The British government is planning a new initiative which will aim to help schoolchildren distinguish real information from \u2018fake news\u2019 \u2014 in an eyebrow-raising move which could be described as a little bit Orwellian.<\/span><\/p>\n British Secretary of State for Education Damian Hinds unveiled the new plan, warning that teachers need to better prepare students for the risks posed by \u201cfake news\u201d<\/em> online, the Independent reported.<\/span><\/p>\n From 2020, British kids in both primary and secondary schools will learn about \u201cconfirmation bias\u201d<\/em> and \u201conline risks\u201d<\/em> as part of a compulsory section of the curriculum. As part of the plan, teachers will help children identify techniques used for \u201cpersuasion\u201d<\/em> and be told \u201cwhen to seek support.\u201d<\/em> They will also learn about the reasons why someone might wish to \u201cbend the truth\u201d<\/em> in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n A concerned Hinds warned that the internet makes it easier for both state actors and individuals to \u201cspread falsehoods.\u201d<\/em> One area in particular which the government is looking at is \u201cmisleading content\u201d<\/em> regarding vaccinations. Without \u201cfirm action,\u201d<\/em> the proliferation of allegedly misleading information online will \u201cget a lot worse,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Hinds recalled that propagandists have sought to \u201cmanipulate the truth\u201d<\/em> since \u201cancient times.\u201d<\/em> Indeed, this is something any British government official should be well aware of, since it\u2019s well-known that the British mainstream media \u2014 including the BBC and British newspapers \u2014 have historically been infiltrated<\/strong><\/span><\/a> by intelligence agents from MI5 and MI6. One could probably safely assume that such inconvenient information will be left off the agenda, however, with the British program more likely to focus on the evils of propaganda emanating from Britain\u2019s geopolitical adversaries.<\/span><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.rt.com\/op-ed\/441622-mi6-mi5-uk-media\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Aside from the obvious question of whether governments are best placed to create a curriculum on fake vs. real news, there\u2019s also the added dilemma of whether teachers should be responsible for imparting wisdom on media manipulation to children, when so much of the task of deciphering the news these days comes down to pure opinion. What one teacher might regard as real, another might view as fake.<\/span><\/p>\n Presumably, for example, Hinds would regard an institution like the BBC as a \u201ctrusted\u201d<\/em> source \u2014 and yet many others of a different political persuasion would likely disagree. The initiative raises the question of who exactly should be allowed to set the standards of \u2018truth\u2019 and \u2018trusted\u2019 when it comes to media. This is usually only the role of government in dystopian novels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The BBC had a secret deal with MI5 to politically vet BBC journalists and employees for "subversives". The secret program continued for 50 years until 1985 when it was exposed. Funny how some highly-relevant stories get pushed down the memory hole pic.twitter.com\/QDznS0eTZU<\/a><\/p>\n — Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) March 31, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n