 | |
Type of site | News aggregator; fake news website |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Hong Kong |
| Founder(s) | Gurbaksh Chahal |
| URL | bnnbreaking |
| Launched | 2022 |
BNN Breaking was a news website based in Hong Kong, launched in 2022 by Indian-American entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal. It was criticized for posting a number of misleading and inaccurate news stories, [1] using AI-driven content aggregation. [2] As of May 2024, the website redirects to BNNGPT and is no longer accessible.
The BNN Breaking website claimed to have an extensive network of reporters on the ground that supply information to major news outlets. [3] However, it has been described by others as a news aggregator, and has also been accused of using artificial intelligence to extract and summarize news from other sources, often resulting in misleading and inaccurate coverage. For example, it has been noted that purported journalists credited by the site publish dozens of articles a day, indicating a potential use of AI-driven content aggregation. It has also been accused of spreading misinformation about prominent politicians and celebrities. [4] [5] The San Francisco Standard noted that the site was publishing hundreds of articles each day from "virtually every country on Earth". [1]
In October 2023, BNN Breaking published three articles that were critical of San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston, all of which contained misleading or false information. One of the articles described Preston as "arguably the most attention-seeking, spineless, and downright insufferable politician the city has ever seen." The same article included a comment by BNN Breaking founder Gurbaksh Chahal which asserted that the network maintains a "commitment to impartiality". [4]
The first article included fake quotes attributed to Preston and the inaccurate claim that he had resigned from his District 5 office after a Twitter exchange with Elon Musk; an apparent error by the article's author in aggregating news that he had in fact left Twitter after Musk suggested he should be jailed and pledged $100,000 for a campaign to oust him from office. This misinformation was then picked up by Microsoft's news aggregation site MSN. The article was finally modified over 18 hours after it first went live to reflect that Preston's departure was from Twitter and not his political office. However, it did not acknowledge that the correction had been made and retained multiple fake quotes attributed to Preston. Gurbaksh Chahal also minimized the impact of the false claims made by BNN Breaking, describing it as a "small oversight" and "a mistake that was promptly corrected". He then falsely claimed that Preston has not approached BNN Breaking for clarification, and accused him of "leveraging the San Francisco Chronicle for a personal attack against me, the founder." [4] [6]
A second article blamed Preston's policies for a spike in homelessness between 2017 and 2019, despite the fact that he had only assumed office in mid-December 2019. A further article claimed that an effort to get Preston recalled from office had gathered enough signatures to be put on the ballot, although no such effort existed. [4] Preston responded to the incident by stating: "People deserve reliable news sources, I sincerely hope that this is not a preview of what’s to come and that we never normalize this kind of disinformation." [6]
On 11 October 2023, an article published by BNN Breaking featured an image of Irish broadcaster Dave Fanning alongside the headline that a prominent Irish broadcaster was on trial for alleged sexual misconduct. The trial in question was unrelated to Fanning, and the article was taken down the day after it was published. In January 2024, Fanning launched legal action against BNN Breaking for defamation. [5]
On 9 February 2024, BNN Breaking published an article that claimed that the Hampton Beach, New Hampshire restaurant L Street Tavern was closing down. BNN Breaking seemingly confused the restaurant with one with the same name in South Boston, Massachusetts that was being sold by its owners. The article was removed when a reporter for the local newspaper The Portsmouth Herald reached out to BNN Breaking. [7]
In June 2024, The New York Times published an investigation based on interviews with former BNN employees, who confirmed that the site had been using generative AI to paraphrase news content from other sources. [2] Initially, the employees performed some manual error checking, but the site eventually started publishing high volumes of purely AI generated stories, randomly assigned to the names of employees. [2] In response to employee objections, Chahal wrote: "When I do this, I won’t have a need for any of you." [2]
BNN shut down in April 2024 and briefly relaunched as Trimfeed, which was taken offline in connection with The New York Times report. [2]
In June 2022, Twitter permanently suspended BNN Breaking and all associated accounts, which had previously been verified by Twitter. Despite being officially established in 2022, the BNN Breaking Twitter account @BNNBreaking dated back to 2015 and experienced a surge in followers during the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020. The account was previously owned by Netherlands-based BNO News, but was purchased and renamed by Chahal. BNN Breaking had up to 80 associated accounts on Twitter by the time they were permanently suspended for violations of Twitter's policy on spam and platform manipulation. Chahal accused Business Insider of "engineering" Twitter's enforcement of its policies against his company. [8]
As of March 2024, Google appeared to have deindexed all of BNN Breaking's site links and articles [9] from search after numerous reports of stolen content. [10]
Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic deceptions and media manipulation tactics to advance political, military, or commercial goals. Disinformation is implemented through attacks that "weaponize multiple rhetorical strategies and forms of knowing—including not only falsehoods but also truths, half-truths, and value judgements—to exploit and amplify culture wars and other identity-driven controversies."
Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation can exist without specific malicious intent; disinformation is distinct in that it is deliberately deceptive and propagated. Misinformation can include inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, or false information as well as selective or half-truths.
InfoWars is an American far-right conspiracy theory and fake news website owned by Alex Jones. It was founded in 1999, and operates under Free Speech Systems LLC.
Breitbart News Network is an American far-right syndicated news, opinion, and commentary website founded in mid-2007 by American conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart. Its content has been described as misogynistic, xenophobic, and racist by academics and journalists. The site has published a number of conspiracy theories and intentionally misleading stories. Posts originating from the Breitbart News Facebook page are among the most widely shared political content on Facebook.
Gurbaksh Singh Chahal is an Indian-American entrepreneur who has founded, managed, and frequently sold several internet advertising companies. However, legal issues involving violence against women have resulted in his removal from two of his businesses.
Michael D. Shellenberger is an American author and journalist who writes about politics, the environment, climate change, and nuclear power. He is a co-founder of the Breakthrough Institute and the California Peace Coalition. Shellenberger founded the pro-nuclear non-profit Environmental Progress in 2016.
RadiumOne is a marketing company that provides online display, mobile, video, and social advertising services through programmatic marketing campaigns. It was first launched in 2009 by Gurbaksh Chahal. The company buys advertising space from websites and mobile applications and resells it in targeted packages to advertisers and agencies. It also creates software that automates the process of media buying for digital marketers. Headquartered in San Francisco, the firm has offices across North America, Europe and Asia.
The Babylon Bee is a conservative Christian news satire website that publishes satirical articles on topics including religion, politics, current events, and public figures. It has been referred to as a Christian or conservative version of The Onion.
Fake news websites are websites on the Internet that deliberately publish fake news—hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation purporting to be real news—often using social media to drive web traffic and amplify their effect. Unlike news satire, fake news websites deliberately seek to be perceived as legitimate and taken at face value, often for financial or political gain. Such sites have promoted political falsehoods in India, Germany, Indonesia and the Philippines, Sweden, Mexico, Myanmar, and the United States. Many sites originate in, or are promoted by, Russia, or North Macedonia among others. Some media analysts have seen them as a threat to democracy. In 2016, the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs passed a resolution warning that the Russian government was using "pseudo-news agencies" and Internet trolls as disinformation propaganda to weaken confidence in democratic values.
False information in the United States has been a subject of discussion and debate, especially since the increased reliance on the Internet and social media for information.
Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue. Although false news has always been spread throughout history, the term fake news was first used in the 1890s when sensational reports in newspapers were common. Nevertheless, the term does not have a fixed definition and has been applied broadly to any type of false information presented as news. It has also been used by high-profile people to apply to any news unfavorable to them. Further, disinformation involves spreading false information with harmful intent and is sometimes generated and propagated by hostile foreign actors, particularly during elections. In some definitions, fake news includes satirical articles misinterpreted as genuine, and articles that employ sensationalist or clickbait headlines that are not supported in the text. Because of this diversity of types of false news, researchers are beginning to favour information disorder as a more neutral and informative term.
The Gateway Pundit (TGP) is an American far-right fake news website. The website is known for publishing falsehoods, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories.
Occupy Democrats is an American left-wing media outlet built around a Facebook page and corresponding website. Established in 2012, it publishes hyperpartisan content, clickbait, and false information. Posts originating from the Occupy Democrats Facebook page are among the most widely shared political content on Facebook.
The Grayzone is an American fringe, far-left news website and blog, founded and edited by American journalist Max Blumenthal The website initially founded as The Grayzone Project, was affiliated with AlterNet before becoming independent in early 2018.
Fake news in the Philippines refers to the general and widespread misinformation or disinformation in the country by various actors. It has been problematic in the Philippines where social media and alike plays a key role in influencing topics and information ranging from politics, health, belief, religion, current events, aid, lifestyle, elections and others. Recently, it has evolved to be a rampant issue against the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines and the 2022 Philippine general election.
The Exposé is a British conspiracist and fake news website created in 2020 by Jonathan Allen-Walker. It is known for publishing COVID-19 and anti-vaccine misinformation.
Disclose.tv is a disinformation outlet based in Germany that presents itself as a news aggregator. It is known for promoting conspiracy theories and fake news, including COVID-19 misinformation and anti-vaccine narratives.
Incorrect or misleading information or misinformation, is a feature of the Israel–Hamas war. Much of the content has been viral in nature, with tens of millions of posts in circulation on social media. A variety of sources, including government officials, media outlets, and social media influencers across different countries, have contributed to the spread of these inaccuracies.
PoliticusUSA is an American left-wing website that publishes hyperpartisan clickbait. Its content has been described by academic studies and journalistic reports as "unreliable," "misleading," and "fake". It is among the most popular U.S. political websites.