Image from BBC News

In an era of information explosion, we receive lots of information every day from different media such as social media, websites, newspaper and televisions. However, some of them are disinformation. Disinformation is defined as “false, incomplete or misleading information that is passed, fed, or confirmed to a targeted individual, group or country”. The purpose of dissemination disinformation includes advancing political goals, making profit and building social influence. Online misinformation has become one of the most pressing challenges of the digital age (Iosifidis & Nicoli, 2019).

Based on the articles named “The battle to end fake news…”, “If Facebook ruled the world…” and “Living in the post-truth world…”, I believe the information of fake news on social media and students’ insufficient awareness of evaluating online information inform my work. Nowadays, many people get their news from social media (Johnston, 2018). However, news media cannot uphold moral order because they are heavily reliant on social media platforms. The result is social platforms especially Facebook’s growing influence in news consumption. Unfortunately, Facebook concern about its reputation and market but does not concern the truth of the news (Jewell, 2017). Moreover, the lack of regulatory regime made it easier for powerful and unaccountable social platforms through which channels travel the fake news (Iosifidis & Nicoli, 2019). People may easily be tricked if they obtain online information without evaluation.

As an information professional, I think it is important to fight back with accurate information and media literacy education. About accurate information, librarians can share accurate information via libraries’ websites and social media channels. For example, there is fake news about drinking methanol to cure COVID-19. Librarians especially those who work in public libraries can post accurate information about prevention of COVID-19 via libraries’ websites and social media channels. About media literacy education, librarians can play a critical role in strengthening media literacy education at schools. They can empower the students to understand which information to trust, how to determine the accuracy and authority of online information through resources such as the IFLA guide of spotting fake news with eight simple steps (Agosto, 2018; Johnston, 2018).

References

Agosto, D. E. (Ed.). (2018). Information literacy and libraries in the age of fake news. Libraries Unlimited.

Iosifidis, P., & Nicoli, N. (2019). The battle to end fake news: A qualitative content
analysis of Facebook announcements on how it combats disinformation. International Communication Gazette, 82(1), 60–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048519880729

Jewell, J. (2017). If Facebook ruled the world: Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of a digital future. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/if-facebook-ruled-the-world-mark-zuckerbergs-vision-of-a-digital-future-73459

Johnston, N. (2018). Living in the post-truth world: Recent research and resources. Incite, 39(3/4), 26-27.