Free Speech
Social Media’s Paradox of Free Speech
Technology has made it easier than ever to flood our social media with fake content. This is worrying considering how many get their news on their daily scroll. What can we do about it?
By Biswajyoti Bandyopadhyay
From “Wow, a blue tick!” to “God, another blue tick!”— the change of perception towards the authenticity of social media accounts has been quick ever since paid verification was introduced on social networking platforms. With the actual authenticity of these ‘verified’ accounts being untraceable, and little control over the content shared from the handles, it has been trouble upon trouble. This has only exacerbated the boatloads of fake news floating around in the media.
Is this a paradox of free speech?
The Covid-19 pandemic and consequent lockdown have changed lifestyles and habits worldwide. The dependence on social media has been building among users. From news, to trends, to entertainment, social media has become the primary source of information for a global majority.
The most alarming of these has been a gradual shift towards digital and social media for news over the last two decades. Consistent shortening of attention spans has seen readers take to digital news for a quick catch up.
In the minds of viewers, social media is a quick and easy way to access everyday news, despite concerns over the veracity of it. Freedom of speech is a protected right that allows one to share opinions as fact to eager audiences, that has become a source of fake news and falsehoods across platforms.
Fake News: Misinformation vs Disinformation
Misinformation refers to the unintentional spread of false information, shared in good faith by those unaware of its inaccuracies. On the other hand, disinformation is intended to deceive and is spread to inflict harm.
According to ‘Journalism, ‘Fake News’ and Disinformation’, a UNESCO Handbook for Journalism Education and Training, much of the discourse on ‘fake news’ conflates these two notions. We must try to understand these distinctions based on the intent of the person or organisation who is posting, and its reception by readers.
Misinformation is information that is false, but the person who is disseminating it believes that it is true.
Disinformation is information that is false, but the person who is disseminating it knows it is false. It is a deliberate, intentional lie, and is actively performed by malicious actors.
A third category could be termed mal-information; information that is based on reality,
but used to inflict harm on a person, organisation or country.
How this impacts the world
With regards to our planet, false news is a slow but steady deterrent in the mission of controlling global warming and pollution. The UN pointed out that random simulations by civil society organisations in 2022 revealed that Facebook’s algorithm was recommending climate denialist content at the expense of climate science. On Twitter, uses of hashtag #climatescam shot up from fewer than 2700 a month in the first half of 2022, to 80,000 in July, and 199,000 in January 2023. The phrase was also showing up among the top results in the search for the word climate.
Another majorly affected space is political attitudes, which in turn impact social and cultural equations. Elections are an opportune moment for fake news mongers to create a bias towards a particular political party, and exposure to false and misleading information, which can rob voters of the chance to make informed choices.
Credible institutions have at times proved to be potent sources of disinformation, deliberately and strategically spreading falsehoods to maintain or secure power. The whole system can undermine public trust in electoral institutions and the electoral process itself, like voter registration, polling and results, and potentially result in voter apathy or rejection of credible election results.
From the newsroom
If you are thinking, it’s the reader community that is the only vulnerable victim of the abundance of fake news on social media platforms, you have been mistaken. Rather, the actual newsmakers are more vulnerable here, with disinformation and misinformation posing a serious threat to their everyday practice of background checks.
When a newsworthy event occurs or a source informs a reporter about something capable of becoming breaking news, it’s a mandate for the newsroom to do a background check and make value addition to ensure credibility to readers. Search engines like Google and trusted social media platforms are tools that many newsrooms rely on. That is where the trouble is.
PR-driven promotional stories, fake pages replicating popular news websites and ‘verified’ social media handles, thanks to buyable authenticity, are making it increasingly difficult for reporters to reach credible information.
The positive side
With the way things are shaping up, a question arises: is social media reduced to being a crisis creator only? The answer is no. Despite the odds, social media has the power to positively impact our society and culture.
One way is its use in classrooms. Social platforms are used for young people to creatively express their opinions, foster healthy discussion, and even connect with experts from around the world. It has revolutionised the way students learn and communicate and has created opportunities that simply didn’t exist in the past.
It also revolutionised activism. Today, every major social justice movement has an online presence. From #BlackLivesMatter to #MeToo, social media has catalysed change, fostered empathy, and challenged the status quo.
Of course, one must remember that social media use must be complemented by sustained engagement with the real world. If not moderated, the internet can be a dangerous place for young people despite its benefits to their education. Movements like those mentioned above are only supported by social media, but need sustained offline engagement to succeed.
A balancing act - the way ahead
Even with its massive power to create uproar and push us towards positive change, it has become increasingly hard for social media to maintain its credibility. The need of the hour is to find a balance by putting a check on the free-flowing circulation of fake news in an attempt to change the big, bad side of social media.
Working towards information integrity, the United Nations is developing The Code of Conduct for Information Integrity on Digital Platforms or the 2024 Summit of the Future. This aims to forge a new global consensus on readying ourselves for a future that is rife with risks but also opportunities.
The Code of Conduct would build upon principles like commitment to information integrity. respect for human rights, support for independent media and increased transparency.
Going by the views of the UN, now is the right time to assess if a policy framework like this can help in ensuring proper validation of news, and filtering of paid news and buyable verification out of the system.
In a recent instance, 13 teenagers from across India got together to fight misinformation, conduct fact checks in the form of videos, and provide media literacy tips. Boomlive is the first-ever teen fact-checking network in the country, a collaboration of Boom and US based NGO Mediawise.
This calls for an answer to a pertinent question. Is this the perfect time for the government, administration, private sector, institutions, NGOs and indeed for all netizens, to come forward and join hands in making social and digital media a reliable source of accurate news and information? We believe the answer is yes.