6 helpful tactics for checking disinformation
I don’t know about you but I am sick of disinformation. Not a day goes by that I don’t see something utterly ridiculous on social media or have to debunk some wild claim sent to my family group chats on WhatsApp and Telegram. Normally I can just ignore it but I live in a country that’s not really handling the pandemic well at the moment, in part because of disinformation, so it just feels like there’s no escaping all of this.
So how do we beat disinformation? From tech and policy to education and culture, honestly there aren’t really any perfect answers. Are we doomed to just live in a world where we can’t trust anything or anyone? Maybe, but until that’s a reality, I’m going to keep pushing back against that tide and doing what I can to make sure the people around me can as well. Here are some things I find useful as a media producer, scholar and someone who works with vulnerable communities, in addressing disinformation.
1| Know what disinformation is
Quick definitions: Misinformation is “false information that is spread, regardless of whether there is intent to mislead” (dictionary.com). Pretty straightforward.
Disinformation is misinformation, however I’m paying special attention to disinformation because of the way it’s weaponized. Disinformation is “intentional falsehoods or distortions, often spread as news, to advance political goals such as discrediting opponents, disrupting policy debates, influencing voters, inflaming existing social conflicts, or creating a general backdrop of confusion and informational paralysis.” - W. Lance Bennet and Steven Livingstone The Disinformation Age
Knowing what disinformation is is the first step in recognizing it and after having to convince my dad that the vaccine opinions of a random YouTuber, let’s call him Redman94, is not a good source for health information, I think recognition is an important step here.
And some of it you’re probably already familiar with like bias, propaganda, conspiracy theories etc. Over the last couple years we’ve added terms like fake news, alternative facts (the most ridiculous pair of words) and we’ve become more aware of the manipulation tactics of advertisers and what they can do with your data- like figuring what arguments would be most persuasive in getting you to vote a particular way. But you should also know there’s whole disinformation industries with their own influencers quietly enticing you down Qanon rabbit holes and influencing your politics.
2| Understand the media landscape disinformation occupies
So in the middle of arguing with my dad about Redman94, he rightfully asks why I trust other YouTubers but not this one. So I decide to walk him through my thought process which starts with checking out the sources Redman94 is relying on and of course, none of them are scientific or official in any way. The only source Redman94 uses is a Canadian christian lobby group known for their anti-abortion, anti-immigrant work, not exactly trustworthy.
Disinformation may not seem like it, but it’s often political, so understanding the politics and relationships among the different players in the various media ecosystems you interact with locally and globally adds important context to the information they’re sharing.
For example, in Jamaica you would need to understand who owns the platform regardless of whether or not they’re a major paper or a Facebook page. You also want to look for information about their politics, and influences. In general, it’s also important to understand the state of journalism in your country, for example does the government cooperate with or obstruct and threaten journalists? That could influence the quality of the reporting you are consuming.
Globally, I’d also pay attention to trends like the concentration of media power within the hands of very few companies, how they’re using that power and what’s coming out of the dark corners of the internet.
3| Understand that this is about power
I think that sometimes when we think about disinformation we focus too heavily on the individual shitposter, your aunty’s church group on WhatsApp or Redman94. And yes, those are dangerous and need to be addressed but they’re literally the tip of an iceberg, the symptoms of a deeper problem. Fact is - we can’t trust the people we’re supposed to trust. Redman94 is not a great source, but why is my dad looking to him instead of health officials? Because he’s become accustomed to politicians, companies, organizations lying so he’s more open to alternative sources of information.
And it’s completely understandable - governments do lie and murder journalists who ask too many questions. Organizations exist specifically to influence media to seed the public with false information for political aims. Media companies prioritize profit over people’s lives. For some of us, Black people for example, none of this is new. We’ve never been able to trust major media companies and powerful people. We’ve seen them commit atrocities and then spin it as necessary or ignore it altogether. However, the scale of the current problem makes all of this more urgent now.
All around us there is a systemic power struggle for information raging. There’s a reason why in a coup, one of the first actions taken is to control the media and why when countries are sliding into dictatorship, press freedom is one of the first things to go. So in these kind of systems of information and disinformation, when we shift attention from the systemic to the individual, we over-invest in individual solutions that are important yes, but don’t actually get at the root of the problem - the well’s been poisoned and your media literacy will not save you.
“Locating the trouble in social media, confused citizens, or with foreign governments, fails to explain the deeper origins of the problem. Our account draws on a broader examination of decades of capture and erosion of governing institutions by wealthy interests and aligned political elites, unable to sell their actual agendas to the public without increasing levels of disinformation.
