Fake news: 5 ways to defend against online disinformation

Fake news: 5 ways to defend against online disinformation

Each of us encounters fake news on a daily basis, and it is one of the biggest problems of the 21st century Internet. In 2018, a study was commissioned by the European Commission, which showed some data. One could read from them that as many as 68% of European Union citizens read “fake news” at least once a week, a lot right? In the whole European Union it is 68%, but if we consider only our country, Poland, the figures go up to 74%. This raises a question we often don’t know the answer to: how to distinguish between valuable, truthful content and fake news?

Unfortunately, but the information seen on the web, is a very dangerous phenomenon. They take advantage of readers’ overinterpretation, rely on their lack of knowledge of the facts, and falsify the image that reality has. The times we have now are often referred to as post-truth. Unfortunately, more and more often emotions and personal beliefs count for more than truth and real facts. So what about the belief that even the worst truth is better than a good lie?

Social media and misinformation

The development of digitization, technology and the fact that we have less and less time for meetings has meant that social life and all interpersonal contacts have moved online. We used to get knowledge about the world around us only from newspapers, which were very popular at the time. Nowadays, we have replaced the paper source of information with knowledge obtained from the Internet. People are now communicating through social media. Reuters Digital News Report conducted a study in 2016, according to which as many as 58% of people in Poland considered social media as their main source of information. In 2022, that number is certainly much higher. However, social media is the biggest source of fake news. We are inundated with a large amount of news every day, which weakens our vigilance and attention. We are more willing to read fake news because it simply seems more attractive to us than other, ordinary information.

Fake news- how to distinguish it from reliable information?

Fortunately, there are several elements that allow us to catch fake news. Thanks to them, we will not give in to information that is not legitimate and manipulates us in some way. Pay attention, first of all, to:

• Clickbait titles, i.e., those designed primarily to create sensationalism
• The url or name of the source that we think is suspicious
• Careless and uneven formatting of text-no one pays attention to how fake news is edited
• Emotional nature of the text-no self-respecting editor will go so far as to show strong emotions, as this will be unprofessional
• Occurrence of spelling, punctuation and stylistic errors
• Missing: sources, citations, facts, author of the text.

Fake news is characterized by mental shortcuts, stereotypes and based on instincts that are not based on any scientific facts.

How to respond appropriately to disinformation?

We certainly come across a lot of fake news, so how do we respond to it appropriately? In the first place, we should deselect them to make others aware that they are dealing with untruths. But it is also worthwhile:

1. When spotting hashtags that incite hate, rebellion or hatred, turn them around and replace them with their opposites, i.e. good hashtags. This will make the attention of the haters be diverted to the good ones.
2. Choose to educate yourself and others. Verify something before you spread and share it.
3. Avoid reading content that is hateful
4. Verify all information with reliable sources, i.e.: police statistics, Central Statistical Office, Personal Data Protection Office, Consumer Protection Office, Eurostat data, etc.
5. If the matter is really serious, do not hesitate to report it to the police.