False stories around Nicola Bulley - will any media be held accountable?

Following the discovery of Nicola Bulley's body the family released a statement.  

In short it accuses the media of publishing lies, and social media of doing the same. Specifically the statement says Sky News and ITV ignored request for privacy.  Finally it calls such behaviour out as appalling and says those who behaved in such a way need to be held accountable.

In a bit more detail here are the four main points of the family's statement

• Press & members of the public wrongly accused, misquoted and villified family and friends;
• They ran stories to sell papers and increase their own profiles;
• Sky News and ITV ignored our request for privacy, contacting us directly;
• This behaviour is appalling and they have to be held accountable;

And below is the family statement in full, issued following confirmation that her body had been recovered from the River Wyre.

Sadly the current situation in the UK means legal action may only be possible where publications/posts are defamatory, (caused or is likely to cause serious harm’ to individuals’  reputation) or invade privacy, or incite violence, hatred or terrorism.  It is an offence to send a message over a public electronic communication network that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character.  Also prohibited is electronic communication  which is indecent, grossly offensive, or which is false, or which the sender believes to be false (if the purpose or one of the purposes of the sender is to cause distress or anxiety to the recipient).

In the UK regulators can take various actions but their powers seem limited.

Bulley family statement in full

"Our Family Liaison officers have had to confirm our worst fears today.  We will never be able to comprehend what Nikki had gone through in her last moments and that will never leave us.  We will never forget Nikki, how could we, she was the centre of our world, she was the one who made our lives so special and nothing will cast a shadow over that.  

Our girls will get the support they need from the people who love them the most.  And it saddens us to think that one day we will have to explain to them that the press and members of the public accused their dad of wrongdoing, misquoted and vilified friends and family. This is absolutely appalling, they have to be held accountable this cannot happen to another family.

We tried last night to take in what we had been told in the day, only to have Sky News and ITV making contact with us directly when we expressly asked for privacy. They again, have taken it upon themselves to run stories about us to sell papers and increase their own profiles. It is shameful they have acted in this way. Leave us alone now.  Do the press and other media channels and so called professionals not know when to stop? These are our lives and our children's lives.

To those who genuinely helped and supported us, privately, we thank you. The community support in St Michael's, friends', neighbours and strangers has been nothing short of comforting and heart-warming. 

Friends you know who you are. Thank you.

Our hearts truly break for others who have missing loved ones. Keep that hope alive. Finally, Nikki, you are no longer a missing person, you have been found, we can let you rest now.  We love you, always have and always will, we'll take it from here xx."

5min 49sec @theeconomist clip - Could deepfakes weaken #democracy ?

text from youtube "Videos can now be faked to make people say things they never actually said. Could this weaken democracy...and can you spot ALL the deep fake interviews in this film?

These videos are all deepfakes. Synthesised content created using artificial intelligence. Deepfakes will make for even more complicated arguments about what is fake news and what is real. And if seeing is no longer believing the very real question is could deepfakes weaken democracy?

Bill Posters is the artist behind these deepfake videos known as the Spectre Project. To test Facebook’s response, Bill posted the deepfake videos on Instagram, a social-media platform owned by Facebook. The company downgraded the videos’ visibility. But that didn’t stop this fake clip of Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, going viral. That showed the potential for spreading disinformation online through deepfakes. A danger that’s likely to increase as long as tech companies and politicians remain unsure how to deal with it.

Image manipulation is already exploited by autocratic regimes. It’s a dark art that goes back to Joseph Stalin who made his enemies disappear. AI today is capable of making deepfake videos like this where comedian Bill Hader morphs into Tom Cruise. As the technology advances the danger is that deepfakes will be used to mislead voters in democratic countries.

Aviv Ovadya is the founder of Thoughtful Technology Project. He worries about another problem that deepfakes could be used as an excuse to help politicians escape scrutiny. He believes the ultimate threat from deepfakes could be that more and more people opt out of democratic politics. A phenomenon he calls “reality apathy”

So what can be done to fight back? A group of scientists at Cambridge University are having a go. They have developed a computer game to teach people how to spot disinformation. Dr Sander van der Linden, the game’s designer, believes it will help people to distinguish fact from fiction. Dr van der Linden’s team have drawn inspiration from preventative medicine in their hunt to cure fake news.

Deepfake technology means that faking videos is becoming as easy as faking words and photos. Until people learn to look at video with a more critical eye there’s a danger that deepfakes could be used to undermine democracy."

5min @TEDEd clip - Can you spot the problem with these #headlines ? (Level 1) - Jeff Leek & Lucy McGowan

Text from youtube "Puzzle through a set of hypothetical health studies and headlines and see if you can spot what’s misleading about the headline.

In medicine, there’s often a disconnect between news headlines and the scientific research they cover. While headlines are designed to catch attention, many studies produce meaningful results when they focus on a narrow, specific question. So how can you figure out what’s a genuine health concern and what’s less conclusive? Jeff Leek and Lucy McGowan explain how to read past the headline.

Lesson by Jeff Leek and Lucy McGowan, directed by Zedem Media."

3min #GoogleNewsLab clip - A Look at #CrossCheck France - verifying media content in the run up to the #French #election

Text from youtube "A look at CrossCheck France, a collaborative reporting initiative that brought together newsrooms across Europe to verify social media content in the run up to the French election. "