Misinformation and disinformation are defined by Scientific America as the sharing of false or inaccurate facts to deceive and manipulate a population. They take the form of conspiracy theories, false facts, emotional manipulation, trolling, pseud journalism, and manipulating information taken out of context, all to get a designed reaction from an audience.
While not all misinformation is done for immoral purposes by nefarious actors, the distortion of facts threatens society. A community that cannot unite under a trusted standard of understood truths will fall into a pit of chaos surrounded by fear, anger and jealousy.
To keep the toxicity of information manipulation at bay, educators, journalists and government officials have created educational tools to teach the community how to spot and defend themselves in the information wars.
Some of the best weapons in this conflict are independent fact-checking websites like Snopes.com and Factcheck.org. While good at what they do, these sites lack the visual impact and accessible user interface that News Literacy Project’s Rumor Guard brings
When truth seekers click on the site, they are put at ease using green and purple colors. According to Color Psychology.org, these colors create a sense of calm and security.
The site is simple and easy to navigate, with a new headline story featuring an investigated fact check set at the middle of the page. Just under that are past fact-checked stories that users can access anytime.
Once clicked on, a user is presented with a story summary.
Under that is a breakdown of facts and information, with the left side giving yes and no answers to the conspiracy question surrounding the event. To the right is the Takeaway, where the fack checkers explain how they examined the story so the reader can learn and use these digital literacy skills for themselves.
Finally, under that is in bright red, the five factors Rumor Guard follows when checking whether a story is true. Below are links to educational videos that let users take a deeper dive into learning digital literacy skills.
I visited the site and researched the conspiracy theories surrounding the recent Baltimore Bridge collapse. I saw a summary of the rumors going around the Internet. I then read over their analyses of the facts and agreed that there is no factual proof of a planned attack against the bridge.
The information was easy to access and understand. I booked marked the site and plan to return the next time I see an internet rumor that doesn’t sit right with me.
Another fantastic tool to educate people on the interworking of misinformation is the educational yet fun online game called Bad News.
Brightly colored and simple to use game allows users to take on the role of a ‘fake-news monger’ by trading in their morals for clicks and followers
Scientists at Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab at Cambridge University created the game. It’s designed to allow a user to build a fake news website, filling the Internet with dangerous theories to gain credibility.
During my time playing the game, I created a fake news site, impersonated President Joe Biden, verbally attacked scientists, spread fake rumors, and Agenda 21 got some poor gut fired over a plane crash he had nothing to do with.
During my experience, I got into the mind of a creator of manipulated information and saw how simple fun on the Internet can turn into full-blown social chaos.
I learned it is easy to impersonate an account online with a simple change of a single letter. I saw how exploiting primary emotions like fear and anger using emotional words can get people fired up over nothing.
And I understand how easy it can be to undermine and troll credible organizations using over-the-top, unproven accusations.
The creators hope that by playing this game, people will increase their resilience to information manipulation and be able to spot and stop misinformation when they see it. I feel that after playing the game and viewing the Rumor Guard website, I better understand how and why misinformation spreads, how to spot it, and what to do when I see it.
I promise you this is not disinformation. These sites are highly recommended if you want to learn more about the subject.
Check out Rumor Guard and Bad News.