Media's Zombie Apocalypse: Fighting the Spread of Fake News

Fake news, misinformation, and disinformation distort public perceptions and deepen polarization. Misinformation spreads because it is aligned with personal views or feelings, or it is provocative and engaging. The problem becomes worse by social media's swift spreading and algorithms that pump up sensationalized material. Unlike traditional media, which has its checks and balances, social media can rapidly share false news with barely any oversight. Echo chambers in social media create isolated groups that form similar extremist values. This makes it easier for false information to spread and harder to correct it.

However, media platforms have begun fighting against the spread of false news using different methods. Organizations such as Twitter are identifying false messages, while Google is upgrading search algorithms to prevent fake news. Twitter labeled 300,000 misleading posts during the US election period in 2020. According to a report, "Out of the 300,000 tweets that were reported, only 456 of them have been prohibited from being shared, commented on, or liked on the platform" (Asselin, 2023). Facebook and TikTok have also made efforts to prevent misinformation such as fake vaccination claims. Despite their efforts, the public still argues that social networks are not completely committed to fighting disinformation and should be working harder on their false news prevention models.

As civilians, it is also our responsibility to fight against false news. Several strategies that can effectively counter misinformation are debunking, prebunking, literacy training, and nudging. By doing so, we can help reduce the spread of misinformation and contribute to a more informed public.

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