Fake News in Politics

The use of Fake News in Politics
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The use of Fake News in Politics
Abstract
The emergence of fake news in politics is a matter of great concern not only to the developed nations but the entire world. As countries continue to experiencing the technological changes in the media, there is a likelihood of the rise of the fake news. From 2016, most of the nations will have their elections dominated by fabricated news which may deny them a chance of electing genuine leaders. The paper introduces the topic by revealing the critical areas that it intend to discuss. It majorly uses the 2016 presidential election of the United States between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to justify the reasons as to why fake news should not be used in politics. For a better understanding of the fake story in politics, the paper provides a detailed definition and history regarding the false news. It also discloses some of the producers of fake news and why they are engaged in the manufacturing of fabricated news; this assists in understanding the reasons behind the rise of this kind of news. Notably by discussing the negative impacts of fake news, the paper advocates for the disbandment of fake news in politics. It also points out a reason why there is no need to exterminate the use of fake news in politics; however, the paper is quick to counter such an argument. It concludes by providing a summary of the discussion.
Introduction
Prevalently, changes in the media technology have significantly impacted the democracy and future of the developed nation such as the United States of America.

Initially, most of the news sources in this country were put under a tight editorial check; a regulation that ensured that only truthful, verifiable and reliable information is shared with the public. However, since the 20th century, there has been an emergence of the online news such as Facebook, Twitter and among other sites that are not regulated. These sites have majorly generated the fake story. During the US presidential of 2016, its election was dominated by fake news that played a significant role in influencing electorates to vote for a particular candidate. As a result of the malice and fabrications supplied by fake news, the democracy, future of a nation and the innocent candidate stand to be negatively affected. The paper seeks to provide an argument for the reasons as to why fake news should not be used in politics.
Definition and History of Fake News in Politics
Fake news in politics connotes to the information that is intentionally fabricated and falsified with a sole purpose of either benefiting an individual or harming the reputation of another person. Most of the unregulated articles, websites and social media have continually produced news that is devoid of any element of truth. The United States website denverguardian.com (now defunct) during the nation’s presidential election of 2016 came up with a headline that revealed that FBI agent who suspected the leakage of the Hillary email was found dead in a mysterious murder-suicide (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). This suicidal story was shared more than a million times on Facebook. Such an example explicitly reveal the usage of fake news and how it may mislead the public. Reasonably, in the last two years, there were few cases of fake news in politics in many countries. However, as a result of the rising technological innovations in media, fake news has soared to an alarming level. Notably, fake news mainly characterized the US election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017).
The Producers of Fake News and their intention
As mentioned earlier, fake news is majorly disseminated by unregulated websites, articles and social media. Several types of websites are designed explicitly by their producers to print or manufacture intentionally fabricated and deceptive articles. Interestingly, names of these fake sites invariably look like those of legitimate news organizations. The websites mentioned above that supplies fake news usually have a short lifespan, once they have served their intended purpose, they would no longer exist (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). The investigation carried out with the aim of disclosing those who were involved in the dissemination of the discussed new during the US 2016 presidential election pointed out that more than 100 sites that posted fake news were run by youngsters residing in the small town of Veles. On a similar note, endingthefeed.com which was responsible for most infamous fake news on Facebook was manned by a 24-year-old Romanian lad. Similarly, Disinfomedia which is a US company owns many fake news sites including USAToday.com, NationalRe-port.net (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). A point to note is that some of these people who run the mentioned sites are paid by politicians to assist in the spreading of propaganda. For instance, the Romanian man confessed that he came up with the site as a campaign strategy for Donald Trump (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017).
Arguments against the use of Fake News in Politics
Impact of Fakes News on Country’s Democracy
Historically, democracy has played a significant role in ensuring that the citizenry is given a chance of deciding their leaders and the kind of governance that they prefer. Through it, transparent, credible and free elections have been conducted, thereby producing a leader that reflect the voice of the people. However, the emergence of fake news has entirely interfered with the democracy of many nations (Madrigal, 2017). In essence, when the voters are fed with false information which misled them into voting a particular candidate then such a process would be devoid of democracy. The democracy of the US was put to the test in its 2016 presidential election. In the above nation, approximately 62 percent of its adults get their news on the social media. Also, 14 percent of the populace of this country perceive the social media as the most important, thereby trusting any news that would be disseminated by this media (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). During the 2016 Presidential election in the US, a higher percentage of fake news was supplied through the Facebook. Worst to note is that those who relied upon the fake political news were misled in voting a candidate. For instance, the fake news that was shared millions that the Pope Francis had endorsed Trump, played a crucial in influencing millions of American voters to vote for Trump (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). In light of this, there is a debate surrounding the Trump victory, some political analysts arguing that without the fake news Trump could not have won the election. It is therefore evident that fake news is detrimental to the development of a nation’s democracy and should not be used in politics (Madrigal, 2017).
