How we can protect truth in the age of misinformation | Sinan Aral

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Fake news can sway elections, tank economies and sow discord in everyday life. Data scientist Sinan Aral demystifies how and why it spreads so quickly -- citing one of the largest studies on misinformation -- and identifies five strategies to help us unweave the tangled web between true and false.
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[@eburneanix]

I came because my teacher said so, I didn't regret listening to this guy. To protect the truth from the fallacy, we should not focus on algorithms and machines more but instead, philosophy and ethics. Finally, school for me has finally some fun and knowledge that I can finally use in my daily life.

[@jaylordpantonial4011]

8:50

[@ljzion1889]

Same here

[@lorenzmercado2940]

Me too my teacher wantbus to watch this

[@ljzion1889]

May sagot ako na ako ..gusto to mo humingi😀

[@zhongli680]

@@ljzion1889 ano sagot?

[@obsoleteoptics]

It's true what is said: a lie travels 'round the world before the truth can get its boots on

[@obsoleteoptics]

@BLAIR M Schirmer What's she got to do with anything? She's a puppet just like the rest of 'em!

[@sahinyasar9119]

Then become a soldier. Therefore you can see the truth

[@obsoleteoptics]

@@sahinyasar9119 Hard pass. In war, truth is always the first casualty.

[@EquiliMario]

It's called bots. Those who spread fame news benefit from fast and wide spread. Using bots gets you there instantly. True news relies on spreading by human interaction, which is fastly slower. Edit: he just introduced the bots. I spoke too soon, sorry. I was partially right though :p

[@sahinyasar9119]

@@EquiliMario I think obsolete said boots not bots

[@jackmen4]

To summarize: People’s opinions aren’t worth the same as facts. Always doubt, search multiple sources, ask a shitload of questions.

[@Bobbenissimo]

And social media can be very dangerous

[@phil6264]

@@obsoleteoptics direct experience? be careful what you ask

[@obsoleteoptics]

@@phil6264 why?

[@phil6264]

@@obsoleteoptics have you experienced war? have you experienced persecution because you are different? have to seen your friend killed by a terrorist? I have, and I do not want to experience it again.

[@michaelcook3168]

And even all that still might not be enough.......

[@mikew1332]

I thought about how to combine all of his recommendations. I accidentally invented the newspaper.

[@banjoist123]

The real danger lies in the question "who gets to say what is true and what is not?"

[@letwisdomgoviral2254]

Homer in his book ILLIAD said the same about thousands of years ago : "Wisdom is lost in Knowledge, and Knowledge is lost in information"

[@failedpart4755]

Didn't find a proof on it. Only T.S. Eliot's quote. Have a link?

[@TimPatriot]

“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” ― George Orwell, 1984

[@dannyc2600]

It's not only about bot, policy and info transparency. Since anyone can spread information easily by using social media, I think it's everyone's responsibility to rethink before retweet.

[@RoDutch]

This is so weird, this is exactly were I was thinking of the last couple of days. And now this was posted...

[@nagualdesign]

What we need is reputable news sources, in the sense that we can trust them as a primary source or as a reliable, fact-checking secondary source, without any digital hocus pocus having gone on, but without any slant or opinion, so that we can make our own minds up. Or to put it another way, there ought to be a much clearer separation between reports and editorials, which are often blurred together, and better education so that people understand the difference between these two types of journalism.

[@rowredround7206]

This would have been helpful 20 years ago

[@chris432t6]

Unfortunately none of the solutions he put forward seem viably sound to me?

[@ahab9712]

Funny you should say that, metal gear solid 2 warned us exactly 20 years ago in 2001

[@VeggiePower303]

The freedom of speech does not cover spreading lies. There is no such a thing as the freedom to lie.

[@Kelly-nl9ni]

Unfortunately that's exactly how the majority of people perceive spreading their idealism. They google their beliefs, find something that correlates with their agenda and then just espouse it as fact.

[@jeffreypotter4125]

Freedom of speech means exactly that. It's each individuals responsibility to separate nonsense from fact. You are so ready to follow these pied pipers into giving away our civil Liberties.

