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[Information Polution]

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The internet gives everyone in society
a voice in the public sphere.

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But when anyone can post anything online,
the result is a lot of information.

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Some of this is trustworthy,
but a lot of it isn’t.

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On social media and search platforms,
all information is made to look the same.

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It can be hard to tell what is
from a credible source,

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such as a professional news organization,

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and what is less reliable.

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Social media networks make it easy
for wrong information to spread,

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which means we hear a lot
about this ‘fake news’ problem.

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But what is fake news, exactly?

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The phrase gets used to describe
all kinds of wrong information,

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from articles intended to deceive people,

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to misleading memes
and clickbait headlines,

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to conspiracy theories.

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Some people call news reports
they don’t like ‘fake news’,

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as a way to discredit reliable sources,

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which only adds to the confusion.

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To understand the problem of
wrong information online,

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it helps to define and categorize it.

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False information can be sorted
into two categories:

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misinformation and disinformation.

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Misinformation is wrong,

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but the person sharing it
believes it to be true.

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While misinformation can be damaging,

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its intent is not to cause harm.

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Examples could include a factual error

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caused by misunderstanding,

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a manipulated image,

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or a real photo that appears
with a made up story.

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Disinformation, on the other hand,

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is deliberately false information

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created and shared to cause harm.

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It has the goal of confusing
people about what is true,

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and influencing how they think and act.

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For example, a false rumour
circulated about a political candidate

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that causes others
to doubt their trustworthiness.

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Together, all this mis- and disinformation

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can be thought of 
as information pollution.

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Unreliable stories or posts
can be interesting or funny,

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or spark an emotion that makes us want
to believe and share them with friends.

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People contribute to information pollution
by sharing false and misleading content.

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Before believing or sharing
something, stop and ask,

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“Who made this, and why?”

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This is the first step
in combating information pollution

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to become a more informed citizen.

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[Brought to you by CIVIX]

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[With the support of Canada]