Photoshopped photos are now the most worrying fake news on Facebook
Edited images are spreading rapidly on Facebook, and it is worth mentioning that Facebook's fake information filtering algorithms have not been able to stop them.
Illustration: FAST COMPANY
According to the Technology Review news site, there is a weapon of mass manipulation that the social network Facebook is having a hard time fighting against: Photoshop.
Photo editing tools are being used widely to fabricate and distort information on the internet, especially social networks.
NewspaperWall Street Journal(WSJ) presented evidence alleging that the edited images were "important and simple techniques used by Russian propaganda forces to spread disinformation during the 2016 US election".
Generally, people like pictures. Because of the saying “seeing is believing”, many people have the habit of sharing pictures on social networks instead of just writing as usual.
Accordingly, editing images to insert fake or false information is also becoming an effective way for those who want to spread false news.
This situation is considered very difficult to prevent. Because artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms can identify objects in images, but understanding why those images are edited and how they are edited is a much more difficult task, especially the need to understand the context of the photo.
Also according to WSJ, Facebook is upgrading its systems to be able to identify when images are used out of context.
However, from now until a more effective tool is available, netizens must equip themselves with the ability to doubt and criticize fake images that will continue to be spread more and more on the Internet.