[@DonaldAMisc]

I always tell my friends: separate the Facts from the Stories about the Facts. Facts are objective and can be verified; Stories are subjective and are based around emotions, opinions, and bias. These days, an online new article can revolve around a single Fact but a plethora of Stories. Separate the Facts from the Stories about the Facts and you'll find a lot of news these days is pretty lacking. The truth is often much more boring...😜

[@harrynac6017]

And it's time consuming :(

[@sourabhs14]

It is really difficult to establish facts in social science. Consider history for example- Is it a fact that european imperialism was good for the colonized countries? Some people might argue that imperialism brought welfare and development to the "uncivilized" world. Whereas others argue that europeans looted and made them miserable. So you see, theres no truth here. In humanities, there is no right answer, there are just better opinions.

[@pfzht]

The Biden Burisma/Rosemont Seneca connection is pretty exciting.

[@nancysmith1296]

1984!!

[@banjoist123]

That's very true. When I was young, Walter Cronkite would take his glasses off at the end of the news and clearly state that what he was aobut to say was opinion. There is no such distinction today. This goes back to Ted Turner and his need to fill a 24 hour programming cycle. You can only read the headlines so many times. So, they started introducing "commentators', and soon we were listening to 23 hours and 45 minutes of opinion.

[@adicandra9940]

The critical aspect of this is how it affects politics, propaganda and war. Take example of current war that's going on right now. We, as normal people, can't see the real truth of what's going on in the war, because there's no way we can fact check, and both parties have different truth in them, and that's often contradict one another. Most often than not, we are end up believing what's the most believed by majority around us. If we on a country that support party A, then we will most likely believe what's party A told us, and wants us to believe, same goes for people in country that support party B, they will end up believing what's the B has told them. Thus the war will most likely still going on, until one party surrender or destroyed.

[@JusticeSoulTuna]

What madness is it that in the current times, the very nature of truth is in question...But if this is the case, all we can trust is what's human; trust your instinct. Not feelings before facts, but use your common sense, your wisdom and the opinions of those around you, to make informed decisions. That's what we'll need to rely on.

[@uzumlukek875]

Information is power ❌ Contact is power✔️

[@YuriTarrdid]

it's not up to anybody to protect truth from misinformation. it's up to the receiver of the information to determine

[@willliam1420]

Make sure the "main stream" media are unbiased, that way people won't resort to social media for news

[@baburekk]

That's SF first.

[@janismansbridge9262]

Thank you Sinan Aral for bringing this important issue to light. I have deep concerns for the future world my grandchildren will inherit.

[@feeberizer]

It's been said that you can't believe everything you read. At some point, we may not be able to believe _anything_ we read...

[@Macheako]

You know we can still write...

[@MetallicReg]

Feeber Izer More interestingly - this is not a new phenomenon. Mythology, war propaganda and ideological texts (including all religious purposes) used the disinformation to control masses of population for as long as writing existed. We are just much more aware of it today and have a faster communication.

[@nancysmith1296]

True that!

[@nancysmith1296]

@@MetallicReg Yes sir thanks for that.

[@Sammy.Canary]

An excellent video. I greatly appreciate that he offers options for how to solve this issue, rather than simply highlighting it 👌🏻

[@nO_d3N1AL]

Hugely important research on one of the most pressing challenges in politics and society

[@ilovepigeontv3826]

I am actually here for my homeworks; but it’s actually a great time to listen to serious some kind of political issues and to be aware on a specific thing or situation. By the way I’m a10th grade student. K BYE ✌️

[@merlyzei9659]

Same, english project

[@yarinowild7605]

the best video i have seen in a very, very long time

[@Irondragon1945]

Maybe the only way out is to just not trust anything online....?! Im quite pessimistic on the topic.

[@VeggiePower303]

Then you have thrown the truth out with the lies. YOU MUST USE YOUR OWN DISCERNMENT AND SHARPEN IT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. I know it's tiring for someone like you.........

[@Irondragon1945]

@@VeggiePower303 alright let's try that Youre being randomly aggressive so you're already out :^)

[@juliahenriques210]

Yep. Especially in social media. Double or triple check everything.

[@alanpebenito7055]

1% truth plus 99% falsehood is not equal to 100% truth

[@macwhite7257]

“What is the truth, but a lie agreed upon.”

[@dd41283]

Truth doesn't need protection. It simply is and can stand on its own under scrutiny and questioning.

