On this occasion, the guest speaker was Jamie Angus, Director of the BBC World Service Group, who highlighted the real challenge that exists with “fake news” for our democracy and trusted media.
During the debate, Angus explained the problem that currently exists as a result of the rapid spread of “fake news” on social media. “When we receive news on Whatsapp, for example, we assume it is real and we forward it to others because we know the sender, without ever checking if it is actually true or not”. To this, he added that “fake news is like poison in the bloodstream of our society”.
Among the examples presented, Angus highlighted the case relating to Spain’s last elections. The current Director of the BBC confirmed that a huge number of fake accounts were created in Spain, some of which were even created by the political parties themselves, in order to spread fake news and made-up stories about the opposition.
