Citizen Robot

Fade News

London

Everyone remembers where they were when The Great Truth Hack happened. Like 9/11, or when JFK got shot – if they were alive then.

The Great Truth HackI was working that day at The Indie Reporter, an investigative journalist collective in London. I had been working there for at least ten years.

The Indie ReporterIt was a tough job for many reasons. There was never enough money. The wages were low, the publication’s circulation was not high, and the hours could be grueling. There were never enough resources to do proper research – no travel perks – it was all Skype. There was a lot of ‘churn’ – reporters would come and work for a few weeks or months, then leave. The office manager always seemed to be onboarding someone every week. There used to be a farewell party if someone was going, but now it was just a friendly wave and well meant but empty promises of keeping in touch.

Sometimes they just didn’t turn up anymore.

But I think it was the death threats that made them leave. I’ve had plenty, and I have come to look at them more as a badge of honor. I was rattling someone’s cage; I was doing my job, maybe even having an effect. I had even printed out some of the more bizarre intimidations and had them framed. Strangely, all my death threats had spelling mistakes. I had become immune to the rantings of some trolling teenager who lived with his mother. What did I care, a middle-aged man with no family?

I had once done some investigative work into someone who had sent me a death threat. He was sloppy hiding his identity, so I quickly found the guy. It was a twenty-two-year-old who lived on social security, and, no surprise, he lived with his mother. I got a great article out of it. He didn’t like my report about xenophobia in the North of England. Instead of engaging in a respectful and meaningful conversation, he decided, arbitrarily, to send me grammatically incorrect death threats. He was surprisingly friendly when he realized I was merely curious and had no other intentions. He wasn’t even all that xenophobic – he was just angry and needed to vent. I suggested therapy or coaching, and he smiled and nodded, but I doubted he was mature enough for that sort of honest self-evaluation.

I had won a few awards for journalism, which was why my publisher kept me on. I gave the site a certain cache. The other journalists were envious but respectful. They complained quietly that I could spend months on one report while they had to deliver theirs within tight deadlines. I had a reputation for research and compulsive fact-checking, which, considering the context of this story, I am grateful for. I let them have their gripes – I mostly worked from home. If I can ignore death threats, I can handle a little jealousy.

But on that fateful day, I happened to go to the office. I tried to go once a week. I prefer to start work late, so I only arrived there at about 10.30. There was some consternation with the IT department. Everybody was looking at the website. The computers had been hacked. Everything worked as expected, except some text was in a different font or font weight. It was a subtle difference. Typically, we published in Fira-Sans medium, but some text – random text – sometimes a word or a sentence or even a whole paragraph, had Fira-Sans light. A thinner version. It appeared on the screen like someone had wiped the screen in places and faded the text.

‘What’s up?’ I asked. The IT guy did not look happy. I have always created good working relationships with people whose job is to help me. Like IT guys, the cleaners at the office, canteen staff. I get to know their names, ask about their weekends, buy presents, and sign birthday cards. Not only is it the right thing to do, but they also help me in return when I need them. However, Bob was not in the mood for small talk.

‘What’s up?’‘The systems have been hacked, and I have no idea how they did it,’ he said. His tone was of profound irritation. He sounded like he didn’t want me to make helpful suggestions. Our system was repeatedly attacked by phishers and trolls or whatever they called themselves, and Bob was proud of how he had always kept them at bay. We draw a lot of attention from North Korea and extremists on both sides. But this hack was different.

The systems have been hacked, and I have no idea how they did itI looked at the pages as he flipped back and forth between the browser and the code. The text had random areas of grey, which were marked in the code with a span tag. Bob would delete the code and resave the file, repairing the damage, but it would be back within minutes.

‘This is crazy,’ he said. It was frustrating for him and aesthetically weird for the reader, but it didn’t seem to be a significant problem in my world. The text was not altered and was still readable. I went to my cubicle and started my morning routine by reading online news. Surprisingly, I saw that my favorite news sites also had the same problem.