[@whatup654]

People will believe a lie before they believe the truth.

[@torguttormsyvertsen9088]

"There is nothing that is more often clothed in an attractive garb than a false creed." - Livy (59BC-17)

[@EquiliMario]

I just don't use Twitter anymore because of the large amount of rubbish you need to filter to find actual information.

[@jobhuisman6350]

Its pretty ironic that this is on ted, the people that choose the speakers should watch this

[@youtubemoderationtaskforce5583]

We’ve reached a time filled with chaos, anxiety and uncertainty. We can’t discern the truth from fiction. He says we need to be more aware and have a better system of checks and balances. It won’t matter. The chaos has already bred with our minds. It’s here to stay for the foreseeable future. We’ve become dependent on technology. We thought it would improve our lives. The consequences of the technology has moved in and become apparent. Everything has become either meaningless, or a blunt shock to our fragile emotions. We live on impulses of craziness. The only way to stop the chaos is to stop the technology or totally opt out, when possible. We should have listened to Ted Kaczynsky.

[@jean-francoi4083]

Protect the truth! Amazing. As if the truth isint universal, for everyone, and that it can be threatened by something other than the truth! What you meant is to protect your assets. Others want your assets, maybe. When the truth finds you, you are fulfilled by it! When you are not participating in evolution, you are busy trying to "protect" (intellectual property or material). If you operate from lack insted of abundance, life has a duty to set your priority straigh! Your heart IS the source of abundance. Not your collection of bits and pieces. Bless these talks.

[@cybersekkin]

obscurity does not help in security. Open and transparent is not at odds. The implications on this talk are skewed into selling a bill of goods for a system that will be used for information suppression businesses and governments would love it.

[@Kyle-wd7xl]

Thanks

[@jamesmeinert8825]

When they do it it's terrorism, when we do it it's counter terrorism.

[@vesawuoristo4162]

Very important piece

[@ocamtille9114]

Amazing cintribution

[@benjaming.8368]

Politics and sociology study the skill of spreading information, true or false.

[@visionbrain2309]

TRUTH PROTECTS ITS SELF.

[@religiohominilupus5259]

Mr. Aral, I won't believe a word you said until I corroborate your statements through multiple independent sources. 😉😀

[@parkhyung-seok1349]

POV:YOUR BECAUSE THE LINK IN YOUR MODULES

[@solomonkalit5119]

Great talk!

[@PedroVarguesOfficial]

We'll very likely progress into 'You can't believe everything you think'

[@normanpatterson4462]

Very interesting and insightful! This quote is priceless, "Humans have to be in the loop of this technology because we can never escape that underlying any technological solution or approach is a fundamental ethical and philosophical question about how do we define truth and falsity, to whom do we give the power to define truth and falsity, and which opinions are legitimate, which type of speech should be allowed and so on. Technology is not a solution for that. Ethics and philosophy is a solution for that." This is THE fundamental question, isn't it? I think the answer to this question can only come through outside self-attesting revelation, otherwise, we are caught in the trap of relativism and subjectivism, and human opinion. The foundation must be the self-attesting Biblical revelation of the one and only Trinitarian God of the infallible and inerrant Bible. Without this revelation, you can't know anything!

[@larrycarter1192]

Listen to your radio station anymore. They don't tell you what time it is anymore. That's because they recorded it earlier. Nobody is really in the radio station anymore.

[@powerralley]

Not sure what the exact solution is, but I'm confident blockchains will be involved.

[@claibee1012]

Para sa module guyyyss✊🏾

[@johnkevindmn_]

Ako din pahingi nga answer

[@claibee1012]

@@johnkevindmn_ HAHA sayang late ko na nakita ser, naipasa kona ihh HAHA.

[@zawsrdtygbhjimokpl6998]

my suggestion: state things with a special source site that's shared by people who state this or else people will lack incentive to believe you. It would contain proof for and against what you state. These sites would also have backups and hashes of each state to prove that it hasn't been meddled with as the hashes would be recorded in multiple servers. Each section of the source site would have its hash as well

[@iainmackenzieUK]

Can AI be used to detect fake news? >Genrator> Discriminator >> High quality AI testing algorithm gives a % as to reliability??

