A phoney post promoting a fictional revival of The X-Files may seem like a harmless hoax, but it represents a larger rot in social media platforms.
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Fans of the cult TV hit The X-Files, which focused on paranormal phenomena and government conspiracies, had their hopes cruelly raised this week — then dashed by reality.
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You may have seen an authentic-looking poster touting a new season of the 1990s show shared on Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly Twitter), with a return set for mid-February. The two main characters, FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, appear older in the image, lending some credibility to it.
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Season 12, we’re informed in the post, returns to the Fox network and Hulu with a two-night premiere and a new season that will focus on a “global internet viral phenomenon and a dangerous conspiracy.”
Sadly, for fans, the post contains only false information, which is deeply ironic for a TV series noted for the catchphrase “The truth is out there.” The truth may indeed be out there, but it’s not on social media.
Long a purveyor of misleading or “alternative” facts, social media has now become the most reliable source for outright lies and hoaxes.
A little research revealed there is indeed a reboot of the series in the planning stages, but not involving original stars David Duchovny or Gillian Anderson, or creator Chris Carter.
One post with the fake promotion was shared about 1,500 times and attracted 1,500 comments. Most comments decried the phoney tease and complained about the amount of fabrications on Facebook.
The damage caused by fake promotions for TV revivals rates as pretty low compared to all the other disinformation being shared. But it’s a small symptom of a greater rot. Somebody with too much time on his or her hands knew this hoax could gain traction.
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In Canada, Facebook and Instagram prohibit posting links to news outlets, which stems from a dispute with the federal government over compensation. So there’s even less chance of facts surfacing on social media in this nation.
That’s compounded by the announcement this month by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that fact checking on Facebook and Instagram will be discontinued, allegedly to promote free speech, but realistically to show fealty to America’s new leader, President Donald Trump.
That may well bring the MAGA crowd back to Facebook, which should change its name to Fakebook to reflect its new direction, but will alienate many others, including advertisers that support the platform.
Facebook — which most people, like me, joined solely to stay in touch with friends — has become a nonstop barrage of useless nonsense; not that I don’t love Seinfeld bloopers, but even they get old.
Then there’s Elon Musk’s X, which is dying as a source for information and morphing into a propaganda tool for a man who made a Nazi-like salute this week at an event connected to Trump’s inauguration. I can tell from my own account that the former Twitter’s influence is in deep decline.
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My account on the rival Bluesky platform has thousands fewer followers, yet generates far more activity.
Amid all the social media pollution, traditional sources of news are struggling, crippled by a changing landscape when people have more access to information — reliable or not — than ever before in human history.
The last newspaper printing press in Saskatchewan, located in Estevan, will shutter on Friday, forcing the Regina Leader-Post and Saskatoon StarPhoenix to be printed out of province.
Yet the stage is set for a journalism revival, if people simply tire of the barrage of fakery and propaganda.
Newspapers mostly began as party rags designed to promote a political entity or a certain perspective. Journalism evolved because people wanted facts untainted by bias or ulterior motives.
As a Saskatoon newsroom leader reminded me this week, journalism is not dying, although it can often feel that way. It’s transitioning, she pointed out.
The grim reality of shrinking newsrooms can make it difficult to see a brighter future. But every fake post on social media moves us closer to it.
Phil Tank is the digital opinion editor at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
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