Another post that didn’t quite make it - written on a phone as I was listening to professionals on stage talking about ‘fake news’. That wasn’t how the panel phrased it - but still, it was what they were talking about … and not very well - far too politically correct …. I made these notes and have not spent a great deal of time ‘cleaning them up’.

Some of the keynotes I jotted down on the day …

  • MORAL LEADERSHIP
  • GDPR
  • TRUMP
  • GOVT CLOSE DOWN
  • DEFUND MUSK
  • BUSINESS MODELS
  • US CENTRIC - WITH A BIT OF UK
  • FOX DOMINION CASE
  • CAN’T GET OUT OWN HOUSE IN ORDER
  • FALSE EQUIVALANTS

.. and there was so much more. But it was ten days ago now … so …

I sat through two panels, close enough in topic that two panelists were on the stage both times. All good, solid stuff … but to me, there was more to be gleaned (learned?) by what wasn’t said than what was. Representations from the U.S.A., U.K., Poland and Ukraine. I sat and listened and took enough notes to write a book.

At the end of the first panel, 5 people including me put hands up to ask questions … one was taken and then not unanswered.

At the end of the second panel, even more hands went up, this time I was chosen as one of two .. and we both got responses.

Note … responses, not answers.

My question was apparently video’d by a film maker - and I was told I will be able to get a copy of it. If I do - I will be sure to post it here.

I distilled my notes to three issues that came top of mind as I listened. In broad terms, the discussion was around fake news and disinformation campaigns. My three points follow - NONE of this was raised across some 11 professionals on the stage. Instead the

1) The money … follow it.

  • Facebook has zero motivation to ‘make things better’ .. they make money by being engaged .. they do that by creating and manipulating conflicts between people.
  • The case that Fox lost against Dominion .. and more to come .. did a fraction of the damage that Facebook did, but for all the wrong reasons they have laws that protect them from publishing lies. Fox’s fines meanwhile are already around 1 billion dollars
  • The same can be said of Twitter .. but they are even worse thanks to new management. But - twitter’s management receives billions of tax payer monies … for traveling to space and building cars amongst others. Cut his funding until he does something.

2) Laws.

  • It was pointed out that in Europe there are far more laws than the US … to protect people. ( I would agree .. the cynic in me would say that this is not going to change any time soon, primarily because US law is mainly about protecting business not people.
  • That said, just to pick one of those EU laws … GDPR, the resultant fines are rounding errors to the corporations being fined .. so potential fines are built into the accounts as the cost of doing business

3) Hierarchy versus Network.

  • it’s all very well saying we are a hierarchical bureaucracy .. and so it is hard to bypass the bureaucracy.
  • Really?
  • Have you been watching Trump over the past 7 years? He didn’t wait for permission to tweet.
  • Not only that but Gaetz, Boebert, Greene et al are all cutting through the bureaucracy to the point that the govt is two days away from being closed down (as I was taking notes) - with defunding Ukraine being the high? Point of their agenda.

AND AND AND …

A total of some 11 people who waxed lyrical on the issues - and not one talked about REAL issues. What a waste.