[@333STONE]

What's True isn't popular, what's popular isn't True!

[@GuitarZombie]

What is truth?

[@phil6264]

Truth is a three edged sword. Your side, my side, and the truth...

[@ManLikeSanaan]

Man like Sinaaaaaaan

[@CatMamma94]

Amen, bro. Amen!

[@uness5324]

Imagine after 10000 year someone find a video of the serie "see" and they think that we all used to be blind and pray like the queen 😂😂

[@joyannaradcliffe2399]

It is well known by now that whatever is said long enough, gets believed, even if the information is false!

[@BlueSkyBS]

The speaker seems to be trying to shout out over the noise of a crowd in a silent room. The stridency of his voice made listening to him somewhat distracting.

[@harrynac6017]

Yeah, first 10 min. shouting about a problem as if we heard it for the first time, and then shouting solutions that are no solutions.

[@dwaneyocum1718]

Typical. When people can't argue the message, they attack the method used to convey the message.

[@harrynac6017]

@@dwaneyocum1718 Well, he isn't the first one with this message, is he. Or are you saying you never heard this one before? It's like shouting cancer isn't good for your health.

[@BlueSkyBS]

Nobody's arguing the message. That's just the fake news going on inside your own head.

[@Creepy-Girl]

I live in Sweden and Yes there is a ton of misleading information here, both from companies, news media and social media.

[@AvailableUsernameTed]

I am reminded of the character of the 'Fair Witness' in Robert A. Heinlein's 'Stranger in a Strange Land' (1961). The 'Fair Witness' was a white robed professional observer whose reports were absolutely reputable.

[@lovelymay1064]

I came because my teacher❤

[@FredoCorleone]

False, the technology is still out of reach for most people. I'm a programmer and I can tell you AI is not that simple. AI models are work of art!

[@casanovagaming1727]

Cno andto dahil sa module??

[@maksimghyvoronsky5641]

GREAT video! I generally never comment or leave a like but in this case I felt I had to. Truly one of my favorite👏🏽

[@chris432t6]

What is real and what is fake? That's the game that the web plays more and more as it grows. Like we didn't have enough in our lives to question??

[@motopeter2409]

only education can level up protection. it also applylies to manipulation and framing as well. but not alone. need a framework of control system as well

[@muzzleray]

"Holding Fiction to Power" 36c3

[@dansiwek3593]

He said "Which speech should be allowed"? I got an Idea, how about free speech?

[@baburekk]

To avoid lies and propaganda that create the parallel universe we live in one needs to question everything served including what's served in this video, but also what's daily spread by TV stars, then step into other side's shoes, look for motives around you, backgrounds, tribal interests within the tribe, money, and especially look for what's not in the news... For everything else there's truth and nothing but the truth on the WikiLeaks. 😎

[@valvarsson1]

I'm lucky, all my news sources only post true news stories so that I don't have to worry about this stuff.

[@luvdomus]

My father was born in 1917 in the hills of North Carolina and he refused to believe that black people were human, "they's a type o' jungle ape," he said, "they got it all writ up in textbooks and such but the liberals won't let it out." He could not grasp the idea that people in other countries speak other languages that are as meaningful to them as ours is to us. He thought that foreigners just made gibberish sounds like animals. Before he died in 2012 he expressed support for Trump, saying, "He's a damn site better'n that fella they got in there now!"

[@introXversion]

TL;DW Understand the difference between perception, reality, and the scientific definition of 'knowledge'

[@chunkyLissieantklers]

I like his voice.

[@BrianDagame]

You can't. You don't have to either. The truth is already there, it doesn't need you to keep it.

[@disruptivetimes8738]

Thats right. Only lies need protection. The truth can stand on its own.... But.... maybe he talks about his own "truth".... then sure, it needs a lot of protection.

[@Irondragon1945]

@@disruptivetimes8738 and that's why Flat earthers, anti vaxxers and climate change deniers are gaining ground. Wait

[@disruptivetimes8738]

@@Irondragon1945 No, the world is just full of stupid people. You just hear them more loudly because of the internet. Just accept that stupid people believe stupid things and move on.

[@Irondragon1945]

@@disruptivetimes8738 if stupidity didnt spread, vaccination rates would have never gone down and measles etc would not be becoming a larger problem again. So no, that's quite naive to believe.

