With fake news being such a concern these days, I thought I’d jot this down since this month’s featured program on NHK’s Central Broadcasting Review Committee was “Fake Busters.” It covered a wide range of topics, including precautions to take when gathering and sharing information, as well as strategies for handling online backlashes.
I thought it was a great program that provides a comprehensive introduction to the ICT literacy that will be essential for navigating life moving forward.I also liked how the program clearly organized the key points to keep in mind by presenting a checklist. Just like “Stop! Fraud Victims!”, I think this is the kind of content that should be broadcast over and over again (and when it is, I hope they’ll delve deeper into each individual point).
Before watching, based on the word “fake” in the title, I assumed it would be a program about “fake news”—a topic that “began to attract attention primarily as a political issue” starting in 2016.
However, the actual program focused primarily on ICT literacy—an issue that has been a concern since the spread of the internet around 2000—and on online backlash issues that have become prevalent since the 2010s with the widespread use of smartphones and social media. It was a shame that there was little coverage of topics like AI-generated deepfakes, which have gained prominence since the term “fake news” began to spread.
While the program highlighted cases where misinformation sparked online backlashes, the challenges for the future include how to deal with malicious,
strategic disinformation; what to do when such disinformation enters the political sphere and those in power intentionally spread fake news; and how to prepare for the use of cutting-edge technology to deceive people.
We’re seeing a new trend emerge.
The decline in reading comprehension highlighted in the OECD’s PISA results has been a hot topic, but this reading comprehension is tied to information literacy.
An OECD official also noted the need for reading comprehension skills in a world where fake news is spreading. I have a feeling this will become a series, so I’m looking forward to seeing how these topics are explored in the next episode.