Inside the fight against Russia's fake news empire | Olga Yurkova

95,790 views ・ 2018-06-29

TED


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:13
2014, July 5,
0
13440
3696
00:17
the Ukrainian army entered Sloviansk city in eastern Ukraine.
1
17160
4200
00:21
They gathered all the locals in Lenin Square.
2
21880
3936
00:25
Then, they organized the public crucifixion
3
25840
4216
00:30
of the son of a pro-Russia militant.
4
30080
3176
00:33
He was only three years old.
5
33280
2480
00:36
Refugee Galina Pyshnyak told this story to Russia's First TV channel.
6
36440
6496
00:42
In fact, this incident never happened.
7
42960
4056
00:47
I visited Sloviansk.
8
47040
2096
00:49
There is no Lenin Square.
9
49160
2336
00:51
In reality, Galina's husband was an active pro-Russia militant in Donbass.
10
51520
6456
00:58
This is just one of many examples.
11
58000
3176
01:01
Ukraine has been suffering from Russian propaganda and fake news
12
61200
3896
01:05
for four years now,
13
65120
2416
01:07
but Russia is not the only player in this space.
14
67560
4376
01:11
Fake news is happening all around the world.
15
71960
4056
01:16
We all know about fake news.
16
76040
1856
01:17
We see it and read it all the time.
17
77920
3136
01:21
But the thing about fake news
18
81080
2536
01:23
is that we don't always know what is fake and what is real,
19
83640
4176
01:27
but we base our decisions on facts we get from the press and social media.
20
87840
5936
01:33
When facts are false,
21
93800
2056
01:35
decisions are wrong.
22
95880
1560
01:38
A lot of people stop believing anyone at all
23
98560
3496
01:42
and this is even more dangerous.
24
102080
2736
01:44
They easily become prey to populists in elections,
25
104840
3936
01:48
or even take up arms.
26
108800
1880
01:51
Fake news is not only bad for journalism.
27
111760
2536
01:54
It's a threat for democracy and society.
28
114320
3760
01:58
Four years ago, unmarked soldiers
29
118960
3456
02:02
entered the Crimean Peninsula,
30
122440
2776
02:05
and at the same time,
31
125240
1616
02:06
Russian media was going crazy with fake news about Ukraine.
32
126880
4160
02:12
So a group of journalists, including me,
33
132200
3496
02:15
started a website to investigate this fake news.
34
135720
3936
02:19
We called it StopFake.
35
139680
2280
02:22
The idea was simple:
36
142600
1616
02:24
take a piece of news, check it with verifiable proof
37
144240
4336
02:28
like photos, videos and other strong evidence.
38
148600
3496
02:32
If it turns out to be fake, we put it on our website.
39
152120
3520
02:36
Now, StopFake is an informational hub
40
156600
3616
02:40
which analyzes propaganda in all its phases.
41
160240
3440
02:44
We have 11 language versions, we have millions of views,
42
164600
4816
02:49
We have taught more than 10,000 people
43
169440
3136
02:52
how to distinguish true from false.
44
172600
3016
02:55
And we teach fact checkers all around the world.
45
175640
3960
03:00
StopFake has uncovered more than 1,000 fakes about Ukraine.
46
180760
5120
03:06
We've identified 18 narratives
47
186880
3936
03:10
created using this fake news,
48
190840
2536
03:13
such as Ukraine is a fascist state,
49
193400
3616
03:17
a failed state,
50
197040
1496
03:18
a state run by a junta who came to power as a result of a coup d'état.
51
198560
4856
03:23
We proved that it's not bad journalism;
52
203440
2776
03:26
it's a deliberate act of misinformation.
53
206240
2960
03:29
Fake news is a powerful weapon in information warfare,
54
209800
3456
03:33
but there is something we can do about it.
55
213280
2800
03:37
We all have smartphones.
56
217080
1936
03:39
When we see something interesting, it's often automatic.
57
219040
3456
03:42
We just click and pass it along.
58
222520
1920
03:45
But how can you not be a part of fake news?
59
225400
2840
03:48
First, if it's too dramatic, too emotional, too clickbait,
60
228680
6480
03:56
then it's very likely that it isn't true.
61
236240
2920
04:00
The truth is boring sometimes.
62
240320
2336
04:02
(Laughter)
63
242680
1376
04:04
Manipulations are always sexy.
64
244080
2320
04:07
They are designed to captivate you.
65
247040
2080
04:10
Do your research.
66
250000
1776
04:11
This is the second point, very simple.
67
251800
2816
04:14
Look at other sites.
68
254640
1816
04:16
Check out alternative news sources.
69
256480
2616
04:19
Google names, addresses, license plates, experts and authors.
70
259120
5416
04:24
Don't just believe, check.
71
264560
1600
04:26
It's the only way to stop this culture of fake news.
72
266840
3960
04:31
This information warfare is not only about fake news.
73
271640
3496
04:35
Our society depends on trust:
74
275160
2600
04:38
trust in our institutions,
75
278840
1856
04:40
in science,
76
280720
1376
04:42
trust in our leaders,
77
282120
2056
04:44
trust in our news outlets.
78
284200
2480
04:47
And it's on us to find a way to rebuild trust,
79
287320
5056
04:52
because fake news destroys it.
80
292400
2120
04:55
So ask yourself,
81
295320
2096
04:57
what have you lost your faith in?
82
297440
2640
05:01
Where has trust been ruined for you?
83
301000
2720
05:04
And what are you going to do about it?
84
304600
2800
05:08
Thank you.
85
308160
1216
05:09
(Applause)
86
309400
5520
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7