Facebook overrun with fake posts saying your favourite celeb is homophobic
Meta’s lack of fact-checking has led to a plague of disinformation about celebrities being anti-LGBTQ+ being spread online. (Photo Illustration by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
If you’re a Facebook user, then an influx of posts about celebrities being homophobic may have plagued your feed.
Targeting celebrities such as Cher, Pink and Mick Jagger, the posts are AI-created to spread disinformation, which should be obvious, but isn’t to many who interact with such posts, only spreading the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment further.
One fake post featured an AI-generated image of LGBTQ+ ally Cher, whose real Facebook profile includes “PRIDE” sandwiched between two Pride flags, standing next to Donald Trump and an AI-generated statue that deems her “the goddess of pop”.
A lot of people commented that the post is clearly “fake”, and that it “would never happen because she hates Trump”, but one person seemingly believed it, writing: “Cher deserves this. She’s the greatest.”
Other fake articles quote celebrities such as Cher, Pink and Pedro Pascal, saying: “Donald Trump is a tough man. He can be brash, outspoken, and unapologetic. But in my lifetime, no one has fought harder for the heart and soul of America.”
Another fake post claims Mick Jagger is facing backlash for being homophobic: “Some fans say they are boycotting rock legend Mick Jagger after comments circulating online claimed he said children should not be exposed to cartoons featuring LGBTQ themes.”
The fake post once again aligns with right-wing beliefs, which are reflected in the comment section with people writing: “He’s right.”
All of these posts, which are just a few of what’s out there, are easily disproved through a Google search, but this isn’t the first time AI has been used to push fake LGBTQ+ news on Facebook.
Misinformation and disinformation – two distinctly different but intertwined concepts – have been part of the media ecosystem as long as verifiable news has been.
While misinformation refers to the spread of falsehoods via genuine misunderstanding or mistake, disinformation is far more sinister and instead refers to the process by which entirely false information is created, propagated and disseminated on purpose, to push a particular narrative or agenda to achieve a set of political goals.
Last year, divisive posts such as one claiming singer Sam Smith took issue with conjoined twins Abby and Brittany Hensel, as two individuals, using they/them pronouns, spread across the platform.
After Trump’s re-election, Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, announced it would abandon its fact-checking program, which helped to prevent misinformation and disinformation. Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed that fact-checking had led to “too much censorship”.
As a result, the LGBTQ+ community has often been at the forefront of disinformation, which is frequently spread to align with right-wing beliefs.
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