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Ask HN: How do you deal with lies on the internet?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with lies on the internet?

#51

Post by mod »

jpgvm wrote: post #34
mod wrote: post #32

For the Ukraine war: also do not trust any information sources. Even the good guys are lying. I've been watching foreign news (Sky News, while I'm American), to avoid both our own biases, and the inevitable chatter about American politics. Sky isn't perfect, but at least if they're being deceptive, it probably won't be targeted at me. I also like the Reddit live thread and a Twitter account @EnglishUkraine, keeping i…

I don't know if that is the same SkyNews that we have here but if it is I would avoid it like the plague. It's effectively our version of Fox News. If you want something non-biased (from Australia that is) then ABC News or SBS World News is as close as you are going to get. Both are funded explicitly in a way that avoids biases (but also why our government has been trying to take said funding away...).

Interesting. Perhaps because it's British, I couldn't tell it was biased.

They definitely are not Putin fans, but that seems universal right now.

I'm checking out your alternative recommendations now, thanks!

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with lies on the internet?

#52

Post by ncann »

The most important thing browsing reddit has taught me is to never believe in a piece of info right away if it seems to induce outrage in anyway. Now, anytime I read something that feels "too bad to be true", my bullshit detector starts ringing and I start to question, what are the sources? Who reported this? Is there video/photo evidence? Have any reputable news sources reported this? And so on.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with lies on the internet?

#53

Post by bsd44 »

overthemoon wrote: post #18

I'm an American, living in the US, and for situations like Ukraine specifically, I don't believe anything right away. War is chaotic, and social media makes it more so. It costs me nothing to reserve judgement, because nothing depends on me except that I might accidentally share false info. Better to stay quiet, think, and wait. The truth may come out eventually. No one cares if I personally think it's true, but ther…

I agree, this is probably the best approach. Stop, breathe, apply critical thinking and give it some time to process the information and see how it fits into the big picture. You need to detach yourself emotionally from the issue you're trying to observe and evaluate (aka don't choose sides, it's not a football match). And as ever; if in doubt, go against the majority. That's your safest bet. The average person is more or less an idiot (I don't mean this as an insult, I'm not sure how to explain it in just a few words).

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with lies on the internet?

#54

Post by pmyteh »

jpgvm wrote: post #34
mod wrote: post #32

For the Ukraine war: also do not trust any information sources. Even the good guys are lying. I've been watching foreign news (Sky News, while I'm American), to avoid both our own biases, and the inevitable chatter about American politics. Sky isn't perfect, but at least if they're being deceptive, it probably won't be targeted at me. I also like the Reddit live thread and a Twitter account @EnglishUkraine, keeping i…

I don't know if that is the same SkyNews that we have here but if it is I would avoid it like the plague. It's effectively our version of Fox News. If you want something non-biased (from Australia that is) then ABC News or SBS World News is as close as you are going to get. Both are funded explicitly in a way that avoids biases (but also why our government has been trying to take said funding away...).

British Sky News is quite decent, and reasonably well respected. Despite its ownership, it certainly isn't at the level of Fox News (or even The Times).

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with lies on the internet?

#56

Post by pastacacioepepe »

Good question. Most of the news you read about the conflict are fake at the moment.

Videogames footage has been used, old footage from years ago as well. The western media even used footage of Ukraine soldiers committing crimes of war, branding them as Russian soldiers, in the general indifference.

You have to understand, that as of now the western media have entered the war propaganda mode. If you want to inform yourself neutrally you can't trust anyone media alone.

I watch the Russia Today (RT) streams on YouTube. It's good to have a differing point of view. I don't take everything they say as granted, neither I so that with western media. There are also a few western youtube channels trying to do objective reporting on the conflict, my favorite one is S2 Underground.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with lies on the internet?

#57

Post by lucky1759 »

Freak_NL wrote: post #33
pumpkinprog wrote: post #17

Read sources with different points of view and take the average. Pretty easy with the Russia-Ukraine situation, just take 2 western or Ukrainian news sources, 2 Russian and 2 relatively unrelated (China, Africa, etc.) Same with elections (2 Dems, 2 Reps, 2-3 unrelated international). Much more difficult with COVID since nearly everybody has the same point of view, and the remaining ones are marginal. IMO, in such a s…

The idea that Russian state-controlled media are useful to find the truth in the middle seems a bit far-fetched. Reputable media in most countries call this a war, Russian news says it is a special operation to rid a country that doesn't really have any claim to sovereignty of its Nazi-leader. Chinese media is pretending nothing is going on at all. So applying your method leaves us with: a conflict (but not really a…

Exactly. It's pretty obvious countries are hedging their bets for WW3.

Chinese social media is cheering on russian soldiers.

Chinese state media calls for "peace and justice"... and blames war on U.S aggression.

Chinese state media talks about Chinese Air Power and Shanghai Communique, one china policy.

Russia banned twitter and calling it an "invasion" or "war". Russians are getting arrested for protesting a war.

U.S intelligence has known about the planning for this war for a while and even informed China.

Thanks, I think I'll pick western media bias instead.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with lies on the internet?

#58

Post by ganzuul »

rambambram wrote: post #21

Usually I start hating everybody, start a temper tantrum in my room, then my house, then the streets. Everybody in sight needs to know there's somebody wrong - on purpose! - on the internet. My anger convinces everybody immediately, usually. My blood pressure rises, just as my voice. I feel my heart pumping, just as my inevitable headache. But it's all worth it. /s On a more serious note: just (try to) ignore that sh…

My own strategy for dealing with lies on the internet is to not get caught telling them. ;)

My small but exquisite social network informs me of things like the start of WW3 and I miss out on something then I have simply made my choice. If it's not my agenda or the agenda of someone I love, then it doesn't deserve mind-share. The MAD-men who try to rule us with the threat of nuclear apocalypse deserve no one's attention.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with lies on the internet?

#59

Post by willismichael »

bsd44 wrote: post #53
overthemoon wrote: post #18

I'm an American, living in the US, and for situations like Ukraine specifically, I don't believe anything right away. War is chaotic, and social media makes it more so. It costs me nothing to reserve judgement, because nothing depends on me except that I might accidentally share false info. Better to stay quiet, think, and wait. The truth may come out eventually. No one cares if I personally think it's true, but ther…

I agree, this is probably the best approach. Stop, breathe, apply critical thinking and give it some time to process the information and see how it fits into the big picture. You need to detach yourself emotionally from the issue you're trying to observe and evaluate (aka don't choose sides, it's not a football match). And as ever; if in doubt, go against the majority. That's your safest bet. The average person is mo…

> The average person is more or less an idiot

No insult taken. Upon observing this same phenomenon, I am forced to conclude that I must also be more or less an idiot.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with lies on the internet?

#60

Post by milansm »

overthemoon wrote: post #46
milansm wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s also the feel of being played and deceived when something you had strong emotional reaction (i.e. Ukrainian father saying goodbye to his daughters) turns out to be propaganda and part of information warfare.

Absolutely, that one specifically got me. Didn't that turn out to be a Russian soldier or something? Regardless, the firehose of social media content isn't tuned for accuracy, it's tuned for volume.

Yes. I have two daughters, and my eyes get wet and my throat closes every time I remember that scene. But then, it turns out that most likely I'm manipulated. I say most likely, because I'm not sure anymore, and I don't want to get invested anymore and research what is true and what is not.
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