Fake news is killing people's minds, says Apple boss Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook said the crackdown would help providers of quality journalism and help drive out clickbait. Photo / AP

Tim Cook, the boss of Apple, is calling for governments to launch a public information campaign to fight the scourge of fake news, which is "killing people's minds."

In an impassioned plea, Mr Cook, boss of the world's largest company, says that the epidemic of false reports "is a big problem in a lot of the world" and necessitates a crackdown by the authorities and technology firms.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, he calls for a campaign similar to those that changed attitudes on the environment to educate the public on the threat posed by fabricated online stories.

"It has to be ingrained in the schools, it has to be ingrained in the public", said Mr Cook. "There has to be a massive campaign. We have to think through every demographic.

"We need the modern version of a public service announcement campaign. It can be done quickly if there is a will."

The rise of fake news was being driven by unscrupulous firms determined to attract online readers at any cost, he said.

"We are going through this period of time right here where unfortunately some of the people that are winning are the people that spend their time trying to get the most clicks, not tell the most truth," he said. "It's killing people's minds in a way."

Tech firms, which have been criticised for doing too little, also need to up their game, he said.

"All of us technology companies need to create some tools that help diminish the volume of fake news.

"We must try to squeeze this without stepping on freedom of speech and of the press, but we must also help the reader. Too many of us are just in the complain category right now and haven't figured out what to do."

He said that this crackdown would help providers of quality journalism and help drive out clickbait. "The outcome of that is that truthful, reliable, non-sensational, deep news outlets will win," Mr Cook said.

"The [rise of fake news] is a short-term thing, I don't believe that people want that at the end of the day." A new approach was required in schools, he said. "It's almost as if a new course is required for the modern kid, for the digital kid." But he is optimistic.

"In some ways kids will be the easiest to educate. At least before a certain age, they are very much in listen and understand [mode], and they then push their parents to act. We saw this with environmental issues: kids learning at school and coming home and saying why do you have this plastic bottle? Why are you throwing it away?"

This article was originally published by the Daily Telegraph