- The internet, particularly social networks, offer many people around the world the freedom to express their views and opinions. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that these views are valid or acceptable. While many people are entitled to express themselves online, there are always some who receive more attention than others – celebrities, sportspeople, politicians, online influencers and activists. Because these people are in the public eye, their opinions and comments are often seen and heard by many people. However, this doesn’t make them any more valid, accurate or ‘true’ than others, just more popular.
- Misinformation can be defined as ‘wrong information which is given to someone, often in a deliberate attempt to make them believe something which is not true.’ When shared online, it could be by someone who doesn’t realise the information is factually inaccurate or misleading. In other instances, someone may share misleading information deliberately to get other people to believe it. This is known as ‘disinformation’.
- ‘Fake news’ is when someone makes up an untrue story about someone or something, often a famous person, a group of people, company/organisation or place. The stories are often very extreme in nature and usually portray the subject in a negative light. Sharing fake news on social media is often a quick way of getting people to believe something and share it on. Depending on the subject of the story, the timing and the level of interest, fake news can spread rapidly and go viral. This can result in damage to the subject’s reputation, or can spur other users to further embellish a story to make it even more extreme (and damaging). When the fake news is about a famous person, they will often issue a statement to say it is untrue, leading to a situation where it is one person’s word against another. Rather than being dismissed as false, a fake news story can then live on online for a long time, potentially changing people’s views and perceptions.
- Deepfakes are images or videos where the faces have been swapped or digitally altered with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in order to make the result believable. This means that fake photos and videos can be created, showing someone saying something or doing something they never really did, and these look genuine. Such content is usually created with the intention of damaging the reputation of the person in the photo/video (i.e. portraying them in a negative way) or using them as a way to spread false messages using famous people. Technology has enabled people to create deepfake videos that are very difficult to distinguish from genuine videos.
- Misleading/inaccurate information online can cause a lot of issues – it can damage reputations, change people’s views and perceptions, encourage risky or potentially harmful behaviour and negatively affect health and well-being. Disinformation is often used by groups with extreme social, religious or political views as a way to encourage others to adopt those views. It is also used to spread hate speech content about individuals or groups.
Advice:
- A key critical reasoning skill is the ability to recognise and understand the motives of others online. Take time to talk to your students about motives behind why someone has shared something online – is it to raise awareness, to help others, just to have their say or to influence other people into doing something? Discuss why people might not tell the truth or may not recognise that the information they are sharing is inaccurate. Remind your students that people can be biased, and may only share things that support their opinions.
- Encourage your students to discuss the online sources they get information from (such as websites, vloggers, celebrities and organisations) – which of these could be considered more trustworthy? Ask students how they would know if an online celebrity said something that was untrue or an opinion.
- You or your school may be able to recommend to students and parents/carers some ‘trustworthy’ sites or apps for news, research, learning and general interest. When allowing your students to use the internet for research (both in school and home) you may wish to provide some recommended links or limit their ability to search.
- If you have responsibility for teaching your students digital skills (such as creating and editing images, video or audio) then this provides the perfect opportunity to discuss how digital content can be manipulated to change a message or show something untrue. Using their digital skills to create their own ‘fake’ content may help them understand how easy it is for others to do so online.
- Remind your students about the differences between fact and opinion, and that very few (if any) online sources can be considered 100% trustworthy. There is nothing wrong with anyone expressing their opinion online, provided it doesn’t harm others. However, it is important to fact check what others say or claim before allowing it to influence your own views or beliefs.
- Talk with your students about the importance of not sharing content unless they know that it is reliable – doing so could contribute to the popularity of a fake news story. Some online services will flag content that they believe to be misleading, fake news or a deepfake video