Symposium on 'Fake News and Anti-Intellectualism' Held
Emphasizing the Negative Impact of Fake News on the Economy
On the 2nd, the Citizens' Action for Sound Media held a symposium at the Korea Press Center press conference room to expose the widespread falsehoods and anti-intellectualism in the social sector and to explore the role of civil society in defending liberal democracy and the market economy.
The symposium was held under the theme of "Fake News and Anti-Intellectualism." Bok Geo-il, representative of the Culture Future Forum, delivered a keynote speech on "The Flood and Purification of False Information," stating, "The reason why it is difficult to clear up false information is that the main source is totalitarian forces," and added, "For totalitarians, propaganda and agitation that are effective in mobilizing the masses take precedence over facts and truth. False information is harmful to society not only politically but also economically."
On the 2nd, the Barun Media Citizens' Action held a symposium on fake news at the Korea Press Center. Photo by Barun Media Citizens' Action
Following this, Hwang Geun, professor of Media Communication at Sunmoon University, analyzed the formation of a "fake news cartel" in which certain mainstream media, internet media, and fandom support groups of specific tendencies collaborate, through his presentation titled "Fake News and Fandom Politics." He explained that democracy is collapsing as a result of strong fandom politics, and that political fandom spaces are places where the effects of fake news can be maximized.
Oh Jeong-geun, co-representative of Citizens' Action for Sound Media, and Lee Tae-gyu, senior researcher at the Korea Economic Research Institute, presented on the economic impact of fake news. Oh stated, "With the development of AI and SNS, false agitation is spreading more actively, making it more important than ever to disseminate the truth," while Lee pointed out examples of incorrect statistics and argued that fake economic news can be exploited to foster distrust in the market economy system and attempts to transform the economic system.
Ham Woon-kyung, representative of Nemo Captain, warned of the dangers of nationalism in his presentation titled "Closed Nationalism and Fake News." He said, "Nationalism is based more on emotion and sentiment than reason," and added, "It is vulnerable to fake news and false agitation."
The symposium, consisting of two sections, featured discussions by panelists including Jeong Beom-jin, professor of Nuclear Engineering at Kyung Hee University; Choi Jun-seon, emeritus professor at Sungkyunkwan University School of Law; Jo Seong-hwan, professor at Kyonggi University Graduate School of Political Studies; and Hong Jin-pyo, former standing commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission.
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