Editorial:

Veteran trade unionist Felix Anthony, who has spent the better part of his life as a unionist, has fallen for fake news.

This is worrying. People will not deny that Felix is one who should know his stuff. But, falling for fake news makes one question – is he really losing it?

Yesterday, he released a statement where he quoted some comments and “facts” about a press conference. The only problem is that the said press conference never happened and those facts were, well not factual.

He is not the only one to fall for fake news. Recently Fiji TV actually ran a whole news piece claiming that bus fare had increased and had gone ahead to quote the Attorney-General in the piece. That too was yet another fake news.

What makes it worse? When Felix Anthony was drafting his statement the first alarm bells should have gone off when the information did not come from any mainstream media.

It was just a random page on Facebook where people just posted up some fake comments and Mr Anthony, and whoever saw the release before it was sent out, saw no reason to doubt a random Facebook page with no links to any mainstream media.

This is a classic example of how people, like Mr Anthony, are fooled by those who are driven by their own agenda and release outright fake news to discredit Government, corporate bodies, non-government organisations (NGOs) and even individuals.

The Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) is right to be annoyed by Felix’s latest press release. They are right to be disturbed by it. All Fijians should be equally disturbed when even our unionists cannot differentiate between fake news and what is really news.

If this was not such a serious matter, one would have even had a chuckle at Felix’s expense. But this is no laughing matter. This is of great concern.

This is why some Fijians are misled today. They are too quick to believe a fake news piece if it appeals to them.

Feedback:  jyotip@fijisun.com.fj