Misinformation on social media

 

                                                            Source: News medical

Introduction

Social media is one of the major achievements of the last decade. Today, we have come to mass social

 networks through mediums designed to quickly exchange personal messages. The most used social

 networks in Nepal are Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram,TikTok and LinkedIn

 respectively. Facebook and YouTube has many times more users than other networks because it is 

easy to use and can post unlimited things. Social media platforms make it easy for users to share

 information quickly and to a large audience. Due to this mainstream media have started broadcasting 

their content on YouTube and Facebook. In the last few years, numbers of fake news stories have

 increased via social media platform. After receiving content like violent video clips, images, memes, etc.

 people forget to verify about fake or real.

Some people may not have developed strong critical thinking skills or media literacy,

 making them more susceptible to sharing information without evaluating its credibility.

 In some cases, individuals or groups deliberately share false information to achieve specific

 goals, such as spreading propaganda, manipulating public opinion, or creating confusion.

Although the intention is correct while communicating the information, the lack of knowledge, limited understanding or carelessness of some information communicators can lead to the information being wrong is called misinformation. Unknowingly sharing harmful information prepared by someone thinking it useful is also Misinformation. However, the communicator has no intention of harming others.

Statement of  Problem

1.      This study aim is to address causes of misinformation on Facebook and YouTube.

2.      This study aim is to finds what kind of misinformation were publish 

       on Nepali media and how people believed

Misinformation is false information that is spread, regardless of intent to mislead. Social media has become a means of providing information to more and more people at a low cost. It is not easy to recognize and identify whether any content is fake news because the creators of fake news try to make the content look as credible as possible. Misinformation can be about anything. Misinformation increase during the elections not only at the context of Nepal but all around the world.  Similarly at the period if covid-19 misinformation spread more on social media. YouTube has taken down more than 900,000 videos that broke its rules on covid misinformation since the start of the pandemic. The misinformation spread early in the pandemic also included unproven claims.  TikTok has become an important medium, not simply for entertainment but also for conveying information, and this is particularly true among younger people. Because of its popularity, however, the platform has seen a deceptive wave of misinformation proliferating across the app that can mislead and confuse users.  

Objective

The main objective of this study is to analyze what kind of misinformation spread mostly. 

What kind of false and misleading news have Nepal's national level media produced and published?

 Why mislead news being published in the national media? What are the main reasons for this? 

Methodology

This study is based on the study and analysis of news published in national level daily newspapers and online news portals. Various reference materials have also been studied regarding published misinformation and news. A review of academic research, reports, and studies related to media's role in misinformation in Nepal has been done and will provide a surface understanding of the subject.

 

Justification

Adding more good information doesn’t erase the bad information that persists on social media,

 especially when some of the misinformation leads to people lives.  Inadvertence of journalists,

 lack of understanding or some other reasons may cause wrong information transmission. In some

 cases, even if the intention is not wrong, wrong information can be transmitted.

 When wrong information is spread through the media, the masses get confused. In some cases people

  may have to suffer financial, physical and psychological damage.

Journalists should be alert in advance to avoid such a situation. For this they should check the verification of the information by adopting proper methods and procedures. Fake social media posts and accounts help make misinformation viral. Sometimes this is then reported as fact by real journalists. When it becomes the news, the line between fact and fiction becomes blurred. Misinformation has the power to influence the decisions of its audience. It can change a citizen's approach toward a topic or a subject.

In order to expand the reach and influence, the media use selling headlines and catchy headlines in the news. Such headlines are prepared only for the purpose of grabbing the attention of the readers or going viral. Such titles have nothing to do with pet dialect. Such titles are kept to increase the readership or audience or to make it viral or to increase the viewership by hooking the reader.

Limitation

The limitation of this research is its primarily focus on Nepal. This research may not capture the sense of disinformation, fake news and misinformation problem in other regions and all over the world.

Finding and analysis

Misinformation often evokes strong emotions, making it more likely to be shared. Some news appears to be untrue. Many people may lack the necessary skills to critically evaluate information sources. It has become increasingly easy for individuals to create and share content online. This ease of creation, combined with the ability to quickly share information through social media, means that misinformation can circulate widely before its accuracy is verified Social media platforms may not have effective mechanisms for fact-checking content before it is disseminated. People may share content based on emotional reactions without critically evaluating its accuracy.

For example after the government of Nepal banned the social network Tiktok, the information claiming that a hacker had hacked the money in the account of a Nuwakot woman while running it through VPN is going viral on social media. However, our fact check has shown that the information is false.The title of a news posted on Khabarhub on 7th Baisakh, 2077: 'Corona virus is being defeated by self-reliance of Nepalese'. This news, which has no scientific basis, seems more emotional than factual. Although the intention of this news is not wrong, it seems to be baseless from a scientific point of view. Some news have become misleading due to not being careful while writing the title. On Jestha 4 'Baikhari' posted news under the title 'Deuba's challenge to the government to pass the MCC in the budget session', although the intention is not malicious, seems to be misinterpreted. When reading the headline of the news, it seems that the leader of the opposition party, Sher Bahadur Deuba, does not want to pass the MCC, but the government wants it. However, the reality is not like that. Likewise, the Nagarik Dainik has published a news titled 'Severe symptoms in infected people from abroad' on Asar 3, 2077. However, this news does not include the basis to confirm the fact that they have severe symptoms of infection because they came from abroad. Such news also gives wrong information to the readers. The publication of misleading news in national media can result from various factors, and it's essential to consider different perspectives. In the era of 24/7 news cycles and social media, there is often pressure on journalists to break stories quickly. This urgency can lead to insufficient fact-checking and verification, resulting in the dissemination of inaccurate information. Media outlets may prioritize sensational or sensationalized stories to attract more attention and increase their viewership or readership. Journalists, like any individuals, may have personal biases that influence their reporting.

Conclusion

It seems that the Nepali media publishes amount of wrong information. Even if there is no intention to give wrong information or news, such news are published due to lack of subject knowledge, professionalism etc. However, the media must prevent the publication or dissemination of false information because such false information may confuse the reader or cause serious consequences due to such false messages.

Due to the fact that news from both newspapers and online media is available online, such news is shared relatively more through social networks and reaches many readers immediately. Media should not publish news with such misleading headlines as such news can confuse the reader and wrong information can lead to negative results.

Social media user should know about what is correct information and what is wrong information for that media literacy programs should conduct.  People should know about fact-checking tools and techniques to verify the accuracy of information. Launching public awareness campaigns to inform users about the dangers of misinformation and its impact on society. Encourage social media platforms to integrate fact-checking tools and labels for false information. Cyber security experts must propose a high-level monitoring and filtration that involves the government and social media companies to quickly address the problems. The government now lacks a specialized group to effectively track false material on social media.  

References

Bangani,S. (2021,September 5). The fake news wave: Academic libraries' battle against misinformation during COVID-19.ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0099133321000811

 

Muhammed T, S., and Mathew, S. K. (2022). The disaster of misinformation: a review of research in social media. International journal of data science and analytics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41060-022-00311-6

 Gerrit De Vynck and Rachel Lerman, (2021,July 22). Facebook and YouTube spent a year fighting covid misinformation. It’s still spreading.The washingtonpost.https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/07/22/facebook-youtube-vaccine-misinformation/