This is crazy‘Hey Bob, come look at this,’ I said. Bob reluctantly came over; he was unhappy and didn’t want to get distracted by this significant problem by some minor ‘I forgot my password’ problem. I showed him the screen. He was shocked but also relieved. This was not just his problem; it was everybody’s problem. Even the big shots at the BBC and Observer were having problems.

Hey Bob, come look at thisI forgot my password‘Oh my God!’ he said. Or something like it. He looked at the code. It was the same problem. ‘This is crazy! – This is a major hack! – I bet it’s the Russians or the North Koreans.’

Oh my God!This is crazy! – This is a major hack! – I bet it’s the Russians or the North Koreans.A group of journalists collected around my desk. ‘It’s on CNN!’ said one, showing us her cell phone.‘Wow, that means it’s global.’‘I don’t get it,’ I said, ‘what is the point of just randomly changing the font on news websites?’‘It’s sending a message; they are saying we can do this. And if we can do this, we can do anything. Pretty smart, though – it is everywhere all at once, so it must have been embedded earlier, and they were waiting for today. What is today, January the 24th?’‘Nothing special about that, I don’t think,’ said the girl with the cell.‘Churchill was born and died on the 24th,’ I said, but that didn’t seem helpful.‘It seems weird to do this. They could have done something way more nefarious,’ said some guy with a beard I had never seen before.

It’s on CNN!Wow, that means it’s global.I don’t get it,what is the point of just randomly changing the font on news websites?It’s sending a message; they are saying we can do this. And if we can do this, we can do anything. Pretty smart, though – it is everywhere all at once, so it must have been embedded earlier, and they were waiting for today. What is today, January the 24th?Nothing special about that, I don’t think,Churchill was born and died on the 24th,It seems weird to do this. They could have done something way more nefarious,‘I’m David Wiess,’ I said and offered my hand, already thinking about how long it would be before I would wish him good luck with his new opportunity.

I’m David Wiess,‘You’re David Weiss? I love your work, man. Loved that one about hygiene at that hotel chain. It was shocking and funny. And disgusting!’ he added.‘Thanks,’ I said. The conversation soon veered off into other, more important things. Bob announced that he would override the site with a backup, so he warned us not to upload any new stories for a few hours.

‘You’re David Weiss? I love your work, man. Loved that one about hygiene at that hotel chain. It was shocking and funny. And disgusting!’ ‘Thanks,’After chatting with the bearded guy, I settled into my next project, an exposé of child labor in India. Then my girlfriend called. She worked in the city for a small loans charity.

‘Hey, did you see what’s going on with the websites?’ she asked.I confirmed, and she went on ‘Strangest things, it’s also happening our internal documents. We get lots of applications, and some digital forms have the same weird pattern of fonts.’

Hey, did you see what’s going on with the websites?Strangest things, it’s also happening our internal documents. We get lots of applications, and some digital forms have the same weird pattern of fonts.I hadn’t noticed anything unusual when I opened a few of my documents, it was okay, but I saw files that I had received from others seemed to be affected. Word documents, PDFs, emails, it didn’t matter. The same thinner font peppered all over the page—some more than others.

Bob dropped by; he was more relaxed now that the world was having the same problem.‘I noticed that the bug had not touched your articles in the archive, which is really weird as all the other articles seem to be infected. Any ideas?’ he asked. I shrugged my shoulders. ‘It seems all pretty random to me,’ I said.

‘I noticed that the bug had not touched your articles in the archive, which is really weird as all the other articles seem to be infected. Any ideas?’ ‘It seems all pretty random to me,’ I said. ‘I’ve reinstalled the backup, but it was back to this font anomaly in no time. The weirdest thing is that it’s the same text being affected. It’s not random. It’s the same sentences, the same words, and paragraphs.’

