In a world where you can google anything why is the truth so hard to find?
In a today's digital world we scroll, we click, we share. Headlines spread fast, facts mix with fiction and before we know it we are drowning in a sea of half -truths and cleverly disguised us. It is a time when misinformation does not only spread but also it manipulates and dominates our thoughts without us even realizing it and becoming a big problem around the globe. Misinformation is simply false or misleading information. Some misinformation is spread accidentally by people who are genuinely believe what they are sharing. Other times it is intentional designed to manipulate public opinion and it becomes disinformation. Disinformation, on the other hand, is content intentionally designed to mislead and created and disseminated to harm or manipulate. Both are responsible for what experts have termed an "infodemic", overwhelming people with a deluge of false information that hinders their ability to make decisions.
Misinformation is like a virus in that it spreads rapidly as more and more people interact with it. With that being said, a great example of misinformation can be understood when examining the claim that former US President Donald Trump encouraged his fellow American citizens to drink bleach in an effort to combat the spreading of COVID-19. Once the remarks from incumbent President Joe Biden surfaced, media outlets and social media users began claiming that Trump had implored everyone to drink bleach to kill COVID. But is this claim true? A quick Google search revealed that it was indeed…false.
Misinformation spreads quickly across the world due to two main reasons one is how technology works and other is how people thinks about it. Social media platforms like Facebook, link din, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp are designed in such a way to show posts that attract the audience and capture towards them by making highly emotional post. These post are usually polarizing, sensational, or scary. Because of this false or misleading information gets much more attention and engagement than real facts. This means that social media focuses more on how popular a post is rather than whether it is true. The misuse of new technologies like Ai and some other version of chat boots are major consideration. Different tools such as chatgpt, gemini, gravity write and other ai generated tools can create fake stories, recordings, or videos that looks real and alter audience. These fake materials are sometimes used by actors to manipulate the minds of people.
However, disinformation campaigns that are usually operated by both foreign and domestic to achieve their goals. These actors use networks of fake accounts (bot) misleading hashtag on social media, and fabricated images to influence public opinion, especially during politically sensitive events such as elections, protests, or foreign wars. Such efforts are usually automated with the help of bots and meme-driven propaganda, which spread quickly on a large scale and are hard to trace back to their resources. Fake news is more than just annoying. Not only it can cause real problems for you and others both personally and academically. Here is why it matters:
Firstly, it hurts your credibility. Being a student we need to use trustworthy resources in our research. If we are using false information as evidence for arguments or as part of our research it may raise doubts about the sources we used and our ability to identify quality information. Always use true, credible news and information sources to maintain respect. Secondly, it not only provides us false, misleading, or inappropriate information while making decision. It can be harmful to do something without having all the facts or correct information. Whether it is political, medical and academic, first you need to recognize the information while taking either it is trusted to help you make an intelligent, fact-based choice. Moreover, many people think that misinformation raise the question against scientific research and facts. With social media different groups can spread false information that oppose science.
Misinformation does not just appear randomly but sometimes it helps many people or group to achieve their objectives. Political actors and foreign influence campaigns are getting more benefits from misinformation. Many political parties influence audience and control their opinion by false stories. However, some states create misinformation to interfere the other states sovereignty. Misinformation has become one of the biggest challenges of digital era. The risk of misinformation is not only social but also political, economic and security concern. To address all these challenges a state should adopt different approaches to combat and along with this it needs a structured. The following are strategies that reduces such sort of information.
Scale Digital Literacy means "Think Before You Share" programs for rural schools to teach students to check sources, identify clickbait, and not reshare fake news. Community-Led Verification refers to establish WhatsApp and Telegram "Fact Check Hubs" headed by expert organizations, industry experts, journalists, and digital volunteers who can report at the grassroots level fake content. AI Counter-Misinformation Infrastructure mean invest in public sector AI models trained specifically to identify coordinated disinformation patterns, botnet-driven hashtag campaigns, real-time viral fake news bursts.
In last, misinformation is like a virus that increase threats in societies by spreading false and inaccurate information. It is very crucial to address these issues through emerging technologies and aware all the people about it. It is not only the responsibility of government but also we, public also cooperate with them and we should adopt some strategies to combat digital dilemma of misinformation. Even our small steps like critical thinking and verifying facts can decrease the impacts of misinformation.