This disruptive communication is spread through think tanks, corporate deception, partisan political organizations, election campaigns, and by government officials inclined to spin and distort their truth claims to promote otherwise unappealing policies and actions.”
4| That being said, build your media literacy skills
I know, I know. I just said it won’t work all the time, but it’s still important. Many of the skills I’ve already mentioned are media literacy skills - paying attention to sources and agendas, fact-checking and research and these will help you to recognize disinformation. But there are other things you can do as well, starting with building your knowledge - general knowledge, history, politics, economics etc.
A lot of disinformation relies on our short memories, gaps in our knowledge and our vulnerabilities. For example, Redman94 selectively used and greatly exaggerated information about the Astra-Zeneca vaccine bloodclot risk, littering in medical jargon to appear to have expertise in the topic. Knowing the facts from official sources helped me go “that’s not true actually true.” Similarly you can learn a bit of statistics to more readily understand when people are lying with numbers. Finally, you have to be able to resist disinformation you might want to believe - it won’t always be offensive to you.
Bottom line is - you won’t be able to know everything and disinformation is getting more sophisticated and harder to clock, so you also need to be able to change your mind when presented with better information. We’re all so inundated with bad information that you’re going to get it wrong from time to time. You have to be able to say “my bad” and correct the record. It’s the responsible thing to do.
5| Understand related key concepts - public sphere, censorship/cancel culture, free speech
The public sphere is an idea of an open space (digital or otherwise) where people can come together to discuss the issues of the day, access and exchange information and come to consensus through rational debate. It’s a great idea but difficult to create without all of us agreeing on the rules of engagement. If I can’t trust Redman94 to engage in good faith - with respect for me and for good information, then how can we have a rational debate? Given that we understand that spreaders of disinformation are doing it deliberately and that they have incentives and imperatives driving them to do so, pay attention to suggestions that we should just all get along and let ideas contend. Some ideas are bad.
Next up is freedom of speech. People should be able to ask questions, to access information, to have transparency about what’s happening in their societies. However, as is often said, freedom of speech is not freedom to say anything without consequence. If you lie about a person in a way that affects them in public life - you could get sued for defamation. If you incite violence against people you can get convicted of hate speech. You have a responsibility to ensure the words coming out of your mouth are true and appropriate at bare minimum and if like Redman94 you call yourself a journalist, you are not free to lie to people. So yeah, some speech is bad.
Finally let’s talk about censorship and cancel culture. First of all - they are different things and it’s kind of ridiculous to watch people who still have access to their platforms, their money and their privilege talk about censorship when journalists are being killed and citizens are being jailed for simply voicing their frustration. I wonder how they feel about teachers being told they can’t teach history because it might make white children feel bad about their ancestors committing genocide? That’s censorship. That’s being cancelled. Getting Redman94’s account shut down because he is lying about life-saving vaccines in a GLOBAL PANDEMIC is not censorship. It’s a consequence and it’s a matter of public health.
These are some of the concepts used to derail efforts address disinformation so it’s important to understand them and their impact on the disinformation conversation.
Photo by RF._.studio from Pexels
6| Finally, take individual action and support systemic solutions
We don’t really have good solutions to disinformation to be honest. It would be great if we could get governments to strengthen access to information, transparency, accountability mechanisms and root out corruption. Or create policies that protect journalism and prevent think tanks, lobby groups, private companies from unduly influencing news. Maybe they can regulate/prevent the use of technologies such as deepfakes, bots and even dark patterns from eroding trust and influencing us in the same way we have (inadequate) guidelines on advertizing, etc. Not really optimistic about most of this.
But if you’re looking for something you can do beyond media literacy, support good journalism, not Redman94. Journalists risk life and livelihood to help us stay informed and critical. Obviously this isn’t all journalists, but where you find journalists and news outlets, independent or otherwise, that give you well-researched, factual information, ask tough questions, and are responsible - vocally, visibly support them and if you can pay them.
Yeah. So, understanding what exactly we’re dealing with is pretty much the most effective tool I’ve seen in addressing the disinfodemic. The more people understand what’s happening the more they can recognize when they’re being misled. It’s not enough, just like paper straws won’t solve climate change if oil companies don’t leave the oil in the ground, understanding disinformation is a stop-gap in a world full of Redman94s and much worse where it’s getting harder and harder to see disinformation happening. But it’s a start and it helps as we keep trying to figure it out and working towards building systems we can trust, individually and in our communities.