‘Isn’t that harder to do?’ I asked.‘Absolutely, yes, it would take a lot of effort to do that. I don’t think I can do anything more than scour the internet for news of a solution. Someone somewhere is going to make a lot of money off this.’

‘Isn’t that harder to do?’‘Absolutely, yes, it would take a lot of effort to do that. I don’t think I can do anything more than scour the internet for news of a solution. Someone somewhere is going to make a lot of money off this.’ ‘You mean with ransomware?’ I asked.‘Maybe, but definitely, if someone comes up with a solution. Finding out how this is done would be valuable to the right players.’

‘You mean with ransomware?’‘Maybe, but definitely, if someone comes up with a solution. Finding out how this is done would be valuable to the right players.’ I pulled up my archived articles, and they were unaffected. But then I noticed that one date – the 18th of September 2009 – the eight seemed to be of a lighter font. I checked with Bob, and he confirmed that it was the bug.

This was weird. There was no connection between the articles or the statements. The date was important, but why was the abnormality on the 8?

‘I’m getting some bizarre reports from the IT news. Nobody knows how this was done. Everybody sees this as a major security breach. It’s everywhere. The Prime Minister is furious; his speech was affected. How did they get access to that!’

I looked through the rest of my archived articles and found a few examples.

‘Albert Johnson lives in South Africa.’‘Peterson said he never saw his only daughter ever again.’‘We met at Livingstone Street and walked to a local coffee shop.’

I called Stephen Forrest, the person with whom I had the interview on that day. I asked him if that date meant anything to him. He said it didn’t, but he would check in his diary. He came back a few minutes later.‘The date itself means nothing. From my diary, I see we met on the 13th. But neither dates have anything meaningful.This seemed incredible. Could this be an editorial correction?

The date itself means nothing. From my diary, I see we met on the 13th. But neither dates have anything meaningfulI tried my second contact, Albert Johnson. I emailed him asking him if everything was okay and how life was in South Africa. I then checked my notes about my meeting at Livingstone Street, which seemed correct. But when I checked Google Maps, I saw it was Livingstone Road. Now, this was getting creepy. Albert Johnson responded quickly – all was well, but he was now in South America. A new girlfriend, a new life.I contacted Ronald Peterson by email. I didn’t want to ask too much, so I asked if he could call me back.

AmericaThis was a clever hack, way beyond my understanding of how it could be done, although I knew enough about HTML code to understand what was being done. But why is this level of granularity into details so obscure and esoteric? I asked Bob if I could correct my files, and he allowed me to send the files to him. After being uploaded, the files stayed corrected. They did not show alterations to the font.‘How did you do that?’ he asked. ‘No matter what I do, the fonts keep changing.’I didn’t want to tell him I had corrected it factually. That didn’t seem to make sense. My years of training told me to do more research before making broad assumptions.

whatHow did you do that?’No matter what I do, the fonts keep changingThen, of course, I went and made the mistake of telling our publisher, Tom Brown, over a few drinks that night.‘Say what?’ he asked. I told him it seemed very coincidental. As billions of documents have been affected, surely there must be some documents that have only the non-factual elements changed.‘Like a million chimpanzees typing for infinity, one of them must surely type an original novel,’ I offered, although I was not convinced myself.‘This is huge, Daniel! Don’t you know how global this is? We could get you on talk shows. Everybody is clamoring to figure this out. This would be great exposure for us!’‘I need to research before we jump off with these claims,’ I said. It was all so improbable.

Say what?Like a million chimpanzees typing for infinity, one of them must surely type an original novel,’This is huge, Daniel! Don’t you know how global this is? We could get you on talk shows. Everybody is clamoring to figure this out. This would be great exposure for us!I need to research before we jump off with these claims,’Tom’s mood changed, ‘Daniel, I have given you a lot of freedom; it’s only that you have received prizes for your work that we can keep you on. We are losing money; advertisers are leaving for social media. We need to put the spotlight back on true factual news and quality reporting. We need to put The Indie Reporter in the spotlight.’ He took a sip of his whisky as if to build his courage.

