by Charm Jayme

In the era of globalization, not only goods, products and services are travelling rapidly worldwide and transcending international borders, but also information. Given the digital innovations such as smart phones and the internet, information can now reach from one part of the globe to the other opposite side thousands of miles away.

Given these innovations, in terms of information dissemination, different populace all over the world have been susceptible to fake news.

So what is fake news?

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Going back… Fake news is information presented with content that bears no truth. The study of Levy in 2017 states that fake news usually appears in a format that looks like published by a legitimate media platform or organization.

So why is fake news even created anyway?

Usually, fake news is disseminated in order to put forward propaganda and shape opinion that will be beneficial for the interests of its perpetrators. These interests usually are corrupt or covert. For instance, to influence and shape the opinion of citizens in order to stir fear or violence.

Here then we provide 7 major dangerous effects of fake news:

1. Fake news can wrongfully affect people’s beliefs and behavior.

The information we receive and process play a crucial role on how we perceive issues, situations and contexts, these information directly affect the shaping of our beliefs and the course of our behavior. Hence, it is risky to base our beliefs, the standards of what we hold as true – on false information, because what we consider as true directly affects our behavior and actions towards certain circumstances and issues.

This is even more dangerous if our beliefs and behavior are manipulated by fake news on a mass level.

Worse, some people even reject correction when faced with the confrontation regarding the falseness of fake news. There are some people who embark firmly on these information.

2. Fake news can potentially affect governments and democracies.

Fake news not only can affect us on a personal level, but it can also affect governance, most especially democracies. Democracy is the rule of the people, by the people and for the people, and corrupting a country’s majority may affect certain important aspects of governance. One negative effect is certain important institutions may lose their credibility, hence affecting their functions.

3. Fake news is usually used for cyber and political propaganda.

According to Trend Micro, fake news usually is used to manipulate opinion for political propaganda. Fake news bearing political bias and falsehood usually succeed through massive likes, comments, reposts, and is created and posted through using fake accounts with high number of following.

This is most especially rampant during elections, any news regarding running candidates are of crucial importance during elections and the spread of fake news can either damage or favor their image.

4. Fake news can deviate people from information that really matters.

One of the reasons why fake news can deceive a huge number of people in different countries is, it is most often written convincingly or packaged in a way that can draw attention. Since fake news often swarm online platforms, it is often available to people anytime and anywhere of the day. As compared to more reliable traditional sources such as printed newspaper.

5. Fake news can be used for unethical or illegal financial gains.

This may be done through spreading false yet attractive information to sell products or services. For example, the world is currently combating Covid-19 pandemic, and in some parts of the world, people are spreading fake news regarding fake cure and selling them online. This is very crucial as people may be susceptible to financial scams.

6. Fake news can be manipulative.

Normally, fake news is highly controversial and is written to alter people’s perception of issues and their opinions. Hence, according to the article “The Science of Fake News”, it tends to appeal to preexisting opinion and attitude towards information, making people susceptible to selective exposure.

This means that people often are inclined to treat information as valid depending on their respective biases, and fake news tends to feed these set of biases, making them feel legitimate for people. The dangers is, these people then tend to feel real news as less reliable or even false.

So how do we combat fake news?

It’s quite difficult to combat fake news as it can quickly spread like wildfire due to the internet. However, it’s not entirely possible, through fact checking, educating and empowering people, fake news can be defeated.

According to the article “The Science of Fake News”, we can do fact checking through assessing the content of news using legitimate platforms such as PolitiFact and Snopes, and we should rely on credible news platforms such as The New York Times, Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.

Combating fake news may also require structurally altering our society in terms of fake news, for example, it is important that schools are able to integrate lessons on how to verify sources and how to critically evaluate and process information.

Speaking of school, if you are studying at home due to Covid-19 and are currently struggling in terms of focus and productivity, you may want to check 8 Ways to Focus and Cope With Home-Based Learning.

Going back…

In the larger scheme of things, social media and other media platforms should also be able to police fake news. Currently, there are measures designed to take down propaganda and fake news on social media.

Conclusion

In the age of globalization, wherein the internet has positive and negatives effects on multiple aspects, not only on our personal lives but also on numerous social, political and economic matters, it is important that we remain informed and vigilant on how we receive and process information. It is crucial that we are not manipulated to believe and act upon falsehood.