Social Media Fake News: lj 6

Fake News and Propaganda on Social Media

Social media has long been a great platform for people in various places throughout the world to connect with each other. Websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are the quickest and most convenient way to reach out to your friends, loved ones, or even business partners. As a whole, social media can also act as a powerful tool that supplements traditional news distribution (UC San Diego, 2022). With so many people using it nowadays, every wisdom, story, article can be expected to reach their target audiences in a blink of the eyes. Unfortunately, the widespread nature of social sites also comes with its own caveat. In recent years, internet monitoring experts have been noticing a sharp rise in fake news/propaganda being shared around multiple social media platforms. These incidents can range from simple individuals just trying to seek financial or personal gain, to actual government officials of foreign nations performing fraudulent online campaigns to acquire political advantage.

            According to an article published by Council of Europe, Propaganda and misinformation have the potential to shift public opinion and promote violent extremism and hate speech and, ultimately, to undermine democracies and reduce trust in the democratic (Council of Europe, 2018). There have been numerous incidents where fake news was attributed as the main cause. The most recent and apparent one includes the sharing of inaccurate information about the COVID-19 pandemic. Where different parties were trying to “debunk” the pandemic as a hoax. Being fake news, these claims tend to not have any proofs nor solid scientific backing. However, lack of education and gullibility from the masses enables this false knowledge to make their way into the vulnerable community. The consequences in turn can be very destructive. Which many recorded cases of people not adhering to the safety guidelines, with some even lost their lives by attempting dangerous self-remedy methods published by unknown sources on the internet. Despite continuous effort to combat false information, it is difficult to keep pace with the instantaneous communication provided by social media, and falsehood continues to spread (Nelson et al, 2020). There is no one off solution to resolve this issue, so it is best to educate yourself and look for transparency in every piece of news or story. I take social media as nothing more than a platform for entertainment and never as a trustworthy news outlet. As most social sites are poorly regulated, it is best to take information posted on there with a big grain of salt.

 

Citations:

Council of Europe Portal. (2018, April). Dealing with propaganda, misinformation and fake news. Democratic Schools for All. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://www.coe.int/en/web/campaign-free-to-speak-safe-to-learn/dealing-with-propaganda-misinformation-and-fake-news

  

Nelson, T., Kagan, N., Critchlow, C., Hillard, A., & Hsu, A. (2020). The danger of misinformation in the COVID-19 crisis. Missouri medicine. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7721433/

 

UC San Diego. (2022, January). Social Media 101. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://ucpa.ucsd.edu/services-and-resources/social/social-101/