Things We Can Do
“Beware false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.” George Bernard Shaw
We all have a role to play in the fight against fake. This page provides some basic advice and links to useful websites.
Page Content
Here are some suggestions, many self-evident, but worth repeating none the less:
With so much misinformation and fakery around it is difficult to know where a concerned citizen might begin. There is clearly very little that one can do about some of the threats we face — the explosion of ‘alt-facts’, rumour and ill-informed opinion in the media/cyberspace, growing internet fraud and other forms of cyber-crime, hostile governments seeding fake stories to encourage political dissent. However, that’s no reason for complacency: there are issues that we can
address, both individually and as a group. You have to start somewhere, and, like kindness, every little helps.
1 Don’t Add to the Problem
•
Be careful,
especially when sharing information and ideas on social media;
•
Do your homework
and make sure you are not yourself contributing to the problem — use reputable sources and cross-check information before posting.
•
Be constructive —
there’s enough negative comment around, but also recognise that this battle is not necessarily about applying logic and reason[1], rather, addressing people’s emotions and opinions.
• Be respectful and aware of others’ cultural and religious sensitivities — try not to antagonize decent law-abiding citizens who don’t share your political opinions, or your views or religious beliefs. We live in a pluralist society and need all the support we can get if we are to defeat fake news, trickery and deception.
• Make an effort to break out of your bubble — follow thoughtful people and different political outlets to our own.
• Treat narratives you believe as sceptically as ones you don’t — try leaving your politics behind when looking at a story.
• Try not to succumb to conspiratorial thinking — the more you can resist it, the better for all of us.
• Be respectful and aware of others’ cultural and religious sensitivities — try not to antagonize decent law-abiding citizens who don’t share your political opinions, or your views or religious beliefs. We live in a pluralist society and need all the support we can get if we are to defeat fake news, trickery and deception.
• Make an effort to break out of your bubble — follow thoughtful people and different political outlets to our own.
• Treat narratives you believe as sceptically as ones you don’t — try leaving your politics behind when looking at a story.
• Try not to succumb to conspiratorial thinking — the more you can resist it, the better for all of us.
Challenge Fake & Report It
•
Challenge suspect facts
, pseudoscience and bigotry, especially where it is designed to defend the indefensible or stir up social tensions/curtail others’ freedom of thought and expression — this needs to be done with care and vigour, and repeated often if it is to stand any chance of having a lasting effect.
• Report offenders to social media platforms and internet service providers; consider raising your concerns with your MP.
• Lobby politicians to promote media literacy and reign in social media platforms / get them todo more to control / take down websites that disseminate misinformation and fake news; [2]
• Support calls to prosecute malefactors spreading fake news and misinformation.
• Report offenders to social media platforms and internet service providers; consider raising your concerns with your MP.
• Lobby politicians to promote media literacy and reign in social media platforms / get them todo more to control / take down websites that disseminate misinformation and fake news; [2]
• Support calls to prosecute malefactors spreading fake news and misinformation.
Support Good Causes
•
Show your appreciation
for bona fide
information providers (like Wikipedia) by making regular donations or supporting crowdsourcing initiatives — they really need our help.
• Subscribe to organisations that promote critical thinking, science, human rights and freedom of speech. [3]
• Don’t vote for vulgarian politicians who make outrageous claims — challenge them at the hustings and in the local press.
• Subscribe to organisations that promote critical thinking, science, human rights and freedom of speech. [3]
• Don’t vote for vulgarian politicians who make outrageous claims — challenge them at the hustings and in the local press.
Watch Out for Fraud
The risk of email fraud can be avoided by: using a spam filter; deleting all unsolicited emails (without opening them or clicking on links); and ignoring offers from unknown sources. If you do open one by mistake, you may find that it contains schoolboy spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
2 Inform Yourself About the DisInfodemic
If you want to keep up with what's happening on the 'DisInfodemic' / conspiracy theory front you can follow Fighting Fake
on our Facebook
Page and subscribe to a whole raft of (free) specialist newsletters — but be careful not to get overwhelmed!
Here are some websites / sources you might like to consider:
- Open Source [DFRLabs]
You can also follow specialist websites like Debunking Denialism.
Good sources of stories about 'fake news' and disinformation include: The BBC, The Conversation, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Register
and Wired.
If you would like to suggest other newsletters, titles or website please do!
3 How You Can Help Us
“We must learn to recognize that all social groups — regardless of religious belief or lack thereof — bring something to the table that is worthy. Coming together to pursue peace, justice, equality, and all the other values we hold in-kind, we find that if we failed to partner together we would be dismissing friends and allies on a wide array of issues.”
Benjamin Corey
You might also like to consider helping us to:
You might also like to consider helping us to:
•
publicise
the growing number of initiatives that identify and flag suspect, false or misleading information, including sites where you can check facts and establish authenticity;
• promote the clear signposting of false and inaccurate content, especially on social media sites, for example, using the blue check mark;
• promote the clear signposting of false and inaccurate content, especially on social media sites, for example, using the blue check mark;
•
encourage critical thinking
and reasoned argument — are you a teacher? Could you give a presentation on misinformation/'fake news' to your class, or talk to a local group?
• Let us know if you find things on our website that you don’t like or think could be improved — or if you come across useful material / websites; we are happy to consider posting links in our Resources Section.
• Let us know if you find things on our website that you don’t like or think could be improved — or if you come across useful material / websites; we are happy to consider posting links in our Resources Section.
We are also looking to link up / share ideas and information with other groups both in the UK and abroad. Might a group you’re involved with be interested?
Today fake news and mis/disinformation pose an existential threat to Western democracies We’d better start taking it seriously; if not we will only have ourselves to blame for the chaos that will surely follow.
Today fake news and mis/disinformation pose an existential threat to Western democracies We’d better start taking it seriously; if not we will only have ourselves to blame for the chaos that will surely follow.
“A shared sense of reality, a counter to conspiracies, and some basic consensus are vital to a healthy democracy, a truly post-truth world is in none of our interests.” James Ball
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Notes
The graphic 'Fake News or Real News?' is from here.
1 Applying logic and reason may be counter-productive. In the face of contradictory evidence, some people do not change their beliefs (which they may have held for years); their beliefs actually get stronger, This is known as the backfire effect.
2 The scale of the problem is enormous. Here’s just one example. In March 2018 it was reported that Facebook had 83 million false accounts worldwide. At the time Facebook reported 2.13 billion MAUs (monthly active users), mostly on mobiles. It divides false accounts into three categories: duplicate accounts, user-misclassified accounts & undesirable accounts (some fake profiles are professionals doing testing/research, but many are not).
2 The scale of the problem is enormous. Here’s just one example. In March 2018 it was reported that Facebook had 83 million false accounts worldwide. At the time Facebook reported 2.13 billion MAUs (monthly active users), mostly on mobiles. It divides false accounts into three categories: duplicate accounts, user-misclassified accounts & undesirable accounts (some fake profiles are professionals doing testing/research, but many are not).
3 Examples of UK organisations that promote science, secularism, human rights and freedom of speech include: Humanists UK, National Secular Society and Liberty.
