Hole punched in Walmart
Cop cleared after cyclist hit
Seniors in the housing crisis
Tracking bird flu in cows
Alberta braces for drought
Premiers want co-operation
Trump jurors express anxiety
Iran fires at attack drones 
World's largest election 
Apple pulls apps from China
Oil and gas leases restricted
Indigo needs turnaround 
Warriors ready for Round 2
Kalamalka Bowl cancelled
Rockets live to fight on
Hilton teams up with Sia
Swift still 'can't forgive' Kim
Grimes to ‘cap the disarray’
Fake news can and does spread like wildfire on social media.
Anybody can set up a Facebook or Twitter account for free, and propagate their particular brand of misinformation — from the ridiculous to the dangerous. It’s easy for someone to set up their own website to do the same thing.
With a little money, anybody can self-publish a book that peddles nonsense. People can pay to have sub-par science articles published on websites that look like reputable journals, but are not.
It has become harder and harder for the average person to distinguish between genuine information and fake news.
How should our society respond to political propaganda, medical conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and baseless fear mongering? Should governments step in to control misinformation, even if it means censoring some views? Should any books or websites or speech be banned? Or is our freedom to speak and read so vital to a healthy democracy that we must let even those who would lie and deceive have their say?
On May 16, Kelowna Atheists, Skeptics and Humanists Association will host UBC Okanagan professor Andrew Irvine at the downtown Kelowna library at 6:30 p.m. He'll be talking about “Fake News, the New Media, and Freedom to Read.”
Nina George, Kelowna Atheists, Skeptics & Humanists Association