Daniel, I have given you a lot of freedom; it’s only that you have received prizes for your work that we can keep you on. We are losing money; advertisers are leaving for social media. We need to put the spotlight back on true factual news and quality reporting. We need to put  in the spotlight.‘This is what we need to get free publicity. Make the Indie Reporter synonymous with quality journalism.’

This is what we need to get free publicity. Make the Indie Reporter synonymous with quality journalism.’I was very reluctant, hated television, and strangely, as a reporter, I hated being interviewed. But I also knew who buttered my bread, and I knew I cost more than what the Indie Reporter made on my articles. I had credence value, not monetary value. Tom made it clear - it was payback time.

So that is how I was on a BBC news program, representing The Indie Reporter and explaining that the text was being manipulated on-screen because what was being stated was inaccurate. As directed by my boss, I gave my examples, indirectly insinuating that it came to light because what we published (actually by me) was highly accurate compared to other publications.

The Indie Reporter‘So, you say everything being changed to a different font is fake news?’‘Yes, or just inaccurate.’ I naively said.‘So, you call those who have written stuff in lighter font liars?’ I had not anticipated she would go there. And that was not what I was insinuating. Why would I be calling unknown people liars?‘No, all I’m saying is this hack is an attempt to highlight someone’s perception of what is true or not. Maybe it’s an assault on fake news. You, as a journalist, should appreciate this. Again, it’s just a theo....’

So, you say everything being changed to a different font is fake news?Yes, or just inaccurate.’So, you call those who have written stuff in lighter font liars?No, all I’m saying is this hack is an attempt to highlight someone’s perception of what is true or not. Maybe it’s an assault on fake news. You, as a journalist, should appreciate this. Again, it’s just a theo..She turned to the camera, cutting me off, her eyebrow slightly raised in disbelief. It was only later that I noticed her articles on the BBC News website were littered with font changes.

The interview had the desired effect on Tom and The Indie Reporter. Subscriptions went up. I was told to put everything on hold and report about ‘The Great Hack,’ as it was now being called. Poverty in India could wait. I was being interviewed several times daily, becoming the media’s go-to person to explain and report on the situation. My reports about the hack were syndicated, and I went to New York to appear on some talk shows. The response to this censorship theory was mixed at best. Some alt-right and alt-left groups did not appreciate the unwanted editing of their rants. Conspiracy theories flourished, but were, ironically, debunked by the hack.

The Indie Reporter.The Great Hack,Some of these groups tried to manipulate the hack by having the lightest font possible as their base font, but then the reverse happened; the factually correct text would appear in a heavier font. Some individuals started posting their text as images, but that was seen as a giveaway that the content might be fake news. Some groups regressed to the printed media to disseminate their dogmas.

As is always the case, the issue was polarized. One group insisted it was a plot by – here, pick your favorite villain – deep government, the right, the left, foreigners – to criticize their truth. With an open mind, a much smaller group looked at the censorship and tried to discern a pattern or catch the hack out in censuring something that was, in fact, true. It was technically not censorship, as the non-factual text was always still readable.

It was put to the test and was never caught out. Tests were set, like a person drawing a cat in a closed room with no windows and then writing on a blog that they had drawn a dog, which was faded as incorrect. The hack always spotted the error. Sometimes, it was a matter of opinion, and the factuality was more a matter of semantics, but its accuracy was persuasive.

Things started getting even weirder when the hack was used as a truth meter. Posts appeared all over the internet.

‘My husband has never cheated on me.’‘Abigail is not at work today because she is sick.’‘My boyfriend has every intention of marrying me.’‘My son has never stolen money from me.’

