Assessment Item 5 – Persuasive Blog Post
Lachlan Scott
Student ID 11730889
ITC174
Whilst fake news has existed as long as there’s been news, 2020 has seen an unprecedented explosion of rumours, hearsay and conspiracy theories being bandied around social media with the same frivolous lack of care as office gossip. We all know someone who’s shared a post about Corona Virus being fake, or that 5G towers are spreading it, or that Bill Gates is developing a vaccine so he can put a microchip in you and track you. For online digital learners such as ourselves it is just ethically unacceptable to spread fake news stories like this and here’s why.
First and foremost, it spreads disinformation. Whilst this may seem self-evident, it is important to keep in mind when thinking of the ethics of interacting with fake news as an online digital learner. To be engaging in online learning and absorbing information from various sources but also spreading misinformation through fake news is ethically juxtaposed. It’s detrimental to other online learners and users, whilst also showing a lack of care about the distinction between accurate information and disinformation. As online digital learners it is paramount that we have access to accurate information for our studies and education. Should we not want other students to also have access to accurate information?
The fundamental nature of social media promotes the creation and growth of groups of individuals with like minded interests. Now of course this is an overwhelmingly positive thing on the surface. A place for you and your friends to discuss the things you love and are interested in. Your favourite hobbies, places you want to holiday in, how your sports team is doing. Positive, fun and building a community. But as an online digital learner we need to be aware of the agenda or motive behind the surface level. The sports chat group might have paid promotions for gambling sites and the #futureholidays thread might have promoted content from tourist companies. And when we as an individual source our information from these groups, even on topics seemingly as trivial as sports and holidays it can create what is referred to as a filter bubble. Dalkir (2020) stated that a filter bubble can ensure that the information on a topic that two individuals receive from their regular sources can be completely different. The same occurs in fake news constantly and on far more serious topics. Ethically its more than a little questionable to promote and pander to the agendas of those groups producing the fake news we as online digital learners interact with. Nobody wants to be a pawn in someone else’s game of chess.
Fake news also promotes a distrust of previously reliable sources. This can be through promoting a fake story to the point where it is covered by groups like major news networks and established print media but also by targeting these establishments with outlandish claims and outright lies about their actions and broadcasting. For an example of the former, one of the best examples is that in December 2017 both CNN and MNSBC in the United States ran stories regarding Donald Trump Junior and access to Wikileaks information that he was supposedly given advance access to prior to the public. Unfortunately, it was a complete fabrication with the information having already being provided to the public and the email sent to Donald Trump Junior being sent after that date. When questioned about it both networks stated their sources were anonymous. (Bolt 2019) They later offered corrections but the issue with corrections is that original consumers of the fake news may not see them, and may continue to believe the information initially provided. Whilst the burden of truth should be on these news networks, in our current times it appears that it has shifted to us to ensure we absorb and share accurate information and check the sources of these groups.
Having accurately informed and trustworthy news outlets is also a key cornerstone to an educated and intelligent society. If society is incorrectly informed and incorrectly educated then meaningful discussions to resolve the current issues in society become much more difficult. As online digital learners we are morally obligated to do our best to ensure those around us and ourselves are accurately informed. Without this we will struggle to have an impact in the larger discussions of our time. Some current examples of this would be climate change and its denial by some or Covid 19’s method of spreading and treatment. These are serious issues which affect us and will affect our children. To have a discussion on how to resolve them is incredibly difficult when members of that discussion completely disbelieve the issue actually exists. Fake news articles surrounding climate change denial and Covid 19’s reality abound and yet around the world hundreds of thousands of people have died from Covid 19 and countless people in low lying residences are threatened by rising sea levels. Surely this is evidence enough to prove the reality of these issues and yet fake news still gets clicks and spreads like wildfire.
It is not just unethical for online digital learners to propagate fake news, it is actually our moral obligation to ensure those around us are aware of the truth, not just on these larger issues but in every day discussions. By now it should be self-evident that the fake news being spread today is far more dangerous and damaging to society than maybe we give it credit for. If we as digital online learners are to participate in any meaningful way in our online communities then we simply can’t allow ourselves to propagate lies and deceive those around us, no matter how enticing the clickbait may be.
Reference List:
- Dalkir K., Katz R. (2020) Navigating Fake News, Alternative Facts, and Misinformation in a Post-Truth World. (pp3-12) IGN Global
- Bolt A. (2019, January 23) The 10 worst examples of fake news. And CNN wins. Herald Sun https://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/the-10-worst-examples-of-fake-news-and-cnn-wins/news-story/7915b2962724013b5e2b038df193525e