paris on Monday, its officials clearly had an agenda.
The Qatari media soon after reported that the French museum had apologised following the removal of a map in the Children’s Museum in Louvre Abu Dhabi that had mistakenly omitted the peninsula.
No such apology had been offered by the French. A few years ago the matter might have gone unnoticed by the outside world. But fake news spreads far and wide in the era of social media. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, a lie had gone around the world many times before the truth had got its boots on.
In this case, the Qatari official Ali bin Dhameeh, head of its National Human Rights Committee, used Twitter to spread the false claim. On Wednesday, in a highly unusual intervention, the Louvre in Paris knocked Doha’s story down, dismissing outright the Qatari version of the meeting.
Leave aside the issue that the National Human Rights Committee has past form in fabrication. Just a few weeks ago, it leaked internal summaries from a UN team that visited Qatar last year. These, it said, were formal findings but that was a lie. In fact the memo was just a record of what the team had been told by their hosts.
Putting the spotlight on social media companies highlights their role in distributing those reports far and wide.
Can these platforms take responsibility for ensuring such material is denied an audience?
In a highly revealing set of exchanges, 14 senior social media company executives and other experts were grilled by British MPs visiting Washington last week. The exchanges revealed a terrifying gap between the scale of the fake news problem and the providers' responses.
The monoliths of social media gave the narrowest of definitions of what is a multi-headed hydra of deceit.
Contrary to the perception that the companies are under pressure over fake news, they appeared to hide behind activities that address just a handful of well-trailed issues.
Harvard’s Claire Wardle, one of the experts, has argued the term fake news should be scrapped as inadequate. A far more developed understanding of the threats is needed.
“Much of the content used as examples in debates on this topic is not fake, it is genuine but used out of context or manipulated,” she told one newspaper. “Similarly, to understand the entire ecosystem of polluted information, we need to consider far more than content that mimics ‘news’.”
The Qatari example above could serve as a textbook example of one kind of mendacious news.
Do social media companies have this sort of problem in their sights? The answer is no.
Instead there is an over-reliance on creating an army of moderators. Juniper Downs, a YouTube executive, had told the hearing these were “mission-critical” for the firm.
Yet Damian Collins, the tenacious chairman of the British delegation, pointed out YouTube spent just 0.1 per cent of its annual revenues on removing suspect content. “It’s a sticking plaster over a wound,” he declared.
The confrontation was telling because it drew a line in a numbers debate that serves to obscure more than it illuminates.
The companies are very adept at producing headline figures that point to effective remedial action. Google said it has 10,000 raiders – specialist employees – on its books to thwart the misuse of its search engine. Facebook claimed it had more than 14,000 involved in fighting fake content.
Other highlights were that thousands of fake accounts were shut down by Facebook ahead of last year's French and German elections. Twitter meanwhile weighed in with an estimate that 942 messages were generated by Russian trolls ahead of the UK vote on Brexit. In total, Russian attempts to meddle in the vote amounted to 0.005 per cent of the entire number of accounts tweeting about the referendum.
Some argue that until the providers tackle the problem of fake accounts, the problem will not be cracked. An internet citizenship token is one means of tying accounts to individuals.
Just as fundamental is the nature of the content. While there are no guarantees that veracity that will ever be 100 per cent, systems must be found to improve transparency.
Would it be possible to devise a verification system that allowed news organisations to establish their credentials as reliable sources of information? Would social media and web platforms accept outside involvement in how content is promoted or filtered? Would this be done in a framework that rebalanced the diet of news on accounts or in feeds?
Awareness is only one facet of addressing the problem. The next stage of this battle is clear, or should be. It is to authenticate the platforms are not abused, neither randomly nor systematically. That will take far more effort than is currently on display.
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nag%20Ashwin%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPrabhas%2C%20Saswata%20Chatterjee%2C%20Deepika%20Padukone%2C%20Amitabh%20Bachchan%2C%20Shobhana%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Results:
CSIL 2-star 145cm One Round with Jump-Off
1. Alice Debany Clero (USA) on Amareusa S 38.83 seconds
2. Anikka Sande (NOR) For Cash 2 39.09
3. Georgia Tame (GBR) Cash Up 39.42
4. Nadia Taryam (UAE) Askaria 3 39.63
5. Miriam Schneider (GER) Fidelius G 47.74
Last-16
France 4
Griezmann (13' pen), Pavard (57'), Mbappe (64', 68')
Argentina 3
Di Maria (41'), Mercado (48'), Aguero (90 3')
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The team
Photographer: Mateusz Stefanowski at Art Factory
Videographer: Jear Valasquez
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory
Model: Randa at Art Factory Videographer’s assistant: Zanong Magat
Photographer’s assistant: Sophia Shlykova
With thanks to Jubail Mangrove Park, Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Jebel Ali results
2pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 50,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner: AF Al Moreeb, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
2.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 60,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Shamikh, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard
3pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 64,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: One Vision, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
3.30pm: Conditions (TB) Dh 100,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Gabr, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
4pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 96,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Just A Penny, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson
4.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 60,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Torno Subito, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 76,000 (D) 1,950m
Winner: Untold Secret, Jose Santiago, Salem bin Ghadayer
