The world has become advanced in the dissemination of information and views at present. Along with mainstream electronic and printed media such as television, radio and newspapers, there is a range of social media. Media disseminates information, opinions and public opinions in social, economic, political, environmental, public health, technological, cultural, religious, international affairs and other areas. Moreover, media outlets are increasing across countries. No doubt, media has been playing very important roles in the development of social, economic, political and other aspects in the world for a long. People have become more capable of disseminating their voices because of the availability of mainstream and social media across countries. In the coming days, media is likely to play more roles in development.
But all information provided by the mainstream printed and electronic media and social media is not accurate. A portion of the information is false or inaccurate. Among inaccurate information, a portion of information reflects disinformation, which is wrong or misleading information given deliberately with an intention to deceive, create trouble or bring harm, while another portion reflects misinformation or information that is wrong or misleading but is not deliberately given even if it can cause harm. But disinformation is often hard to track and rapidly spreads. No doubt, fake information, either in the form of disinformation or misinformation, is given in economic, social, political and other areas. But such information is disseminated more at the time of political turmoil, war and other significant events in many countries.
Among the media, both mainstream and social media produce disinformation and misinformation, but such information is disseminated more on social media (which are less regulated) such as Facebook and Youtube than mainstream media. No doubt, the sharing of false text, images, or videos is frequently seen on social media, which allows information to go viral within hours. Videos are made and shared on social media including Youtube for carrying out target oriented propaganda in many countries. It is pertinent to note that erroneous information disseminated in the mainstream and social media leads to significant harmful effects, though such information does not bring any remarkable harm always. But between disinformation and misinformation, the former is more harmful than the latter, since it is mainly target oriented.
Disinformation and misinformation lead to deaths, conflicts and many other negative effects. Indeed, media especially social media not only instigates crowds to get engaged in conflicts but also intensifies conflicts among groups of people. There are many instances of such instigation for conflicts in many countries. Moreover, both type of information disseminated by mainstream and social media creates confusion or leads to a wrong perception among the audience on different aspects of life and society. This is more problematic for those who are less educated since educated people have more chances of correcting or criticizing wrong information received through media. Sometimes, disinformation and misinformation lead to political chaos. Additionally, such information brings many other negative impacts including the creation of a negative image of targeted groups.
No doubt, there are social, knowledge based, political and other causes for the dissemination of disinformation and misinformation in the media. The main cause of disinformation is the intention to cause harm, bring a negative image and create chaos. One can disseminate disinformation for political influence, personal/political profit or the desire to create chaos and confusion in society. Enmity with groups, parties or other states also motivates some mainstream media to disseminate disinformation against rival groups, parties or countries. It is undeniable that disinformation is often used as a weapon of war. But the causes of misinformation are different since it involves no intention. Some notable causes of misinformation include a lack of editing or rigorous editing and a lack of scope for the verification of wrong information.
Mainstream media has an editing scope but a lack of editing or rigorous editing can lead to the dissemination of misinformation in the mainstream media. Moreover, some other causes including the role perception of journalists, traditional news values and the psychology of news decisions can lead to the dissemination of fake information. No less important is that a lack of understanding of the truth or falsehood of the information disseminated or shared can cause misinformation and disinformation. No doubt, understanding the truth or falsehood of information can be difficult especially for many social media users because of the lack of capacity to understand. Consequently, many social media users unknowingly share false content on social media, no matter whether such information is sensitive or not.
It is pertinent to note that everyone does not fall prey to fake news especially disinformation, though many do so. No doubt, there is a range of cognitive, psychological, social and other causes that drive people to fall prey to fake information disseminated through the mainstream and social media. The fallibility to fake news (due to a lack of scientific mindedness or personal capacity to critically look at information) and a lack of interest in fact-checking of fake information are among the important causes for many to fall prey to fake information. Consequently, many social media users do not check information or content disseminated or shared through media, though many others do so. Moreover, there are some other causes including the influence of social networks.
But it is important to prevent the dissemination of harmful and wrong information through media, both mainstream and social media. To do so, regulatory measures are very important. No doubt, there are efforts to do so in many countries but such measures need to avoid harassment of journalists, editors and social media users. Also, mainstream media needs to make sure that they do not disseminate misinformation and disinformation and bring harm to society. Of course, putting emphasis on professionalism and the verification or fact checking of doubtful information from several sources and editing before publication can help to prevent the dissemination of misinformation. But special emphasis needs to be given to the information that elicits strong positive or negative emotions, contains extraordinary claims, or is not well-sourced.
The correction of the unintentionally published or shared erroneous information especially that harms anyone’s image and/or brings other sorts of harmful effects unacceptably needs to be ensured. No doubt, post-publication correction can lead to the development of a more professional, responsible and quality dissemination of information especially in the mainstream media. The dissemination of correct information against false ones as a counter measure, the development and usage of tools that identify fake news and the promotion of information literacy and the respect to privacy can also be helpful. Social media users also have their responsibility to be skeptical about information and refrain from the dissemination of disinformation and misinformation. In this respect, the promotion of good and responsible usage of social media is important.
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Magazine, its employees or any other authors. Views published are the sole responsibility of the author(s).
