VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Saturday denounced “disinformation” and fake news spread in an effort to influence public opinion as journalism’s principal offence. “Disinformation is the first of the sins, the mistakes – let’s say – of journalism,” Francis told Italian journalists at a Vatican gathering to bestow a journalism prize.
The Pope warned against the danger of reducing human relationships to “mere algorithms” and urged lawmakers to be vigilant against “partisan” propaganda and divisiveness on social media.
Another peril on social media networks is “a false sense of belonging, especially among young people, that can lead to isolation and loneliness,” he said.
Widely considered a savvy communicator himself, the pontiff returned to the term “sins” to list what he called the four misdeeds of the media, according to the Vatican’s translated statement of his comments. “Disinformation, when journalism does not inform or informs badly; slander (sometimes this is used); defamation, which is different from slander but destroys; and the fourth is… the love of scandal.”
The Pope warned against the danger of reducing human relationships to “mere algorithms” and urged lawmakers to be vigilant against “partisan” propaganda and divisiveness on social media.
Another peril on social media networks is “a false sense of belonging, especially among young people, that can lead to isolation and loneliness,” he said.
Widely considered a savvy communicator himself, the pontiff returned to the term “sins” to list what he called the four misdeeds of the media, according to the Vatican’s translated statement of his comments. “Disinformation, when journalism does not inform or informs badly; slander (sometimes this is used); defamation, which is different from slander but destroys; and the fourth is… the love of scandal.”