It used to be said, with joking irony, “it must be true: I read it in the newspapers”. The obvious implication was that journalists could not be counted on to tell the truth. The irony is double now: old media still take their legal and moral responsibilities to check the facts seriously – as the vast majority always did – while millions today seem to believe whatever pops up on the internet, messaging or social media with no verification whatsoever.
There appears to be no bounds to popular credulousness, which is dangerous at a time when many stories that whizz around online are made up, sometimes benignly for humorous purposes, but frequently malignly, in order to cause damage to individuals, political parties or institutions. It ought to be incontestable that we do indeed live in an age of “fake news”.
It is therefore much to be lamented that some are disputing this on the grounds that they don’t like some of the leaders who rail against this phenomenon. They have Donald Trump in particular in mind, but some so-called strongmen and autocrats have also been called out for using the term “fake news” to undermine allegations against them.
Firstly, there is a growing consensus that this is a deep-seated and widespread problem. The list of world leaders who have demanded action against it goes far beyond Mr Trump. (He, incidentally, may well have good reason to say that some stories peddled about him are fictitious. As the former New Statesman editor Peter Wilby accurately observed: “You can say or write what you like in America and nobody will arrest you.”)
Earlier this month, Emmanuel Macron bemoaned that “thousands of propaganda accounts on social networks are spreading all over the world, in all languages, lies invented to tarnish political officials, personalities, public figures, journalists.” He announced he would be putting forward a law banning misinformation on the internet during elections.
Germany has already implemented a law clamping down on hate speech – most of which consists of false stereotypes which one could count as “fake news” – and illegal content. And Britain’s Theresa May has also recently authorised the creation of a rapid response unit to “deal quickly with disinformation and reclaim a fact-based public debate”, as a government spokesman put it.
But secondly, there is ample proof that fake news is being actively propagated, including by people who must know the untruth of what they are passing on. To take Malaysia as an example: there are some MPs warning direly that the country is at risk of going bankrupt - when the World Bank estimates that the country’s GDP grew by 5.8 per cent last year and says its economy “is progressing from a position of strength.”
Claims are still being made that the Barisan Nasional government won the last general election by importing 40,000 Bangladeshis to vote for them – even though no evidence of their existence has ever been produced. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was perfectly justified in saying: “Until today, no one has even seen them or their shadow. Enough of the lies”, but unfortunately there are still otherwise sensible people who think the story – which gets repeated on social media and the net - is true.
Another opposition leader keeps saying that Malaysia has become “one of the 10 most corrupt countries in the world” – despite the fact that no such list exists that mentions Malaysia; and nor would it, given that the country is in the top third of the world’s least corrupt countries according Transparency International’s annual list.
Robust political debate is one thing, and as part of that highly selective interpretations can still be technically correct – the GBP350 million that the Leave campaign said the UK could reclaim from the EU each week after Brexit may have been widely regarded as misleading, for instance, but it was true in terms of it being the gross figure that would no longer be under EU control.
But distorting or playing fast and loose with the facts, or telling outright lies, is another. If they gain currency, that has a long-term pernicious effect. The truth becomes subjective. Alternative realities that defy the laws of logic become accepted. Political debate descends into name-calling and insult throwing, if it can even be said to exist when there is no longer any shared agreement on what constitutes the facts.
If they are to be protected, that will mean having to clamp down harder on those who peddle disinformation, either deliberately or carelessly. Free speech advocates who instinctively oppose any moves to restrict their liberty to say or publish anything they like are mistaken. They are privileging the right to tell lies, often harmful ones, over the necessary guardianship of the truth.
That so many countries – from France and Britain, to Malaysia and the Philippines - are waking up to the need to be proactive about combatting fake news is to be welcomed. This is what will actually save free speech that deserves the name. That it is even incumbent on us to “reclaim a fact-based public debate”, as the UK spokesman put it, is shocking enough as it is. Call out the fake news complainers who are guilty of disseminating it themselves, for sure. But do nothing to undermine the fight for the facts. It is nothing less than one of the most important battles of our time.
Sholto Byrnes is a senior fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia
Scoreline
Real Madrid 1
Ronaldo (53')
Atletico Madrid 1
Griezmann (57')
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
A German university was a good fit for the family budget
Annual fees for the Technical University of Munich - £600
Shared rental accommodation per month depending on the location ranges between £200-600
The family had budgeted for food, books, travel, living expenses - £20,000 annually
Overall costs in Germany are lower than the family estimated
As proof that the student has the ability to take care of expenses, international students must open a blocked account with about £8,640
Students are permitted to withdraw £720 per month
The Limehouse Golem
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy, Douglas Booth
Three stars
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
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Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
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Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
The Baghdad Clock
Shahad Al Rawi, Oneworld
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
England v South Africa Test series:
First Test: at Lord's, England won by 211 runs
Second Test: at Trent Bridge, South Africa won by 340 runs
Third Test: at The Oval, July 27-31
Fourth Test: at Old Trafford, August 4-8
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
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Book%20Details
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The specs: 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
Price, base / as tested Dh222,500 / Dh296,870
Engine 2.0L, flat four-cylinder
Transmission Seven-speed PDK
Power 300hp @ 6,500rpm
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Royal Birkdale Golf Course
Location: Southport, Merseyside, England
Established: 1889
Type: Private
Total holes: 18
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Leading all-time NBA scorers
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
Karl Malone 36,928
Kobe Bryant 33,643
Michael Jordan 32,292
LeBron James 31,425
Wilt Chamberlain 31,419
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
The%C2%A0specs%20
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Company name: Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
TALE OF THE TAPE
Floyd Mayweather
- Height
- Weight
- Reach
- Record
Conor McGregor
- Height
- Weight
- Reach
- Record
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Director: Kushan Nandy
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami
Three stars
