In today’s inescapable digital age, it is no surprise that information flows from source to audience faster now than ever before. Of course, with this incredible speed, also comes a potentially troubling rise in the realm of fake news, disinformation and misinformation. These modern phenomena are waves that have real power to fuel mistrust, disrupt society, and shape public opinion in a wide manner of harmful ways.
Something important to understand is that while each of these three terms do have some significant overlap, they all carry distinct meanings with different implications. In doing their homework to understand each unique term and what it refers to (along with utilizing media monitoring software), individuals and organizations alike can do better in identifying and dealing with the various challenges as they arise.
So, what is fake news? It is the term used to refer to stories that have been completely fabricated with the intention to mislead and deceive an audience. Such content will usually mimic the tone of legitimate news formats in order to avoid immediate suspicion and spread very quickly. The goal of fake news is to exploit the natural trust that people have in established media platforms, whilst leveraging the sensational in order to amplify reach.
Fake news stories, for example, are often common during high profile periods like election cycles, where false narratives may be planted in order to discredit a candidate and sway the opinion of potential voters. In these cases, the intent is deliberately malicious and aims to target emotions like rage and fear in order to influence human behaviors.
Media misinformation is the term used for examples of inaccurate or false information that is shared without the malicious intent and impact of fake news. Misinformation in media is unlike fake news in the sense that it is commonly spread by innocent individuals online who believe it to be true. The problem with misinformation is that there is a distinct lack of understanding and verification of the content, leading to even further confusion and distrust of outlets attempting to ‘set the story straight’.
Most recently, high levels of misinformation were shared online regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and various home remedies vs. vaccinations. Obviously, this caused massive discord and, in some cases, even physically harmful consequences.
And finally, there is disinformation, which by contrast, pertains to the deliberate sharing of false information with the intention of manipulating and deceiving target audiences. These ‘attacks’ are often part of a coordinated effort in which a specific goal has been identified whether to sway a particular public opinion or discredit a particular opponent.
Again, elections are occasions in which disinformation and false narratives are likely to be disseminated. The use of fake social media accounts and bots is prominent in order to maximize spread and impact.
In recent times, fake news are spread all over the place. Most of them are made to undermine trust and make a damage to governments, companies and individuals. For instance, there is a constant fake that Disney World has lowered drinking age at some of its locations. This fake has been de-bunked several times over the year, but still it re-appears on social from time to time.
Misinformation examples find a perfect home and spread rate across the various popular social media platforms. During natural disaster events, for example, posts made by well-meaning individuals are then shared out of context and out of date. Similarly, there have been many instances of false warnings about non-existent tsunamis that create unnecessary panic.
In the world of education, the dangers of misinformation include campaigns that can sometimes run rampant regarding things like policy change rumors and exam schedule alterations, often based on partial truths.
Disinformation campaigns are often the campaigns that can have the most far-reaching consequences. For instance, a constant attacks of NATO as a structure or a narrative about presence of its troops in Ukraine. These examples of disinformation have also been prevalent during the course of the Ukraine/Russia conflict, with some of the Ukrainian startups of the future working to combat the situation.
The trio of disinformation, fake news, and misinformation on the internet can have truly profound effects on societies, from undermining trust to fostering major confusion and increasing polarization.
Trust in traditional media institutions tends to decline the more people struggle to tell the difference between real information and false information. In turn, this distrust can then extend through to important organizations and even governments.
There is no doubt that spreading misinformation online leads to widespread confusion amongst the masses, which can make it incredibly difficult for people to make the right, informed decisions. These situations can be particularly dangerous when it comes to emergency responses and public health incidents.
Disinformation is most insidiously effective when it can exploit fault lines within society, working to further deepen existing divisions in things like politics, race and general culture. Amplifying these divides is only ever going to weaken societal cohesion and increase levels of conflict.
Media monitoring has been identified as one of the most critical tools in identifying and combating all of these kinds of examples of misleading information. Through analyzing real time content across selected platforms, organizations are able to detect fake news on the internet, track its spread, and quickly respond to it much better.
OSAVUL is a powerful suite of tools that offer an advanced media monitoring solution, designed specifically with the challenges of fake news, misinformation and disinformation in mind. Some of OSAVUL’s key features include:
OSAVUL can be used to continuously monitor content, both online and offline, which allows users to pick up on suspicious information before it really emerges.
AI integration in the software means that OSAVUL can analyze patterns and identify trends that a human monitor might not.
OSAVUL is able to evaluate the credibility of various information sources, which in turn helps to discern reliable content from the more suspicious narratives.
With the help of real-time updates, OSAVUL allows users to enact very swift action in the hope of mitigating any potential negative effects of disinformation and misinformation.
OSAVUL is able to monitor across a wide range of multiple platforms, including news websites, blogs, social media feeds, and more.
The insights that OSAVUL is able to provide organizations can help them to make much better-informed decisions, with the view of developing much more targeted strategies to combat specific issues.
Ultimately, it is clear to see that the continually increasing rise of fake news, disinformation and misinformation is something that poses a really significant challenge to the modern, information-driven world in which we live. These issues can achieve malicious goals such as eroding trust, disrupting societies, and making it increasingly difficult for ‘normal’ individuals to access real, reliable information. Being able to understand the distinction between the terms used throughout this article can be the first step towards being able to address their impact.
Obviously, technology can play a critical role in combating the challenges we have laid out above, and solutions like the ones that OSAVUL’s monitoring platform offers are a great tool in any organization’s arsenal. The real-time tracking, AI-driven analytics, and assessment of source credibility can all assist in helping users to keep ahead of any perceived threats, therefore protecting their audiences from such harmful falsehoods.
The successful curbing of the spread of fake news, disinformation and misinformation is something that requires an intensive combination of advanced software tools, real time vigilance and wider media literacy. When used together, all of these factors can help to foster a much more informed and resilient society that is capable and equipped to navigate the complex, sometimes muddy waters of the current digital age.
