Austrian President trolls Trump, says autocrats attack truth
Taking a dig at Donald Trump, Austria's president has said that in this age of misinformation, anyone with a computer can depict himself as Jesus or a doctor, and the fundamental political strategy of autocrats is to ensure that people “no longer know right from wrong.”
With technology rapidly advancing to produce more convincing fake news, the society will need credible news agencies “more than ever”, President Alexander Van der Bellen told a visiting delegation of executives from top news agencies around the world. PTIs editor-in-chief Vijay Joshi was part of the delegation. “As third-party quality seal, independent from politics, disconnected from clicks of followers, you triple-check and question everything”, he told the executives in a welcome speech late Thursday at the presidential palace. “I hope”, he added tongue in cheek. Van der Bellen, a former economics professor and former leader of the left-wing Greens party, is an outspoken critic of right-wing populism even though the coalition Government of Austria is led by the far-right Freedom Party. The President's position in Austria is largely ceremonial and actual executive authority lies with the Chancellor and Cabinet ministers. However, the president has the power to dismiss the government, dissolve parliament and reject proposed ministers.
Van der Bellen, 82, began his speech by saying he would like to take the opportunity to give his guests “an amazing crypto investment tip”. This was his reference to a fake video he encountered on the Internet where he was shown in “a fake interview with a fake voice” advocating a certain crypto investment.
He said the fakery was evident because his accent in the video was “shockingly” North German. Austrians also speak German but have a different accent, which he said “is tricky to imitate!”. “With AI technologies rapidly progressing, it has become easy to manipulate what we see, what we hear, to manipulate truth”, he said.
Basically, anyone with a computer can do it. Anyone can depict opponents in compromising scenes — or himself as Jesus. Van der Bellen said that with traditional media like newspapers coming under increasing pressure, news agencies must remain neutral, objective and committed to the truth. “Truth matters. We need a shared understanding of what is right and what is wrong. Of what is a fact and what is just an opinion .. only then we can decide who to vote for, who to believe,” he said.
