Why Protecting Your Business from Fake News is Now More Important Than Ever

Let’s get something straight. Fake News is not new, we have an already full lexicon of words to describe content that we think may be untrue; rumours, propaganda, slander, and false accusations have been used to damage reputations, businesses, and political agendas for hundreds of years, the difference now is the voracity with which Fake News can be spread. Inherent in the nature of social media is the ability to share, and in the last five years, this has been weaponised more and more, to the extent that it now takes just one rumour and 200 fake identities to destabilise a country or cause a Fortune 500 company’s stock price to drop by 10%.

If 2016 was the year many of those not in the know became aware that Fake News exists, then 2020 was the year a great many more became aware of its severity. Falsehoods about Covid-19 and news media fact checks on everything from Brexit to the US election have made us all aware of the dangers of these false stories. False information notices pasted on tweets or news stories on Facebook will remain, and the pandemic has given rise to a very real public health necessity, to take down false stories about fake cures or vaccine dangers. Newsguard, a company that monitors sites propagating disinformation related to the pandemic, estimates upwards of 360 news sites in the UK, US, Germany, France, and Italy involved in disseminating fake news about vaccines.

Additionally, the tactics employed by disinformation campaigns have become smarter and more effective. A combination of foreign and domestic fakes often used to trick social networks’ algorithms with new methods, including deliberately flagging posts they disagree with as “fake” in order to have them shut down.

For businesses and those with value in their reputation, it is now more important than ever to have a robust monitoring and rebuttal strategy in place, before Fake News becomes an issue. The College Green Group team is experts in ensuring that disinformation relevant to you, your business, or your sector is identified, isolated, removed, and reputed before it does irreparable damage. We do this by monitoring stories and social media profiles talking about you, analysing the way the news is spreading, tracking it to the source, and then implementing removal and rebuttal techniques. We will report and remove fake profiles and ensure positive, authentic stories are pushed out, countering negativity. 

If you are concerned about the potential dangers of Fake News and would like to speak to us about how we can help ensure it doesn’t affect your reputation, please feel free to get in touch. matthew@collegegreengroup.com