Zuma’s R80,000 dinner bill – fake news got you again

·5 Jan 2017

South African social media was once again stirred into a frenzy this past week after a bill amounting to R80,350 at fine-dining restaurant Signature surfaced online, and was attributed to none other than President Jacob Zuma.

Despite its current popularity, the picture of the bill in question has actually circulated online since June of 2016, and has nothing to do with Zuma.

Speaking to BizNews, Signature owner Desmond Mabuza said that while the bill is real, it was not Zuma’s – pointing out that not only had Zuma never visited the restaurant, the president was out of country on the date in question – 12 May 2016.

The bill and its attribution to Zuma is just the latest in the ongoing spate of “fake news” which has hit the net, and is making it increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction.

Fake news is fueled by eager posters on social media who favour gossip, novelty, speed and “shareability” of stories.

According to Simeon Yates, Director Institute of Cultural Capital at the University of Liverpool, social media tends to mistake sociability for social value, adding that fake news stories tend to play into existing prejudices

It is therefore more likely to be “liked” and shared, and in turn generate more revenue for the creators.

“This is no different than ‘celebrity’ magazines. Well-researched and documented news is far less likely to be widely shared,” Yates said.

“Understanding this complex mix of factors is the job of the social sciences. But maybe the real message here is that we as societies and individuals have questions to answer about educating people to read the news, about our choice not to regulate social media (as we do TV and print) and in our own behaviour,” he said.

Consumers of news, particularly on platforms such as social media, should combat false information by always checking the sources of news they consume before spreading it on.