I see you sharing false stories that just aren't true > I'm like ‘Fake news, and fact check it too Colten Kamlade Columnist Aw. of attention has been given to ake news recently. The election in the states was a breeding ground for sensationalist stories, and it embittered people against news agencies. Right now, everyone is critical of everything, and it’s not just small time news and tabloids they’re skeptical of. The unreliability of organizations like CNN and Fox News has left people feeling hopeless. How can we know anything about current affairs when there is no consensus as to what is true? This is a problem, but the solution is easy: people have to check their facts. The truth is out there; it just takes some investigating to discover. So, if the solution is easy, then why does fake news still circulate? Gullibility is an obvious answer. As outrageous as the headline “FBI Agent Suspected in Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead” sounds, many people believed it. I have friends who share these kind of stories all the time. Needless to say, they are influenced by this propaganda. Who they are voting for is shaped by fake news, and if voters are making decisions based on such erroneous information, then democracy is in bad shape. Fake news also circulates because people use information as a weapon. Fake articles are not posted as misguided attempts at sharing knowledge, but as proclamations of an individual's political stance. Whether the information is true or not is irrelevant. People post articles to entrench themselves as either conservative or liberal. Even when news is proven to be false, they don’t care. These political zealots see their denial of reality as a sign of faith in their political position. There are two ways you can respond to such fanaticism. The first option is to ignore them. You can scroll on by and not give their article any more attention. The other, far more tempting option, is to dig your own trench White supremacy Is an extreme threat to civilization > Rampant racism and fascism is the worst Cazzy Lewchuk Opinions Editor hroughout most of recorded history— or at least since we started travelling around the world—white people have been oppressing others. Colonialism, the slave trade, the genocide of entire populations, and systematic racism all contribute to the white supremacist culture present today. While racism is generally frowned upon in society, it would be a lie to suggest that white people are not the most dominant and privileged people in Western society. Racism is still a very real and serious problem. The belief that white people are genetically and intelligently superior to other cultures is incredibly hurtful and inaccurate. Modern genetic studies continue to assert that ethnicity and race have no real meaning at an inner level, and that your ancestor’s geographical origins have nothing to do with your merit as a human being. Sadly, discrimination and misguided beliefs between populations continue to flourish. North America is not as racist as it was 50 years ago, but prejudice is still abundant. The new leaders of the US government are perhaps the most bizarre, ridiculous, and racist ones in recent memory. President Trump has been criticized for his alarming comments on Hispanic, Muslim, Black, Asian, and Native American people, amongst many other groups and specific people he doesn’t like (particularly women). Many of his supporters are racist, ranging from “your redneck uncle who doesn’t care for immigrants” all the way to “full-on Nazi” and “member of the Ku Klux Klan.” Image via trump24h.com Steve Bannon is the founder of Breitbart, a news platform that—in his own words—specifically caters to the “alt-right.” The “alt-right” movement was literally coined to spread white nationalist Nazi propaganda and generalized white supremacy. Bannon is heavily supported by the KKK, has praised fascism and nationalism, and repeatedly made anti- Semitic comments about Jewish people. Steve Bannon is also Chief Strategist and Assistant to Donald Trump, and is extremely influential to the president. and use your enemies’ own weapons: propaganda and misinformation. There is the possibility that someone made an honest mistake. If you believe this to be the case, send them a private message about it. They might surprise you and admit their fault. At the very least you won't get caught in a pointless public argument. I have said that dishonest news divides, and I believe that the opposite is true of news dedicated to honesty. It helps people find common ground. Truth is rarely “left” or “right,” but somewhere in between, and that’s where we can begin having constructive conversations. It’s easy to compare a bad situation to Hitler and Nazi Germany, but it’s also justified when the movements are so disturbingly similar. The Nazi’s rise to power began with talk of nationalism and directing hatred towards religious groups and immigrants. The Holocaust represented white supremacy and racism in its very worst form: the deaths of millions of people who were disliked by or disagreed with the government. Just listen to some of the things US government officials say about Muslims and replace the word “Muslims” with “Jews.” Are you concerned yet? Obviously, I hope President Trump wont be influenced by Steve Bannon to start constructing camps. However, that course of action wouldn't even surprise me at this point, as the oppressive actions that have already been taken by the administration are truly terrifying. Racists and nationalists do not have anyone’s best interests at heart—particularly not non-white people’s—and they are an extremely dangerous threat to a tolerant, better world. We must learn from history and fight systemic and rampant racism, every single day.