The 2017 Holberg Debate: ‘Propaganda, Facts and Fake News’

At the 2017 Holberg Debate, John Pilger, Julian Assange og Jonathan Heawood discussed the presence of propaganda in news and social media, and its democratic implications.

Is there an escalating war of information that is threatening our democracy and our ability to make informed decisions? 

Call it propaganda, fake news, bias or distorted facts—manipulation of information may have vast implications for people trying to make sense of the world. While politicians and media actors accuse each other of undermining the truth and stirring up the public’s emotions with questionable assertions, it is often unclear whose interests lie behind the narratives and whether or not the news are truthful descriptions.

In many countries, even the less subtle forms of propaganda will often be an accepted part of everyday life. Yet, even in Europe and the US, the War of Information now seems to be escalating beyond what we have previously seen. “All wars always produce phony atrocity stories – along with real atrocities,” writes journalist Patrick Cockburn, “But in the Syrian case fabricated news and one-sided reporting have taken over the news agenda to a degree probably not seen since the First World War.”

Add to this the chaotic world of social media and online news outlets, where it is hard to know whom to trust, particularly when we know that both state actors and private interests are working continuously to promote narratives that work to their own advantage.

The Holberg Debate 2017 seeks to explore various aspects of propaganda and distorted information in the news and social media, including:

• Can voters be expected to make informed decisions in the presence of propaganda? 
• Are the established media hypocritical when they define themselves as the guardians against “fake news”? And who are the most powerful actors in what may be seen as a global theatre of information warfare? 
• How much should we trust the media in issues of war, peace, power and politics? Were there for instance dark, foreign forces behind the surging French ‘populists’ and the British Brexit campaign? Was the regime change in Ukraine a popular revolution or a US supported coup? And was the US election hacked and stolen by Russian spies? 
• Are the bombs that have fallen over countries such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen and Pakistan part of great humanitarian projects, or are there ulterior motives that the media either willfully obscure or are manipulated into distorting?
• Is the future of humanity under threat from propaganda controlled by artificial intelligence?

The event is a collaboration between the Holberg Prize, the Fritt Ord Foundation and Norwegian PEN (Western Norway). We are also grateful to the Bergesen Foundation and the University of Bergen, whose support helped make this event possible.