THUNDER BAY - In today’s media landscape there is a proliferation of what has become commonly known as fake news. This kind of disinformation can have extremely negative consequences, from misinforming the public to the unjust persecution of a group of people.
The concept of fake news is not new, however; and we already possess the tools to fight back against it through historical literacy, asking questions, and critical thinking.
“Part of it is using the resources that are available,” said Michel Beaulieu, a history professor at Lakehead University. “I don’t have an answer to it, we already have the answers. It’s making yourself as informed as possible, looking at the material, doing some background work on it.”
Beaulieu discussed how historical amnesia has led to the rise of fake news during an In Conversation talk hosted by Lakehead University at the Mary J. L. Black Library on Saturday.
While fake news is most recently associated with the political climate in the United States, it has existed throughout history and has often taken the form of disinformation campaigns with a political goal in mind.
One of the earliest examples of disinformation is ancient Roman Emperors slandering rivals on coins. With the advent of the printing press information became more widely available, and with no journalistic ethics or standards in place, so did the dissemination of misinformation.
During his talk, Beaulieu focused on propaganda campaigns during the First World War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the South African Propaganda War.
In certain historical cases, the use of propaganda had disastrous consequences, which was the result of how people interpreted or understood the reality of an existing situation based on an understanding of the past that was informed by misinformation.
Beaulieu used the example of First World War propaganda that depicted the German army as being cannibals and committing massacres of civilian people in Belgium and France.
“Interestingly enough, it has a direct relation, that has been well documented, that when the atrocities of the Second World War were first coming to light, individuals were actually going back to the First World War and said: we’ve been through this once, it did not occur,” Beaulieu said.
While military propaganda during a global conflict and click-bait headlines online may seem very different, Beaulieu said it’s actually a very fine line.
“One of the biggest differences now is the proliferation - how quickly information can spread,” he said. “Because social media and media and the idea of the proliferation and lack of literacy or judgment that goes forward with it, it begins to spread in nefarious ways.”
A lack of historical literacy is a key factor in how fake news continues to propagate and is becoming more acceptable.
According to Beaulieu, studies that have been done in Canada in 1997 and 2016 show Canadians lack historical knowledge and understanding.
“We can kind of dismiss it and say maybe those studies are flawed and maybe they are asking certain questions and they are not asking the right questions, but there is consistently a lack of knowledge and a lack of exposure to history in general,” Beaulieu said.
A more recent study has found that one in five Canadian youth have either not heard of the Holocaust in the Second World War or are not sure of what happened. But it isn’t just a lack of historical knowledge that is concerning, it is a denial of facts. The same study found that 23 per cent of Canadians question how many people were killed during the Holocaust.
Beaulieu said the argument could be made that these kinds of studies are subjective, but that does not change the fact that people do not know, or even continue to deny it happened, which offers little solace to people who lived through that time in history.
“The fact is you have something that is within living memory for individuals but there still is that question of what occurred,” Beaulieu said. “And you see that in connection to fake news and the rise of neo-Nazism and the radical right. There are a significant number of Canadians who believe there are no neo-Nazis in Canada.”
Fighting back against fake news
Combatting fake news comes down to the individual. It requires critical thinking, asking questions, and not believing everything you read or hear. That is no simple task given the amount of questionable information and sources available in the Internet age.
“You can look critically at things, but if you don’t have a content base, how do you judge whether or not the information is accurate, because what are you relying upon to make that judgment?” Beaulieu said.
The rise of fake news in the late 20thcentury could be related to the concept of post-modernism and the desire to question everything.
“If you start questioning everything but don’t provide any answer to what you are asking a question about, then where are we going?” Beaulieu said. “That’s not to say something cannot be reexamined but there is a difference reexamining and dismissing.”
And while it is important to continue to ask questions about the information we consume, it is equally important to be critical of where that information is coming from. There is no shortage of information sources, but one of the most common sources used today is often viewed as the least reliable.
“Study, after study, after study, one landmark one across Canada in 2016, has shown that individuals still view the Internet as the least reliable source,” Beaulieu said. “They look at museums, libraries, teachers as the most reliable. It’s using those resources and having that discussion and reading and finding out and not jumping to those immediate conclusions.”
But no matter how critical you may be, how many questions you may ask, history has shown that when people’s beliefs are so steadfast, they will continue to believe what they choose, despite evidence to the contrary.
In today’s world, with the vast amounts of information circulating, you can often find something that will confirm what you already believe, whether it is true or not. But those who wish to be properly informed and not be taken in by fake news must always approach information with an open mind, even if it changes your mind.
“That sometimes does mean, even for those who are doing research on things, you have to go in willingly to realize that you may in fact be wrong,” Beaulieu said. “If you try to search for information merely to affirm your point of view, which is not based on anything to begin with, you are already going down the wrong path.”