[@disruptivetimes8738]

@@Irondragon1945 Stupidity cant spread. You assume that people get somehow "infected". They dont. They were stupid all along, but thanks to the internet, you start to hear them, which leads you to think they somehow appeared out of nowhere, which in turn leads you to think about a possible cause but there is none. The fact that anti vaxer for example seem to grow is simply because a bunch of stupid people with stupid but different ideas start to hear each other and are driven by their herd instincts to line up with the most dominant idea, thats why the vaccination rates are going down. If they did not become anti vaxer, they would believe other stupid stuff instead. The plasticity of the herd is such that the trends of their believes are those of the majority in the present moment regardless of the consistency with previous held believes. This is and was true since the dawn of mankind and just because you see that now thanks to the internet just means you fooled yourself into dramatically underestimated the real amount of stupidity around you (and you still do). Fighting against the herd for "their own good" or try to reeducate them is as futile as pissing against the wind and its also infringing at their freedom, which in turn will also infringe at your own freedom, which leads to a loss of freedom for everyone. Just ignore them and be patient. I know its hard and to witness the damage they cause is even harder to bear, but so is life. Count on and support smart people instead so that they will continue to improve mankind regardless of the screaming see of ignorance they swim in.

[@VeggiePower303]

And one of the biggest lie is that truth is relative. It's NOT.

[@AtheistEve]

VeggiePower303 Subjective truth is relative.

[@gavinkerslake]

so very scary ...

[@Hakan-xh7wh]

The world's life is a lie, you tell us directly!

[@allyisalright]

thank u for coming to my ted talk

[@TheParablade]

Türkler burada mı?

[@pyschologygeek]

Don’t be afraid of your fears. They’re not there to scare you. They’re there to let you know that something is worth it.

[@99wattr89]

I completely agree with the problem as presented, but the solutions suggested here, which mostly amount to corporations policing themselves, are unrealistic. Facebook and companies like it will never act ethically because they are not ethically motivated - they exist purely to enrich their owners.

[@panyarerksakunchai6497]

18.00 PM to Thailand sir now

[@kindnesslife1730]

So true!

[@sambromley7394]

I personally think we're past the point where we can realistically do much. We're all boned. So might as well enjoy the time we have and go with the flow.

[@francismausley7239]

There is good and bad press... "Those which strive to speak only that which is truth, which hold the mirror up to truth, are like the sun: they light the world everywhere with truth and their work is imperishable. Those who play for their own little selfish ends give no true light to the world and perish of their own futility." - Abdu’l-Baha, Star of the West, Baha'i Faith

[@angelasenining6025]

Who here is only watching this cuz of their teacher?🙂🤚

[@phillywilly10]

Didn't get further than 4 minutes in. Why is he shouting? He has a mic literally 3cm from his mouth

[@iliakaplan]

Amazing content

[@grapewrathdenial3622]

The assumption here is that independent fact checking organizations get the answer correct. How do you know that? What is the underlying epistemology?

[@larrycarter1192]

Whose truth?

[@AJ-ut8cz]

What we need to do is teach people how to discern bullshit from facts, and to never believe what you see until it is confirmed by multiple sources, and to only listen to opinions that are either not spreading any new "facts" or that are based on known facts.

[@janellkamm1717]

Please present solutions. Freedom of SPeech can be, as long as publishers are required to explain who is funding what

[@crisselgomez4331]

Can you help me guys what the Evidence of protect Truth in the age of misinformation because I need to answer my assignment

[@mackidschannel]

he said that there are 5, but he only mentioned 3. did I miss the 2? Labelling, Algorithms, etc

[@ericbartol]

There should be a system to verify the veracity of any piece of 'news' released anywhere. It should be international, and it should be democratic. It should also (sorry Republicans) be science based.

[@robertfoertsch]

Wow, Shared Millions Of Times Using AI For Good...

[@bugsz1]

You can't handle the truth!

[@merlyzei9659]

Im here bc of my English project

[@vesawuoristo4162]

Twitter needs to be shut down.

[@benjaming.8368]

What about a tax on attention in online ads. The more attention you draw, the more you pay for it.

[@imogenlapsley]

That's exactly what PPC (pay per clicks) is