The Dangers of Social Media Disinformation
Have you ever questioned the accuracy of content you saw on social media? If the answer is yes, you might have been exposed to disinformation. Unlike misinformation, which is the inadvertent sharing of false information, disinformation refers to the deliberate creation and sharing of information known to be false. Modern technology enables disinformation to spread quickly to large volumes of people. Social media, which prioritizes engagement over accuracy, became a major source of disinformation. Can you believe that over 54% of Americans have reported using social media as a news source? That’s right, about 166 million people in our country alone routinely subject themselves to sources with substantial amounts of disinformation. Many of these people appear unaware of their predisposition to disinformation, which can potentially lead to grave consequences.
During high school, I remember rumors circulating on social media about our principal having an affair with a teacher. The news quickly spread, and within a week it became a part of every conversation at school. Even though the rumors were proven false eventually, our principal resigned because he felt that the ordeal dealt irreparable damage to his reputation. I was horrified by the power of disinformation with social media as the facilitator. What could I have done if I was in his shoes besides being a helpless victim? Even though the scope of this incident remained within the confines of the school community, events like this highlight the ugly side of disinformation that people seem ignorant of. While disinformation may seem harmless to many, it appears detrimental to society due to its ability to deceive, disrupt, and multiply.
Deceit
The goal of disinformation to deceive people presents both ethical and physical problems to society. People have a tendency to choose sources that conform with their inherent biases. Disinformation in social media takes advantage of this trend by customizing the content to align with certain beliefs of the target audiences. The Plandemic documentary, a 26-minute trailer video about coronavirus conspiracy theories, serves as an example of this interaction. The documentary included anti-vax messaging, and supported it by misquoting physicians and researchers. As a result, it connected with vaccine-hesitant communities and amplified fear through additional disinformation. Not only do such actions appear unethical due to their promotion of existing disinformation, but also they use the false sense of trust established with the target audience to introduce even more inaccurate content. Some may argue that introducing more disinformation to groups already conforming to certain disinformation does not have a sizable impact on society. However, they fail to recognize one thing. Many disinformation campaign victims were disadvantaged people, such as those with little education, since they typically seem more susceptible to disinformation. The targeting of vulnerable communities essentially takes advantage of their shortcomings, emphasizing the unethical nature of disinformation on social media. Instead, people should use social media as an avenue to help educate disadvantaged groups and change their inaccurate beliefs. In addition to the unethical nature of deceiving people, the adoption of disinformation beliefs can cause physical harm to society. The Plandemic documentary denounced vaccines and encouraged various natural remedies. The practice of such notions ignores facts proven by science, thus contributing to the increase of COVID-19 cases and complications. From my own experience, I have an online acquaintance who had to go to the emergency after attempting a home remedy suggested by social media. Such negative trends can apply to all aspects of society. As another example, the spread of political disinformation can potentially undermine democracy by providing constituents with inaccurate assessments of candidates. Thus, these instances establish a relationship between disinformation and harm done to society.
Disruption
The disruption of the order of society appears as another dangerous aspect of disinformation on social media. Controversial content tend to increase engagement, which social media companies compete for. Such content aim to incite anger and fear, both of which diminish the critical thinking skills of people. Under these circumstances, people often make poor decisions that result in violence. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, certain conspiracists named the virus the “Wu Flu”. The widespread fear at the time, coupled with these types of disinformation, led to increased cases of hate crimes on Asians in the West. When I scrolled through social media during that time, I saw large volumes of hateful content about Asians shared among users. As an Asian who lived in an area with a small Asian demographic, I could sense the animosity that people directly towards me from various interactions. Not only did such reactions put the targeted communities on edge, but also it increased the general fear of the virus among all people. Instead of uniting people in a time of crisis, disinformation on social media pulled groups apart and worsened the situation. The lack of a collective effort to address relevant concerns created a seemingly endless cycle of increased cases and violence, thus further destabilizing the society. The relationship between disinformation and hate crimes demonstrates the negative effect that disinformation on social media can have on society. Such division of people can occur in all facets of society. As another example, disinformation spread via social media contributed to the January 6 United States Capitol attack. In addition to dividing people, disinformation on social media can also decrease public trust towards the government and institutions. The countless versions of disinformation presented on social media instill confusion among the people. When people are constantly bombarded with conflicting information, they lose their sense of trust. The Plandemic documentary, along with dozens of other similar sources, resulted in the general distrust towards the government and health institutions. The lack of basic trust in fundamental organizations causes people to disregard the advice of credible professionals, thus doing them more harm than good. The combination of violence and distrust leads society to unrest and crisis to thrive, moving us in the wrong direction.
Multiplication
The deception and disruption caused by disinformation would not have been as much of a danger to society if not for multiplication. The business model of social media companies depend on the volume of engagement on their platforms. As a result, the companies center their decisions about profit drive innovation. The sheer amount of disinformation contribute to a large percentage of information flow on social media platforms, causing many companies to forgo strict policies for engagement and profit. The business landscape of the industry seems to render it so that the companies turn a blind eye to the spread of disinformation to keep up with their competition. In addition, free speech appears as a fundamental right in many developed countries. Free speech activists have argued that the removal of content, even if inaccurate, violates the principle. These factors make it difficult for social media companies to limit the spread of disinformation. In addition to the lack of regulation, certain technological features implemented by the companies further aggravate the problem. Social media platforms utilize algorithms to create personalized experiences for each user, which complements the aforementioned tendency of people to seek out content that match their biases. When people see multiple messages about the same topic on their feed, they tend to believe it and share it with their friends even if it contains disinformation. As friends share the disinformation with more friends, the volume of disinformation increases exponentially. The creators of the Plandemic documentary took advantage of this trend (distributed amplification) to spread its content rapidly. I have also been tricked to believe in disinformation in this way when disinformation liked by my friends showed up multiple times on my feed. The information overload on social media causes us to become less critical and much easier to influence. Combined with the personalization of social media, this human trend exacerbates the negative impact of disinformation by facilitating means of deception to increasingly large groups of people. The advent of multiplication through social media also supported the disruption factor of disinformation. Social media enabled connecting groups to mobilize easily, making it easier for them to organize events that disrupt the order of society. As a result, the disruptions become more and more problematic as more groups become involved as opposed to individuals.
What Can Be Done?
The deception, disruption, and multiplication elements of disinformation on social media can cause great harm to the society. The deceptive and disruptive aspects of social media disinformation have both moral and physical consequences while the multiplicative aspect serves as an amplifying factor that increases the scope of such effects. The current state of things makes it so that once you become accustomed to some disinformation, you are encouraged to go down a rabbit hole. So what can we do about it? While social media companies have implemented certain countermeasures to disinformation under public scrutiny, many of them face varying degrees of limitations. It turns out that you are your best protector against disinformation. Before you accept any information, make sure to double check it for accuracy. If you find certain content to contain disinformation, report it to help the community. If people can adopt these practices and collaborate together for the better, it would be one big step forward for the society.
