
Finland is winning the war on fake news. Other nations want the blueprint - elorant
https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/05/europe/finland-fake-news-intl/
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watersb
Why should I believe this?

My brain said this to me as a snarky comment. But further reflection yielded
insight that is probably already obvious to you:

Disinformation attack isn't intended to promote any particular claim or
narrative. If you happen to believe the nonsense, maybe that's a nice bonus
for the attacker. But they are aiming for something far more insidious.

They want you to believe that _nothing_ is true, that truth simply cannot be
discovered, that anyone claiming to do so simply wants attention for personal
gain.

So of course Russia, as a state actor, has mastered this technique.

~~~
krageon
> Russia

All countries use disinformation, with the larger regimes being significantly
more dystopic. It's not useful to point the finger at a single one, except to
spread propaganda further.

~~~
watersb
My only direct experience with Russia is a month during the summer of 1990.
Walking around the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg, almost every street
corner a small table set up, someone selling old books they had kept hidden
for decades. People crowding around, seeking words written before Stalinist
purge.

Living with friends that summer, I would ask about these books (my grasp of
Russian became sufficient to find my way around the organized city center, but
I couldn't read much of the books, although some were engineering texts).

They would smile and say. "Well, we are re-writing history once again."

Noam Chomsky makes it abundantly clear that US culture is no different in
regard to historical narrative. But I haven't had that pervasive sense that
there is no such thing as a true story, not in the US, not until these past
few years.

------
growlist
'The race is on to figure out a fix after authorities linked Russian groups to
misinformation campaigns targeting Catalonia’s independence referendum and
Brexit'

Thus far there's not a single shred of evidence that Aaron Banks etc. worked
with Russia on the Leave campaign, indeed, this exact allegation is currently
the subject of litigation between Banks and a Guardian journalist, Carole
Cadwalladr. Perhaps the weasel words 'authorities linked' are how they got it
past CNN's lawyers.

Somewhat ironic that a piece on fake news should itself recycle what currently
amounts to an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory.

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originalvichy
The resilience also depends on political unity. We are mostly united against
anything Russian. Finland does not want or need Russian politics and talking
points. That’s why it’s easy to repel pro-Russia propganda.

~~~
cia-killer
Fake news isn't just Russian propaganda, it also originates from places like
the NYT. Look at the covington catholic situation, Jussie Smollett, saying 17
intelligence agencies agreed when even James Clapper admitted it was three,
and so much more. I could write an entire book on things the NYT has been
wrong on.

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panpanna
Well, Finland has in past been (1) invaded by Russia and (2) been targeted in
disinformation campaigns.

They know they will be the next ukraine if they don't watch out.

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ryanlol
Clearly the author hasn’t visited any Finnish message boards :) Even the
mainstream ones are full of weird conspiracy theory nonsense, it just happens
to mostly be _foreign_ conspiracy theories e.g. Epstein murder

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gorbachev
That may be true in the context described in the article, but right-wing
populists, racists and neo nazis are definitely having the upper hand
elsewhere using EXACTLY the same playbook Trump is.

~~~
Smoosh
It's all part of the same, global phenomena. "You can't trust traditional
sources of truth, there is no objective truth, I can spread lies as everyone
does it, I will believe what I want, I will believe my team/side, I can do
whatever I want as there is no objective right or wrong."

~~~
cia-killer
Why should I trust the NYT when they frequently exaggerate and lie about
things I know about? Is it unreasonable to assume they also lie and exaggerate
about the areas I don't know about?

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twoflower9
Sounds like fake news has made it's way into the Finnish school system

