In recent years the growth of social media has seen misinformation and conspiracy
theories skyrocket, which has served only to further divide people and create more
hatred and intolerance in the world. This has led to people having outdated or
fanatical ideas. Thanks to social media, it allows those people to create online echo
chambers, where their beliefs are reinforced by other people with the same
ideologies. Sadly, it can be very difficult to encourage someone who has been
indoctrinated into one of these online communities to change their mind. Since a lot
of these communities appeal to people’s mistrust in the government, it allows room
for conspiracy theories to be born and spread. Furthermore, members of these
communities are not motivated to change their mind because that could force them
to accept that they had believed in a completely fabricated, unrealistic idea.
If you want to protect yourself from misinformation and fake news there are several
precautions you can take, which include checking who wrote an article or post and
looking for any obvious biases. You should determine if the source is an official
journalist or news station and see if this story is being shared by other reputable
sources with the same facts. Are there any photos and are they photo shopped or do
they credit the source and are their quotes from trustworthy experts. Do not always
blindly follow influencers or celebrities. There are many well known conspiracy
theories that have gone viral over the last decade, such as anti-vaxxers, 5G, flat-earthers and in some cases, extreme political parties.
In recent years as educational standards have increased, more and more people are
learning about misinformation, disinformation and fake news and how to combat it.
After the impact of the misinformation around the pandemic and the rise in
popularity of the far right, people are realising more and more that it is their
responsibility to fact check that it is a credible source before sharing or reposting
information. If we all want a better world for future generations, we must all discuss
how to find reliable sources of information.
On a hopeful note, there are successful programs that have been put in place. For
example in Finland they created a multi-platform digital literacy and anti-misinformation program which they taught to all state employees, as well as welfare
organisations, journalists, teachers and librarians. This led to them becoming the
highest ranking country in Europe for resistance to misinformation and fake news in
2021, Ireland is ranked 5th.
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Sunday November 24, 2024