What People Are Getting Wrong This Week: NFL Misinformation
We’re fully engaged in the 2023 NFL, and the biggest real controversy this season is the low-key debate about banning QB sneaks (either to protect quarterbacks or because the Philadelphia Eagles do it too well). Meanwhile, a firestorm of imaginary controversy rages. in the inboxes and Facebook feeds of culture warriors. Problem? Kneeling during the anthem.
Kneeling to protest racism hasn’t happened in the NFL since 2018, but the idea of players refusing to stand for the national anthem is so appealing to some people that they’re willing to invent similar examples. .
Here are just a few headlines published over the past month:
- Following Travis Kelce’s lead, the Chiefs unanimously refused to kneel during the anthem.
- BREAKING: Andy Reid tells executives to kneel, but Travis Kelce chooses to stand
- BREAKING: Deion Sanders suspends two star players on site for kneeling before anthem; “Stand for the flag.”
Before your weird aunt spread it all over Facebook, this “news” originated on a website called “SpaceXMania.com.” I’ll leave you with a link to the site itself with adware and pop-ups, but I’m sure you can imagine what it looks like.
According to SpaceXmania’s “About” page, the site is dedicated to “building a community of like-minded people passionate about space exploration and technology.” However, the content is almost entirely racially charged fake stories that look almost exactly like real news.
Whatever infernal algorithm is used in SpaceXMania’s editorial content has apparently determined that the community of space exploration aficionados most want to read AI-generated articles about a long-dormant controversy, as long as they have a tag that says “satire.”
This is not the only such site. In another example, the Dunning Kruger Times recently published an article headlined “Jets Head Coach Takes ‘Put Kaepernick on the Practice Squad and I’m Gone’ Position.” This is the topic.
Even though Colin Kaepernick hasn’t played in the NFL since 2017, he still appears to be public enemy number one on these sites. I bet you can see why. Kaepernick is guaranteed to have his own hashtag at SpaceXMania. In the last month alone, 12 fake articles have been published about him, while Elon Musk, the supposed reason for the site’s existence, has only been mentioned in four articles in the same time period, two of which are simply speculations about another outspoken African. American: “Urgent: Whoopi Goldberg wears face masks during interview with Elon Musk” and “Just in: Elon Musk teaches Whoopi Goldberg how to be a bully in public.”
What is satire?
Satire, according to dictionary.com, is “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize human folly or vice.” It’s hard to know how SpaceXMania fits this definition.
To illustrate, this is a parody of the NFL:
NFL unveils new helmet designed to protect players’ wives
Is not:
Breaking: Coach Belichick Just Fired Kolenler’s Anthem: “Not on My Field “
Facebook’s policy (these things always apply to Facebook) of downplaying misinformation acknowledges that there is a “fine line between fake news and satire or opinion,” and it’s true that satire can sometimes be hard to detect, like that time The New York thought Times. Barack Obama was on the cover of Tiger Beat, but in the case of SpaceXMania and other similar sites, it’s clearly fake news. His stories are not funny. They don’t attach much importance to politics or culture. These are articles that are clearly formatted to look and read as much like real news as possible, and are designed to trick those who are easily fooled into getting angry and clicking on weird ads.
The AI that collects SpaceXMania stories even includes “both sides” paragraphs, for example, to make it seem more believable:
“As for the leaders of Kansas City, their unity remains unchanged. Both Reed and Kelsey, despite their different positions, expressed mutual respect for each other’s decisions. This episode is a testament to the fact that even in times of disagreement, understanding and dialogue can pave the way forward.”
Is there a way to stop the “satire” of fake news?
There is probably nothing that can be done to stop the spread of fake news masquerading as satire. Political speech and satire in general are protected by the First Amendment, and one of the preconditions for any type of lawsuit will be whether a “reasonable person” would accept it as truth. Even if the content is aimed at the most unreasonable people in society.
All that remains is attempts to “debunk” this kind of misinformation. Many people are doing a heroic job of this, especially Snopes , but those people sharing outrageous stories on Facebook about kneeling during the national anthem probably don’t read Snopes.