Terry Pratchett predicted “fake news” in 1995 and Bill Gates explained why he was “wrong”
Terry Pratchett was quite the visionary, as every one of his books can affirm, but his ability to predict current trends on the internet as far back as 1995 is still pretty impressive. In this interview with Bill Gates, he posited a theory that fake news could be easily spread and difficult to check, but Bill disagreed.
In 1996 Terry Pratchett interviewed Bill Gates for GQ and accurately predicted how the internet would propagate and legitimise fake news. Gates didn’t believe him. pic.twitter.com/MqjawT4NVV
— Marc Burrows⚡️ (@20thcenturymarc) May 28, 2019
“There’s no way of finding out whether this stuff has any bottom to it or whether someone has just made it up.”
“You will have authorities on the Net and because an article is contained in their index it will mean something.”
How’s that worked out for you, Bill?
Writer Marc Burrows added this slight correction, in case you think we just weren’t paying attention.
Also, there's a typo on the date – it's from 1995.
— Marc Burrows⚡️ (@20thcenturymarc) May 28, 2019
These are a few of the many reactions.
Once again, clowns, comedians & satirists are more reliable than the powers that be. https://t.co/uRrqgxJz2n
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) May 28, 2019
One of these people understands humanity https://t.co/CbeJHN9gul
— Dr Kate Wiles (@katemond) May 28, 2019
It's weird how consistently the brain geniuses who created this clusterfuck we live in had absolutely no idea what they were unleashing. https://t.co/HmR1A5Msxe
— Tom Tomorrow (@tomtomorrow) May 28, 2019
An excellent reminder that as well as authoring Discworld etc Pratchett was also a very canny journalist.
‘A lie can run halfway around the world before the truth has put its boots on.’ https://t.co/Mbj4UQNUsH
— The Law Talking Guy (@LPearcylaw) May 28, 2019
It's like a perfect explanation of how everything went wrong in Gates' response.
He believed that authority and reputation had more weight than an anonymous mass.
That somehow with all the freedom, people would still want someone to tell them what was what. https://t.co/DUSG5m4fJi
— Nash but with like jet boots and stuff (@Nash076) May 28, 2019
Someone named Louisa hit the nail on the head.
https://twitter.com/LouisatheLast/status/1133478268508790784
If only Terry were still around to say “I told you so.”
