Preparing for 2019 EU Elections in the age of fake news
In May 2019, the next European Parliament elections will take place. These will be the first such elections since a member has decided to leave the Union, while an ever-growing number of politicians with contrasting visions of national and international affairs disrupt/sway the public vote.
Every five years, over 500 million Europeans head to the ballot box to form one of the most important assemblies in the world. Seats are awarded according to the proportion of votes from member countries. The European Parliament governs the EU, approving annual spending plans, deciding on the leadership of the European Commission, as well as voting on trade agreements and matters of public interest.
The rise of populism across the continent over the recent years, fueled largely by nationalist speech, has created a very polarised political scene. In the UK, tiresome Brexit negotiations have led to a scenario where we are closer to a second referendum than an agreement between the relevant parties.
Such a tense environment promises to deliver a campaign characterised by two-way attacks and charged with propaganda tools, such as fake news and misinformation spread across social media.
Unfortunately, this crisis of trustworthiness is not confined to politics: the fake news phenomenon has helped spur a lack of trust in journalism and mainstream media, which has been repeatedly undermined by political figures in the efforts to promote their own agendas. This has resulted in a weakening of fundamental democratic institutions and necessitates a re-shaping of political strategy in order to re-establish confidence.
The current situation calls for urgent solutions to tackle the harmful effects of social media and other online misuse for political gain and abuse of power. Within such a poisonous online environment, people feel torn about who to believe and feel wronged by the lack of accountability that allows powerful figures to get away with lies and libellous claims.
Research by the European Commission showed that 85 percent of EU respondents believe fake news to be a problem in their country, with almost 83 percent perceiving false or misrepresentative information as a threat to democracy.
In light of this problem, innovative tech company Right of Reply has designed RoR Politics to counter misinformation and political propaganda online. RoR Politics is a platform that integrates political parties’ statements to allow responses from both ‘sides’ to be embedded in the same place as the original content, with the aim of establishing healthy political debate. RoR Politics is convenient and easy to navigate, making truthful information easy to reach, preventing bias and social media bubbles.
In the same way that social media has allowed a low-cost, fast and convenient means of communication, RoR Politics hopes to counter the malicious effect by creating a platform that is free and available for the general public to use, exploring debates that are usually exclusively accessed by to members of parliament.
Information displayed on RoR Politics is verified by an independent body, a partner of RoR with no political affiliation to ensure balance. More than enabling a fact-checking mechanism, RoR Politcs aims to create a first-of-its-kind platform where diverging political matters can be debated in a constructive matter and ultimately, fake news can be debunked.
Stefania Barbaglio, from Right of Reply commented: “Right of Reply is a socially aware company concerned about fairness and justice in all spheres. We harness innovative technologies to counter unfair content online and allow users to make informed decisions based on the truth. RoR Politics opens the gate to an era of accountability and truth in politics, re-establishing the balance of power in democratic societies in a time of weakening democratic institutions.”
Right of Reply is developing a range of platforms designed to improve debate online and manage online reputation. Visit the page https://rightofreply.news
