Why fake news is more of a threat to organisations than ever before

Social media's power to dramatically influence public opinion poses a risk to business that's only just beginning, says Professor Sinan Aral.

"The ability to destroy confidence and trust very quickly is a risk few businesses can afford to take, but also few know how to deal with," says Professor Aral, Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Initiative on the Digital Economy.

"I think social media, like any technology, is full of promise and the potential for tremendous peril. We've seen a lot of the peril recently, but we also have the ability to harness it for social good and for business advantage as well."

Professor Aral is one of the keynote speakers at this year's Melbourne Business Analytics Conference on 15 to 18 March. Ahead of the event, he shared his views on the risk that social media misinformation poses to organisations around the world.

"There are so many changes happening very rapidly in the social media ecosystem. We had the spectre of regulation worldwide because of all the problems that we're seeing with social media," he says.

"So, it's going to be important to watch how governments regulate speech, how they regulate market concentration and antitrust, how they regulate election integrity, privacy and so on."

Watch the above video interview with Professor Aral to learn more. To register for the event on 15 to 18 March, visit the Melbourne Business Analytics Conference website.

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