Main image misinformation

Social Media and Misinformation

COVID-19

Social Media and Misinformation

COVID-19

Coronavirus misinformation spreads rapidly on social media.

This video discusses the way information about COVID-19 was spread across the globe. The Global Engagement Center analyzed 30 million tweets and identified 2 million that were spreading misinformation. The tweets ranged from suggesting COVID-19 was created by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to the virus being a construct of the liberal elite. Social media sites have added newer was to report these types of misinformation but were unprepared for this type of viral news event. The point of spreading this type of misinformation is to broadcast chaos. The reporters state that social media sites are taking actions to deactivate these accounts, but new ones can create to replace the deleted accounts. Coronavirus misinformation spreads rapidly on social media. CBS News. Retrieved March 30, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yri_6nRFdM. (2020).

Fighting Misinformation on Social Media.

In this video the narrator Mohsen Mosleh talks about what he believes can be done to prevent misinformation on social media. He believes the reason misinformation is shared is due to a lack of analytical thinking. Mohsen breaks down how people think into two categories, carefully and by going with gut instinct. He developed a hybrid lab study where he sent 2,000 users a cognitive reflection test and pulled information from their twitter posts including websites, they shared content from. He then used a list sixty news websites who’s trust worthiness has been fact checked. The data was formatted into a graph which showed a positive relationship between cognitive reflection and information quality. The study showed that sharing misinformation is about a failure to think carefully rather than thinking in a motivated way. Mohsen discerned that a potential solution to misinformation is to encourage user to think about accuracy before sharing content. Fighting Misinformation on Social Media. TEDx Talks. Retrieved March 30, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtsSFHGb8EY. (2021).

Social media platforms struggle with COVID-19 misinformation.

This video discusses why COVID-19 misinformation was such a rampant problem. They discuss how the unknowns of COVID-19 have fueled the spread of misinformation about the virus. Examples such as confusion on the accuracy of testing in the beginning to the conspiracy theories as to how and where the virus was created were given. A report from the center encountering digital hate found that twelve anti-vaccination groups were responsible for two thirds of the anti-vaccination content. In response, social media platforms are deactivating these accounts, but these groups simply create new accounts. The recommendation of effectively combating such information was to do what is called “prebunking”. This means getting information that discredits misinformation ahead of time. Social media platforms struggle with Covid-19 misinformation. CBS News. Retrieved March 30, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_sUu2BesuM. (2021).

Governmental actions to address
COVID 19 misinformation.

In this article the authors present information on the role of governmental actions to address a pandemic. The World Health Organization identified what they considered a “massive” global “infodemic” that it defined as an overabundance of both accurate and inaccurate information. The dangers of governmental censorships or spread of misinformation can undermine public health by creating uncertainty, in essence forcing people to seek out information from less reputable sources. While international law requires governments to protect expression, in the face of a pandemic they should refrain from disseminating information. A government addressing of misinformation can undermine public health and their ability to identify information about a pandemic. Image by digital designer from Pixabay. Used under a Pixabay license (Free for commercial use No attribution required).

Free Speech Skepticism

In this article the author proposes a thesis’s that although there is a right to free speech, none of the arguments support why harmful speech is deserving of special protections. Do non-government entities such as Facebook or Twitter have the right to violate people’s right to free speech as they sometimes do. Those who operate such platforms have the right to moderate content or deplatform speakers. The reach of the internet has made conflicts amongst free speech regimes, creating needs for new ways of understanding free speech. The right to free speech in the United States, including the right to engage in hate speech is considered a fundamental human right of paramount value. In other countries, free speech is constrained by other rights and f reedom of expression may be overridden by anything considered as hate speech. Image Source

Navigating the Internet’s Information
Cesspool, Fake News and What to Do About It

This is an article addressing the effects false information has on societies. The authors views are based on the idea that continued self-regulation by social media platforms will not solve the problem of the danger’s misinformation. They believe that society has been infiltrated by mis-information due to platforms ineffectively managing user content. If self-regulation is the source of the issues, then self-regulation must end. The authors believe that a solution must come at a national level. The time has come for a new federal agency to regulate the internet. Image Source