BBC launches fake news fight-back with global campaign

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has devised a new campaign that is aimed at fighting back against disinformation and fake news with a major focus on global media literacy, including workshops and debates in countries like India.

The Beyond Fake News project, which officially launches on Monday, will include panel debates in India and Kenya, hackathons exploring tech solutions, and a special season of programming across the BBC’s networks in India, Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, the US and Central America.

The Beyond Fake News media literacy programme has already begun delivering workshops in India and Kenya, drawing on work to tackle disinformation in the UK, where digital literacy workshops have also been delivered to schools across the country.

“In 2018 I pledged that the BBC World Service Group would move beyond just talking about the global ‘fake news’ threat, and take concrete steps to address it We have put our money where our mouth is and invested in real action on the ground in India and in Africa,” said Jamie Angus, Director of the BBC World Service Group.

“From funding in-depth research into sharing behaviours online, to rolling out media literacy workshops globally, and by pledging to bring BBC Reality Check to some of the world’s most important upcoming elections, this year we’re carving our path as a leading global voice for spotting the problems, and setting out ambitious solutions, he said.

The BBC has also conducted wide-ranging research into how and why disinformation is shared after users gave its researchers unprecedented access to their encrypted messaging apps in India, Kenya, and Nigeria. The complete findings of the research will be made public next week to coincide with the launch of the Beyond Fake News Season.

The season will include ‘Fake Me’, a documentary revealing how far young people will go in pursuit of social media perfection.

There will also be reports on Russia’s disinformation campaign, how Facebook is being exploited in the Philippines to spread false information, and a debate with some of the world’s big tech firms on what role they play in stemming the spread of “fake news”.

The BBC said its new season brings stories from across the world on TV, radio and online, drawing on the expertise of its international network of journalists.