For video, visit KCCI television by clicking here. 

Social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and YouTube did not do enough to halt fake news in the 2016 presidential election, fomenting discord that led to indictments this week against 13 Russian operatives, Michael Bugeja, author of Interpersonal Divide in the Age of the Machine, told KCCI.

Russians engaged in identity theft of American citizens by posing as activists and triggering division in the electorate on such hot-button issues as immigration, religion and race, according to the New York Times, which reported those indictments by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Bugeja believes such interference will continue unless social media companies hire more human monitors to delete objectionable, racist or other divisive content. A likely target will be Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, he said.

In an article and video by reporter KCCI’s Chris Gothner, Bugeja noted that education is the key to combating fake news.

“It is too late right now for individuals to really adjust their households,” Bugeja said. “What we really need in the three regent universities [in Iowa] is a required course on media and technology literacy.

“The most important thing that anybody can do is to question their own biases,” Bugeja added, advising people to get their news from a variety of reputable sources including network and local television, national newspapers and public radio.

For the complete story and video, visit KCCI at this URL.

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