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Hackett: Sifting through the nonsense

Dealing with misinformation is more difficult than ever
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Byron Hackett is the Managing Editor of the Red Deer Advocate.

You've probably heard some variation of the phrase, "A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth (gets its pants on) or (puts on its shoes)".

It turns out that even finding the author of those phrases can lead to a rabbit hole of misinformation– ironic given both phrases are rooted in a surface analysis of fake news before it was a common phrase. And, as it turns out, neither Mark Twain nor Winston Churchill utter anything like the phrases above, although they are often contributed to them. Very ironic that a quote about the truth is so widely misattributed. 

I travelled down this rabbit hole searching for this phrase because it carries more weight in our current society – one that is becoming increasingly more plugged into misinformation and disinformation, without ever really considering the source or the nature of the claims. 

From just a few hours earlier this week, I watched as people shared on social media in horror that federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh had died. it was clearly a fake ad, but it appeared convincingly in the middle of an Edmonton Journal web story. The ad is part of a string online ads disparaging Canadian figures, including the Prime Minister, Pierre Poilievre, actor Michael Cera and celebrity chef Mary Berg. The ads featured statements like "A sensational scandal has hit Canada" or "Global Scandal". The statements then lead the user to fake websites that mascurade as real news or to fake websites with crypto currency scams and all kinds of other ridiculous things. But it all relies on a simple premise that is taking over our online lives. 

False news travels so fast in today's environment that it is becoming increasingly difficult for both government and media to keep it in check. 

Just last week, Albertans were shocked (or maybe not) to hear the premier so openly talk about a conspiracy theory regarding "chemtrails" the idea that governments are spraying chemicals from the sky to poison citizens for various reasons. The premier gave the fringe idea life during a recent Q and A, forcing both her own office to deny she believes the theory and reporters to call on the U.S. Department of Defence (because Smith insinuated they might be the ones spraying the air with chemicals). 

In the U.S., conspiracy theories are running rampant about migrants and government involvement in weather alteration because of two large hurricanes that have hit recently. Those theories are so easily crossing into the mainstream consciousness of citizens that they gain weight and speed faster than any information ever has in our history. There is simply little time to verify the veracity of every piece of false information before it gains credibility. 

Just a few years ago, in 2018, MIT examined this problem in relation to Twitter (now X) and found what we know now to be unsurprising results. 

“We found that falsehood diffuses significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth, in all categories of information, and in many cases by an order of magnitude,” said Sinan Aral, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and co-author of the paper about findings related to false news spreading on Twitter (now X) in 2018. 

The study found that part of the draw into sharing false news is its novelty. False news inspires outrage, surprise, fear and disgust. In the online environment our society currently spends much of its time in, reactions and interactions are key. Those emotional responses help the false news spread faster and more quickly than it ever has. 

Confirmation bias also plays a part. If an idea runs parallel to something we already believe, ie the government is corrupt, then it's easy to believe they would be spreading chemicals from the sky. If you dislike Justin Trudeau or Pierre Poilievre, it's easy to believe or spread a false advertisement about their behaviour. 

I hope that, as a society, we can start to recognize the problems with this information ecosystem and put better safeguards in place to help us better manage the flow of information.

That has to come, of course, without limits on free speech, which is an integral pillar of our democracy. 

I think it can be done. 

Byron Hackett is the Managing Editor of the Red Deer Advocate and Regional Editor for Black Press Media. 

 



About the Author: Jim Pinsent

I have been apart of the Red Deer Advocate Black Press Media team since 2017, starting as a sports reporter.
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