You log in to your social media account and discover hundreds of posts, videos, and articles daily, but how do you know whether the information you are getting is factual or not? In this age of free flow of information, you can access anything about any topic by just typing a few words and a click, but most of the information you are getting is false. This is called disinformation.
DEFINITION
Disinformation is a subset of propaganda and is defined as false information that is spread deliberately to deceive people. (“Disinformation,” n.d.)
HOW DID IT START?
The dynamics of disinformation started some 20–25 years ago when consumers started using the Internet and it began to transform the reach of information and media, along with the way of creating them. The internet got decentralized causing the massive flow of information with little to no censorship, the reason being the cost to publish this media dropped to zero and thousands of blogs started appearing that shared information.
TODAY’S AGE AND DISINFORMATION
The new era that eased the process of video creation enabled content creators to amass audiences that rival big media network TV shows. (DiResta,2019)
AI AND DISINFORMATION
Today there are Artificial Intelligence systems in place by Social Media Platforms that can filter and skim through disinformation that makes it to your screen, these systems are designed to keep traction and maximize watch time, enabling content creators to create information that might be anti-media and somewhat not regularized. Hence a pattern of disinformation can be noticed, promoting anti-media and non-factual content.
According to Chaslot “Fake news and defamation are nothing new. What is new, though, is the role of AI in their propagation”. (Chaslot, G.2018)
DISINFORMATION IN THE TIMES OF WAR
Disinformation in times of war and turmoil can be devastating, the main target is manipulating the narrative of the audience, In more recent advancement, a propaganda campaign by Russia was able to seed stories that Ukraine is losing the war, this was made possible by using fake computer-generated faces posing as journalists in Kyiv. These posts targeted social media users in the USA.
Due to disinformation, the general population cannot even differentiate or persuade someone that the news is true.
French said in his article, "True persuasion is much more challenging than winning a debate”. (French, D.2021)
CAN WE DETECT DISINFORMATION?
Now, you must be overwhelmed by the facts and information in this article, but there are some ways to detect or destroy disinformation, one way is to shift our attention to accuracy rather than clickbait headlines and titles, In the days of coronavirus Social Media platforms were able to disconcert disinformation by directing users to official sources and sometimes even deleting the posts that were not accurate.
SIFT METHOD
Digital literacy expert Mike Caulfied of Washington State University devised a method called SIFT to detect disinformation
1. Stop
2. Investigate the source.
3. Find better coverage
4. Trace claims, quotes, and media to the original context.
Many people mistakenly share news and information believing that they are accurate because of ignorance.
“People share misinformation because they mistakenly believe that it is accurate (e.g., due to media or digital illiteracy” (Pennycook et al. 2021)
REFRENCES
DiResta,R. (2019,December 17). Mediating Consent. ribbonfarm. https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2019/12/17/mediating-consent/
Chaslot,G. (2019,February 2). How Algorithm Can Learn to Discredit “the Media”. Medium. https://guillaumechaslot.medium.com/how-algorithms-can-learn-to-discredit-the-media-d1360157c4fa
French, D. (2021, February 21). Why Is It So Hard to Reach the Christian Conspiracy Theorist? The Dispatch. https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/why-is-it-so-hard-to-reach-the-christian
Pennycook et al.(2021, March 17). Shifting attention to accuracy can reduce misinformation online. https://psyarxiv.com/3n9u8/
