How fake news is hurting businesses around the world

The problem of#nbsp;fake news is#nbsp;getting more and more attention. Fake news can harm not only society and politicians, butalso businesses. How do "ducks" - others and their own#nbsp;— affect companies and how to#nbsp;deal with them?

Non-illusory risk

Fake news is#nbsp;one of#nbsp;the most significant problems for Internet users around the world, and the concern caused by#nbsp;the dominance of#nbsp;false information is#nbsp;only growing. Although the phrase fake news appears most often in#nbsp;the context of#nbsp;politics, this is#nbsp;only one of#nbsp;the areas that they affect. Business suffers from unverified or#nbsp;outright false information no#nbsp;less. According to#nbsp;experts, the world’s annual economic losses from such messages are estimated at#nbsp;almost $#nbsp;40 billion. A#nbsp;special risk of#nbsp;fakes is#nbsp;that even one message can lead to#nbsp;devastating results.

This is#nbsp;exactly what happened in#nbsp;2013, when a#nbsp;hacker attack on#nbsp;the official Twitter of#nbsp;the Associated Press news agency resulted in#nbsp;a#nbsp;tweet about an#nbsp;alleged attack on#nbsp;the White House and the wounding of#nbsp;US President Barack Obama. The Dow Jones index sank more than 140 points, and company shares lost more than $#nbsp;130 billion in#nbsp;total value. If#nbsp;hacks of#nbsp;leading news agencies have not developed into a#nbsp;permanent practice, this does not mean that the business has received a#nbsp;breather. Moreover, it#nbsp;is#nbsp;threatened not only by#nbsp;global, easily refuted fakes, but also by#nbsp;pinpoint messages, the destructive effect of#nbsp;which is#nbsp;also difficult to#nbsp;overestimate.

There are many examples when fake-news made a#nbsp;harm to#nbsp;company reputation, made their customers fear that their beloved brand isn’t what they thought and I#nbsp;think that this type of#nbsp;competition will only grow up#nbsp;in#nbsp;future. So, what brands can do#nbsp;to#nbsp;avoid getting in#nbsp;trouble with fake-news. I#nbsp;don’t have a#nbsp;certain answer, but I#nbsp;presume that openness with customers and sharing details on#nbsp;their products and operations must be#nbsp;the most important weapon in#nbsp;this situation. Brands also need to#nbsp;get better connected with their customers, so#nbsp;they are aware what the company can do#nbsp;and what they can’t do.