Fake News Do not Do Fake Damages

The fake news is not a new product of the Internet era, but spread rapidly through mass media and Internet. However, when social differences become more intense, the negative effect becomes stronger and stronger. Fake news can be effective. It is the common sense of crisis that people are excited about, and psychological comfort and support through messages are needed. Politicians and governments need to understand why fake information can be distributed quickly and emphatically to face and resolve differences.

I believe that the negative fake news about Hillary Clinton contributes a lot to the winning of Trump in the presidential election of the United States. Similarly, Asif who is Pakistan's defense minister mistook that Israel is planning a nuclear attack on Pakistan because of some fake news online on a New Year's Eve. Hillary Clinton probably never thought she lost the election because of fake news, and fake news coule even lead to a nuclear war. Politicians better be more cautious about news they read and have multiple verification of the credibility of the news. Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, already spotted the danger of Facebook's fake news and started to push the screening and warning mechanism.

Fake news not only plagues political leaders, but can also jeopardize our daily life. A man attacked a pizza hut in Washington, DC with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and shoot employees there because he saw some fake news online claim that the pizza hut was a child sex slave center linked to Hillary Clinton. It is clear that this is the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election, but it is very dangerous to the public, to us.

The problem is that when the social media gathering people with similar thoughts together, the prejudice and antithesis will be strengthened to the highest point. Encouraged by other people in the "stratosphere", people will rather believe in "one of their own people" instead of the government, traditional media or other social institutions.

Due to this kind of effect, politicians need to work harder to convince the public, explain their policies, or simply give up their efforts to exchange votes for the most primitive populist claims. Many believe this is the main cause of the rise of Trump and European populist parties. In order to overcome the problems, political leaders must show more patience and efforts than their predecessors, to convince the public consistently, and never stop fighting rumors and fake news, and be careful of traps.