It became harder for religious and political extremists to spin and delude as the hack repeatedly doubted the facts’ validity. Religious groups began to blame the others, using it as an excuse to create discord. There were riots. Some groups tried to hack into their rivals’ websites to mimic the font, replacing factual with a lighter font. This, however, was soon overwritten by the hack. Absolute statements about whether there was a God or not, or sentences written as opinions about what could happen in the future, were strangely left unedited.

Politics became quite quickly a very dull affair. Politicians were wary of avoiding non-factual statements, as lies were pointed out immediately.

A few months later, the ink changed on books from the printing press. It was as if ink needed the truth to make it its fullest black. Non-factual writing was discernably greyer. The ink would dry to a lighter color. This caused a great deal of consternation. This was no computer hack, some trickery with code; this was actual physical properties changing.

The world was stunned. Fingers pointed more as each person’s dogma was exposed and amplified in ways nobody liked. Bans were placed in Russia and Iran on new publications, and the internet was locked down and censored, often to no avail. Their color gave away edited texts.

Then the ink in old, published books began to fade. Old fake sentences in books, hundreds of years old, faded a few gray shades lighter, the lies still readable, illuminated by their very lightness. Grey words, sentences, and paragraphs appeared in religious texts, political manifestos, laws, and constitutions. Even in cookbooks, ‘it’s delicious’ was often faded. Wine reviews were unreadable.

‘it’s delicious’ Ronald Peterson, the man who said he ‘had never seen his only daughter again,’ contacted me. He told me he did not understand why this would be seen as false; as far as he knew, it was true. But then he realized the word ‘only’ was not true. After further investigation, he found out he had fathered a daughter while at college.

had never seen his only daughter again,’onlyFake images began to lose color and blur, photoshopped supermodels and fake news images of politicians in bed with their interns. Even partially forged images blurred where there had been some faking. There was nothing that anyone could do. This was the status quo. No one could figure out what was happening, and religions claimed it was their God exacting vengeance – or the Devil. Both sides were shouting their untruths in a dull light grey.

The same happened to videos and films. With new productions, even in old movies, the voices whispered when they said something untrue. Fabricated scenes were desaturated in color and blurred.

Then the hack started on the spoken word. When a person tried to say something untrue, they found they could only whisper. Politicians on the podium were reduced to whispers when they preached untruths or promises they knew they couldn’t keep. Conversations among family and friends became awkward, so people became careful about what they talked about.

Even non-factual statements using sign language became impossible. Arms and hands became limp, and their gestures unclear.

The riots had now developed into full-blown wars, as accusations about who was responsible and the revelation of truths and lies led to conflict. It soon became apparent that humanity could not handle the truth. Any truth. Despots and populist politicians, finding themselves without the fuel of deceit and distraction, abandoned the sham of p********a and resorted to brute force.

A year after it started, the hack altered false statements, opinions, and beliefs. Hyperbole was bolded, and opinions were italicized. Although an argument about whether a God exists was never corrected, sincerely held religious beliefs were randomly edited from the believer’s perspective. Surprisingly, Noah’s Ark was remarkably accurate (although the flood was more local than global), while the virgin birth was not apparently to be taken literally. Political ideology was ruthlessly edited, much to the chagrin of the left and the right.

boldeditalicizedInstead of uniting humanity behind one truth, the hack polarized humanity even more. Even as one of the most pedantic journalists in London, I was getting quite peeved at the constraints that honesty and factuality had on my writing. My book of poems (24 copies sold to date) was full of grey text. My novel – a sci-fi fantasy - was one grey mess.

24 copies sold to dateThen one day, the hack ended. All texts were the same; all voices were the same. It was as if nothing had happened. And as quickly as the lies had been exposed, they flooded back. It was human nature; it was our mortal condition. But even though life was back to ‘normal,’ there were those of us who claimed to discern still a subtle lack of intensity in the black of the ink. A softening of the voice around lies, the weakness in the conviction of the font. It was there if you looked if you could ignore your bias.

I could see it – but I kept this superpower to myself.