Terms & Concepts
The term that I researched is disinformation. The basic definition of disinformation is false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth. Disinformation is everywhere, and we do not even realize it. We are constantly being controlled to think a certain way through the news, magazines, newspapers, and even ads that come up on Instagram and youtube.
Disinformation can be used to control a whole entire country as well. It is very powerful, destructive, and is actually a common tool of espionage. Countries often have an interest in intentionally spreading fake information to their rival nations, as the Soviet Union and the United States did during the Cold War, for instance. When a country or group coordinates a complicated plan of spreading disinformation, it is often referred to as a disinformation campaign. This can also be used with Propaganda, which is information spread to make someone or something look bad or good. As a recent example, the United States State Department accused the Chinese government of supporting an online disinformation campaign that spread false information about COVID-19 and blamed the outbreak on the United States. This online disinformation campaign essentially could have gotten the entire Country of China to believe that the United States started the Covid-19 outbreak which obviously is not true at all. It is crazy to me how often disinformation is spread, and how easily it is for someone else to manipulate the way you think and your own opinions.
As dangerous as disinformation can be, journalists find themselves in a difficult position when investigating it. journalists generally don’t outright accuse them of being a liar or spreading disinformation. This is because journalists cannot usually be 100% certain of the intent behind the disinformation, and they (and all writers) can be sued for libel if they wrongfully call someone a liar. A term that is often associated with disinformation is debunking which means to expose the falseness of an idea, myth, or belief. But the era of smarter technology will be upon us soon. These fake campaigns will grow more powerful which will cause society as a whole to believe them more. With these innovations, and alongside the uptick in the general understanding of digital disinformation, They are changing how they launch their operations on the legacy social media platforms, making their people act more like bots, and their bots more like people, in efforts to confuse the algorithms built to track the inorganic spread of content.
The spread of disinformation can affect me and you individually in a negative way. Methods to control society are all around us constantly. Social Media is a main method of disinformation. An example of this is that on Instagram posts, if the people who control Instagram see a post that explains something that is true, but they don't want the public to think that way, they can literally put a banner on it that says false information. Disinformation is stopping society as a whole from having a personal opinion. For me personally, I try not to fall into this trap. I will look at the facts on both sides and base my opinion off of that. Of course, I can not avoid disinformation, but awareness on this topic is all you need to not listen to the one opinion that they want society to believe.
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