The Impact of Fake News on the Future of a Country
Prevalently, fake news plays an essential role in determining the future of any nation. Reasonably, the future of county solely relies upon those who are at the helm of the leadership. Notably, if the elected leaders do not have ideologies that are development oriented then such as state have a blink and uncertain future. Conversely, if the elected individual is a person with outstanding personality and has a vision of transforming a country, then such a nation stand to face a bright future. Important to mention is that the fake news has deluded the public to vote in leaders that do not share their aspirations (Madrigal, 2017). Therefore, when the voices of the people during the election are founded on the fake news, it is probable then leaders produced under such a system would fail to achieve what they promised on their manifesto, thereby affecting the future of a nation. Therefore, fake news should not be used in politics.
The Impact of Fake News on the Innocent Victim
Fake news has been noted to have adverse effects on the innocent victims. During the political campaigns, those who are contesting for the political various political seats have found themselves in awkward situations in which they have to respond to fake news that touches on their integrity and person life. They use a lot of energy and financial resources in clearing their image from the information spread by the fake news (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). For instance, Hillary Clinton, A US presidential contender in the 2016 election tried her level best in defending herself from the propaganda of her leaked emails but the damage was already spread, and nothing could be done in clearing her name (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). Notably, the politicians who are poor at handling fake news may end up suffering from psychological torture and stress caused by the discussed news. Fake news is therefore harmful, and should not be allowed in politics (Mozur & Scott, 2016).
Argument supporting the use of Fake News
Ostensibly, there is nothing wrong with the dissemination of fake news in politics and during the political elections. They form part of the political strategy, and those who seek to engage in politics should not be worried about them. There is no valid harm posed by fake news, and if a political contender feels that this news may impact his/her political victory, then he/she only need to come to the public and explain with evidence that such story is not authentic (Mozur & Scott, 2016). A weaker candidate should not use the fake news as a reason for justifying their loss. The use of false news in politics only affirms the smartest and intelligent of a person. Also, US has knowledgeable and intelligent citizens who should be able to distinguish between false and truthful news; therefore, they should not be misled by false news. In this regards, fake news should be used in politics.
Counter Argument
It may be true that fake news forms part of the political strategy to allow the candidate to win an election but such tactic interferes with a free election process because the electorate is misled during voting. Also, a leader with integrity and admirable character should never use or relied upon malice in winning an election. As long as fake news depicts the election process, the democracy is thwarted, the innocent candidates suffer, the future of a nation impacted; therefore fake news should not be used in politics (Mozur & Scott, 2016).
Conclusion
From the discussion, it is clear that the use of fake news in politics is harmful in the sense that it interferes with the democracy of the nation by exterminating an environment of free and fair election. Notably, democracy must be characterized by a clean process aimed at producing a leader who possesses leadership virtues. Also, fake news negatively affects the future of a nation when it misleads the public to cast their votes for candidates who do not share the aspirations of the majority. Reasonably, most candidates who are beneficiary of fake news may fail to perform but still rely on the fake news for their political survival. Furthermore, the discussed news has a negative impact on the innocent victims who do not benefit from them in the sense that they lose the election basing on the fabricated news but not on their manifesto and personality. Since the negative impacts of fake news outweigh its rebuttal, fake news should not be used in politics.
References
Allcott, H., & Gentzkow, M. (2017). Social media and fake news in the 2016 election. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(2), 211-36.
Madrigal, A. C. (2017, October 17). What Facebook Did to American Democracy. The Atlantic.Mozur, P., & Scott, M. (2016, November 17). The New York Times. Fake News in U.S. Election? Elsewhere, That’s Nothing New [New York].