CIVIX Explains: Information Pollution

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[Information Polution]

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

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

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

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

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

such as a professional news organization,

and what is less reliable.

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

which means we hear a lot
about the fake news problem.

But what is fake news, exactly?

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

from articles intended to deceive people,

to misleading memes
and clickbait headlines,

to conspiracy theories.

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

as a way to discredit reliable sources,

which only adds to the confusion.

To understand the problem
of wrong information online,

it helps to define and categorize it.

False information
can be sorted into two categories:

misinformation and disinformation.

Misinformation is wrong,

but the person sharing it
believes it to be true.

While misinformation can be damaging,

its intent is not to cause harm.

Examples could include a factual error

caused by misunderstanding,

a manipulated image,

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

Disinformation, on the other hand,

is deliberately false information

created and shared to cause harm.

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

and influencing how they think and act.

For example, a false rumour
circulated about a political candidate

that causes others
to doubt their trustworthiness.

Together, all this mis- and disinformation

can be thought of
as information pollution.

Unreliable stories or posts
can be interesting or funny,

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

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

Before believing or sharing
something, stop and ask,

“Who made this, and why?”

This is the first step
in combating information pollution

to become a more informed citizen.

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[Brought to you by CIVIX]

[With the support of Canada]

[Produced by SPACE HEART]