Accounts that do not state that they are fake/fan pages until the number of followers increase, almost direct the agenda when they reach large follower numbers. Speaking to Milli Gazete, International Social Media Association (USMED) President Said Ercan said, “People can directly receive the sharing of accounts they trust without questioning. No confirmation reflex has developed."
Fake accounts on social media are increasing day by day. It is seen that people who open fake accounts try to increase their followers by opening accounts on famous people or on issues of public conscience. Some of the fake accounts that have a high number of followers either sell their pages or tend to set up news sites that produce manipulative content. Said Ercan, President of the International Social Media Association (USMED), made remarks on the issue, drawing attention to the Milli Gazete.
Stating that the level of media literacy is low in Turkey, “According to 2021 data, the 10th most searched word on Google is again Google. After all, we are a society that searches for Google on Google. Very young children register here and when they see a picture there, they think that person is famous. Apart from children, there is not much digital awareness of people in Anatolia either. They quickly believe pages pretending to be celebrities. People can directly receive the sharing of accounts they trust without questioning. No confirmation reflex has developed," Said Ercan added.
“PARODY ACCOUNTS ARE NOT INTERFERED”
Talking about the methods used by people who create fake accounts, Said Ercan said, “I want to talk about something that is unique to us in general, it is rare in the world. Blue ticks are received on behalf of some celebrities who are not on social media. A website is opened on behalf of that famous person. Names that are not famous at all can get a blue tick by showing themselves as famous, by opening an IMDB page, and by showing them as a licensed athlete. That's why, unfortunately, Twitter and Instagram are changing the blue tick policy in Turkey. In fact, many blue ticked accounts were taken back for this reason. These accounts have been closed. On the other hand, there is also a parody account. Social media applications do not interfere with parody accounts. Anyway, it says parody account. It is enough to write a parody in the bio section. But people don't know what that parody is, and they think that account is real."
“FAKE ACCOUNTS ARE USED FOR CYBER BULLYING”
Said Ercan, who stated that people who opened fake accounts, reached high followers in a short time, "Besides these, there are fan pages opened in the name of celebrities. Fan pages can also change accounts and change to another name after they grow. For example, İlber Ortaylı's fan page grew and reached 100 thousand followers. Then he can either sell the page or change the name of the page and switch to an account in his own name. Here, the famous social media language 'influencer' is used in many subjects in the field of influencer marketing. It is used both for advertising and for reputation. The most dangerous is used for cyberbullying,” he added.
“DIGITAL MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION SHOULD BE GIVEN TO USERS”
Stating that it is easier to manipulate people with the ‘deep fake’ technology, Said Ercan said, "There is a term called 'Deep Fake'. Now, with this technology, you can make someone talk like a celebrity from your own account. You can produce new photos like the celebrity you choose and serve them to the market. Unfortunately, these seem to be topics that we will talk about a lot in the coming days. I think cases of fake accounts related to celebrities will spread further. Digital media literacy training should be given to users.”