Fake news detector plug-in developed

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by stapp, Dec 2, 2016.

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  1. stapp

    stapp Global Moderator

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    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38181158
     
  2. hawki

    hawki Registered Member

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    That is potentially an extremely dangerous plug-in because of the censorship it promotes. It's appearance within days of the highly controversial Washington Post article that gave a gloss of credence to some mystery "group" that published an absurd list of 200 alleged Russian propaganda "fake news" websites could mean that it is using the same list as part of it's "database." Among the 200 are many respected websites on both the left and right of the political spectrum. The Post article was written by a Tech Columnist with little expertise in politics, geopolitcs, or general current events.

    The Forum's rules against political discussions prevent a full expose of the absurdity of that list, but the Post has been widely criticized by respected sources for seemingly endorsing the credibility of the "list of 200," threatening free speach, and promoting unfounded censorship based upon a source with zero credibility.

    The bottom line: Who is the creator of the plug-in and on what criteria are websites included in its database of "fake news" websites?

    Garbage In -- Garbage Out.
     
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2016
  3. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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  4. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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    Germany Could Ding Facebook for Fake News
     
  5. hawki

    hawki Registered Member

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    I don't suppose that proof of the alleged falsehood is required in the "notification." Scary stuff.

    Sounds like CISPA (The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act ), but with a State-controlled media twist.

    Fake news is a huge problem but the only real solution that does not infringe upon the free exchange of expression is an improved education system that actually educates rather than dumbs-down and that fosters critical thinking.

    In the USA only 33% of the adult population can name the three branches of the Federal Government.

    Fight Ignorance !
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2016
  6. boredog

    boredog Registered Member

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    i don't go to facebook that often but when i do i always see articles just to the right of friends posts saying such and such actor died. would those be fake news? maybe not this year, since there has been so many but i never click on them anyway. i have just recently turned off allow good advertising adds in adguard. just wish they could do more. seems facebook is very sneaky when it comes to adblockers. they claim that is how they make their moola.
     
  7. summerheat

    summerheat Registered Member

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  8. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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    BBC wants to tackle fake news with Reality Check team

     
  9. paulderdash

    paulderdash Registered Member

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    @summerheat I don't really use a hosts file (except for Unchecky) ... excuse my ignorance but I am curious, is it possible to incorporate the unified hosts file or just the fake news hosts file as a custom filter in uBlockO (e.g. MVPS HOSTS is a hosts file?).
     
  10. summerheat

    summerheat Registered Member

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    Yes, it's no problem to add that list to uBlock Origin. You just must decide which variant of Steven Black's hosts file you want to use and copy the respective link in the "raw hosts" column. If you click the respective "Readme" link in that table and then scroll down a bit you'll see the sources used for that variant. And regardless which variant you choose you can always deactivate Malware Domain List, MVPS, Dan Pollock's hosts file and Peter Lowe's list in uB0 as they are included in each variant.
     
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