Fake News im Irak

Das Nachrichtenportal Niqash über Falschmeldungen, "Fake News" und den Propagandakrieg, der seit letzter Woche um die Ereignisse im Nordirak herrscht:

Given the partisan nature of much of the media funding in Iraq, there’s always been a fair amount of fake or nearly-fake news in circulation. Many locals get their news from Facebook and are informed by a variety of sources along with friends and family. Some of those sources support their own arguments in an intensely political atmosphere by posting pictures or videos from a different situation, time or even country.

It’s a fairly common practice in Iraq. However since the beginning of the military movements in northern Iraq in mid-October, and occasional military skirmishes there, the number of these kinds of inaccurate and biased clips and photos have multiplied. There are literally hundreds of false narratives online at the moment. (...)

The people who first post these pictures do have an agenda, says Hashim Hassan al-Tamimi, Dean of the College of Mass Communication at the University of Baghdad. Then those who spread them and re-post them often do so without really thinking it through; it is due to fundamental feelings of anger and fear, al-Tamimi says, and it is a kind of psychological warfare.

“These pictures are intentionally posted to increase hatred and demoralize the opposition,” al-Tamimi added. “And that has nothing to do with lack of awareness.”

Interestingly, during the course of this conflict in northern Iraq, one can detect a slow change of attitude in users of social media. Many locals are now talking about the fake pictures and telling others not to trust them. Still, one other point has also become clear: Genuine pictures are never as popular as the more dramatic false ones.

Quelle: https://t.co/aqwLoDg9vh?amp=1