How to Avoid Misinformation in the Digital Age

Image from Unsplash

[Image Description] a vintage blue typewriter on a desk. The typewriter has a piece of paper in it with the words "fake news" typed on it. Next to the typewriter, there are several items on the desk, including a book titled "FAKE NEWS: LA VERDAD DE LAS NOTICIAS" and a newspaper with the headline "COMUNICACION DIGITAL." In the background, there is a television screen displaying a news broadcast with a person speaking and the logo "24h" along with the time "12:09:07." The setting appears to be an office or a study area.

We are well into the age of the internet, and as the first generation to grow up surrounded by all this technology, I’d say we’re pretty confident in our ability to use and understand the expansive world of social media. But that doesn’t make us immune to being misled by bad actors online, who purposely feed us misinformation.

I, for one, was recently distraught to learn that Mason Mount had gone bald, when in fact his luscious locks still remain firmly planted on his scalp (thank the Lord). But seriously, misinformation and disinformation on the internet have been rampant throughout this U.S. election season. While most of it is easy to spot, some claims and misquotes slip under the radar, fueling misguided feelings and influencing votes one way or another.

In September’s presidential debate, candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were found to have manipulated the truth eight and nine times, respectively. Even people fighting for the highest position of power in the world misrepresent the truth to score points against each other. So, it seems pretty important, at this stage of the U.S. election cycle, to have a quick run-through of how to spot and avoid misinformation, even here in the UK.

First of all, what’s the difference between misinformation and disinformation? Misinformation refers to any information that is inaccurate or simply untrue, while disinformation is the deliberate use of misinformation to mislead people.

Now, how do we avoid being influenced by such messages? The first and most important step is to never 100% believe something you read on social media. All social media platforms work by using algorithms to show you things they think you’ll like. This means that if all the information you consume comes from Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, you’re likely to fall down a rabbit hole of reading only things that fit your own viewpoint.

As much as we may not like it, an important part of accurate news reporting is to challenge our current views with the truth. If Donald Trump opens a puppy rescue center or releases a smash-hit K-pop album, it is the media’s job to let you know, whether you like it or not, so that you can get a real picture of what’s happening in the world.

Another tip is to consume news from actual, established news sites and channels. News companies are bound by a number of rules and regulations that require them to produce only true and fair journalism. In the UK, our TV news channels are overseen by the independent regulator Ofcom, which holds them accountable and can issue fines and punishments if they breach guidelines. This doesn’t mean that established news companies will never be wrong—because sometimes they will—but they are significantly more likely to be honest and representative than @andrew17937448 with his £8-per-month blue check on Twitter.

It’s also important to sometimes consume media from viewpoints different from our own. As Americanized and often straight-up grating as TalkTV or GB News can be, it can be helpful, when a particularly important or divisive story is breaking, to see how the “other side” is presenting the information. I’m not saying you need to agree with it, but learning how other people think can be important in understanding contrasting views and challenging the narrative being pushed by your preferred news outlet.

We are currently undergoing a huge period of change on the internet, as artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent. Love it or hate it, AI can be used for a variety of tasks, one of which is image generation.

Now, I somewhat pride myself on my ability to spot AI-generated art, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t being used and weaponized to spread falsehoods all over social media. Aside from the fact that generating each image requires a small rainforest’s worth of fossil fuels, these tools have proven very useful for influential people to bend the truth. Whether it be Donald Trump accusing the Harris/Walz campaign of generating a fake crowd at an airport, or Twitter users generating images of former president Trump running from police, AI images have had a huge influence on the discourse surrounding the 2024 U.S. election.

[Image Description] AI generated image of a a chaotic scene involving several police officers and former President Donald Trump. Trump is on the ground, surrounded by officers who are wearing dark uniforms and police badges. Trump has a distressed expression on his face as the officers are restraining him. The image looks slightly illustrated and doesn't depict a real event

Other than a few visual tells, there’s no surefire way to identify AI-generated images online. You can reverse search an image to find out where it came from, but this isn’t foolproof, so the best thing to do is never take any image at face value without context.

In addition to these images, many search engines have implemented AI-generated search results to better tailor content for you. However, these searches have often proven unreliable, even with the simplest requests. For instance, Google’s ‘AI Overview’ feature suggested adding 1/8 cup of non-toxic glue to make a tackier pizza sauce and eating one rock per day because rocks contain minerals and vitamins that are important for digestive health.

[Image description] a screenshot of a tweet by Kris Kashtanova with the handle @icreatelife. The tweet reads: "I couldn't believe it before I tried it. Google needs to fix this asap.."

Below the tweet, there is a screenshot of a Google search result. The search query is "How many rocks should I eat" with a suggestion to search instead for "How many rocks shall I eat."

The search result shown is from an "AI Overview" and states: "According to geologists at UC Berkeley, you should eat at least one small rock per day. They say that rocks are a vital source of minerals and vitamins that are important for digestive health. Dr. Joseph Granger suggests eating a serving of gravel, geodes, or pebbles with each meal, or hiding rocks in foods like ice cream or peanut butter."

The tweet was posted at 1:11 AM on May 24, 2024, from Manhattan, NY. It has 3.7K likes, and there are options to reply, retweet, and share.

A Forbes survey last year found that 65% of people would rather use ChatGPT than Google. With AI getting such simple things wrong, it’s very important not to trust these search engines to always be right.

As I mentioned earlier, in the UK, we have regulatory bodies that govern news media, but in the U.S., they don’t have the same oversight. This means that platforms such as Fox News and MSNBC are free to present news in any way they wish and with whatever degree of truth they see fit. This is particularly frightening now that it is so easy to generate images that can support any claim they make.

An expert in artificial intelligence and media, James Dalby, explained, “Not only are they weaponizing fake news, but they can tailor the fake news to suit what people have been saying, in a very Orwellian kind of way, where someone can say ‘no, I never did that,’ and while that’s true, we can generate ‘proof’ to tell a disingenuous story.”

To sum up, the best thing to do in the digital age is to take everything you read, see, and hear with a pinch of salt, and do your own due diligence to research any stories or claims before passing judgment or allowing them to influence you. Don’t allow yourself to fall into an echo chamber of only agreeable thoughts, with nothing to challenge your preconceived notions, and don’t take every image you see at face value without sufficient context.

Do all that, and you’ll be just fine.