Tag Archives: fake news

FAKE news and rumours pose a huge threat to the stability of communities hosting those fleeing Ukraine and other war-torn regions, a number of Clare councillors have warned. The issue of far right propaganda and its impact on communities accommodating refugees and asylum seekers was raised by North Clare’s Councillor Joe Garrihy during a discussion of supports for rural Ireland. The Lisdoonvarna man described as “very worrying” the gap between communities on the ground who are the “frontline”, and the supports being provided by government. The Fine Gael member described the impact of the pandemic as “seismic” and that communities were now being called on in another crisis situation.  “Now, we’re affected and responding to the largest humanitarian response that the country has ever seen in the history of the State,” he said. He added that while all of the community development guidelines advised working from the ground up, this was a challenge in the current situation. “Through the humanitarian …

WHOEVER was left in charge of the Dublin Airport Twitter account last week may have done Shannon an entirely unintended favour. Many thousands of people in Clare and indeed Limerick feel strongly about the success of the airport upon which the region’s economy depends and when Dublin Airport posted a ridiculous, self-regarding tweet about being the key gateway for the 2026 Ryder Cup in Adare, it really jarred. It has helped bring attention to the plight of our struggling airport and the fallout will show local politicians that they must take action to arrest its decline. The term fake news is derided because Donald Trump coined it and has aimed it at some of the most reputable media organisations in the world. Yet the depressing reality is that fake news is often widely believed nowadays, with ease of access to publication through social media and weak deterrents meaning that people are merrily spreading lies all around the world, every single …

FIONNUALA Meehan, head of Google in Ireland, has defended the company’s record on privacy, its use of people’s information and the company’s impact on politics. Ms Meehan attended a business event in Limerick on Tuesday on the same day that US president Donald Trump tweeted that “Google & others are suppressing voices and Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good.” Most people take Trump’s social media utterances with a pinch of salt, but there is no doubt that Google, and a handful of other technology companies, have a previously unseen level of global influence, which is potentially very malevolent if not used responsibly. Ms Meehan claimed the company are taking its obligations in this area very seriously. “We are a platform and the platform can be used in different ways. We have a whole team who look at developing and enforcing policies around how bad actors could potentially use that platform in a way that spreads misinformation. “On …