Adelaide Dodson: spotting fake news
In today's world avoiding fake news seems a nearly insurmountable task. With AI able to create realistic looking videos and pretty much everyone on the planet being able to put whatever the want on the internet, it sometimes feels pretty impossible to know what's real and what's not. But don't worry! There are ways to try and ensure the information you're getting is accurate and not to tinged with overwhelming bias or exaggeration.
As students, there are lots of resources we can utilise to make sure the news we're hearing is the most current and up to date. We can subscribe to news outlets like The Economist who produce 'Espresso', which is an app that catches you up with what's happening around the world in short, informative news stories. It includes information about politics, economics and business, and serves to magnify an individuals view of the world. Information like this can be perfect for people who want to know what's happening globally without reading endless articles and dedicating all their time to finding the truth.
I should, however, mention that you probably shouldn't narrow your sources of information to one or two news outlets; there can be cases of bias, but reading a couple of articles from different sources helps you make a more informed judgement on a piece of news instead of blindly following one opinion.
Reading a couple of articles from different sources helps you make a more informed judgement on a piece of news.
When it comes to local news I hear about most things through social media instead of accredited news chains. If a new shop is opening in town I'm more likely to see an Instagram Reel than I am to find out about it any other way. Even with big news like the 'Jesmond balaclava men' I still found out about it on TikTok. However, I immediately hopped online to try and find the truth behind the TikTok. When I'd seen and read articles by national news sites (the BBC) and more local (The Northern Echo) I could make a more informed decision about what I thought. This is one easy way to get free accurate news - simply Google and visit reputable sites.
Of course, even if you employ these methods, it is not a universal truth that everything you see will be true. Some articles will be badly researched, biased or simply untrue (even if you're looking at a reputable site). In a world of misinformation, we simply have to do our best to use critical thinking and judge how far we believe what someone is telling us.
Scarlet Davies: spotting misinformation on social media
You’d be hard fetched to find someone who is online and hasn’t been deceived. Maybe it was rumours that your favourite band was coming to your city- despite the fact that the last person to perform there was a knock-off tribute to David Bowie- or perhaps it was news that the latest A-Listers had made out backstage at an awards show. But despite the relatively harmless gossip that’s spread around online, what happens when false news becomes more serious? What should we believe, and how many online sources can be trusted in a new world that finds most of its information from the media?
You know it's bad when you can’t even trust what you think you’re seeing. 'Deepfakes' have had a concerning surge in popularity recently, opening up a whole world of fake news for people to spread around media platforms. While some deepfakes are genuinely innocent, it has recently been used for leaks of fake revenge porn or nudes, destroying people’s lives online with a single click. While it might be fun to look at fake photos of celebrities, consider how it might be invading their privacy online. Fake images, while amusing in some contexts, can ruin people’s careers if used in the wrong way.
You know it's bad when you can’t even trust what you think you’re seeing. 'Deepfakes' have had a concerning surge in popularity recently.
It has also never been easier to spread false information online. Accounts of platforms Instagram are easier to verify, and yet information spread about political situations is widely believed without proof. As we’ve seen before, this easily leads to mass hysteria about issues that have been over-hyped, or blind belief about actions or events that haven’t even happened. The new age of social media being our generations’ main source of information, while useful and easily accessible, also needs to be recognised as highly dangerous. It's in our best interests to filter what we see into truth and lies to prevent ourselves from becoming too easily influenced by what we see and hear online.
So how can we make sure that we’re using the internet safely? Sources such as the BBC are good to check, rather than an unknown account that has 6k followers and types in all-caps. While we can’t guarantee that everything we see online is 100% fact, it’s better to recognise and scrutinise certain sources rather than getting involved in events or scandals that never existed, or are being heavily exaggerated. It’s time to stop pretending that we know everything through unreliable secondary sources. War and politics happen in real life, not online, and we shouldn’t be getting our information from someone behind a computer who’s prepared to lie through their teeth for a few extra likes.