Social Media Platforms are Breeding Grounds for Fake News, but also Platforms for Accountability

Social media has been used to spread misinformation and fake news about serious topics, like wildfires. However, these platforms can and should be used to share accurate news. Image courtesy of WIX.

The 2020 wildfire season has been more destructive than past years. As of Dec. 4, 52,834 wildfires have burned 9,539,554 acres, the second most acres burned in the last 10 years, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Although it has been scientifically proven that wildfires are getting worse because of the impacts of climate change, people share inaccurate information that is presented as a fact — also known as fake news. In the case of the fires, people reported that extremists were responsible for setting them. As a result, the FBI released a statement to discourage individuals from sharing misinformation regarding the fires because these actions take “valuable resources away [from] local fire and police agencies working around the clock to bring these fires under control.”

Beyond the fact that the spread of fake news does take time away from the individuals who could be dealing with containing the fires, it is dangerous because it acts as an attempt to undermine the credibility of the media. By using social media under the guise of sharing information that mainstream media isn’t, the idea that the media cannot be trusted is perpetuated. In reality, mainstream media is not sharing this information because it is fake — not because it is hiding anything.

With the prominence of social media, fake news is easily spread now more than ever before. As Tara Jacoby writes in POLITICO, “With an inundation of information, a penchant for picture-based platforms that can obfuscate nuance and an emotional media landscape rife with conflicting and dubious accounts, Gen Zers can and do fall into pitfalls with serious implications on their political outlook.”

TikTok is the fastest-growing application today, attracting an audience of 1.5 billion active users, mostly children and teenagers. On TikTok, fake news is apparent, which is even more problematic considering viewers may not be able to discern what is real or fake information. For instance, a user shared a video implying that social media companies were hiding footage that the fires were being lit intentionally.

Luckily, others use the platform to call out fake news. Michael Clark, also known as @wildlandmike on TikTok, is a firefighter and shared a response to the original video. He debunked it by explaining that this is typical fire fighting procedure and is not actually a conspiracy.

Jacoby notes that young social media users “aren’t falling for the same fake news stories that may have duped their parents in 2016. Angela Lee, a Stanford Ph.D. candidate who studies the psychology of young people’s interactions with technology, said Gen Zers are generally very apt at being able to trace the origins of stories or discern the authenticity of a viral story line.” Compared to older generations, younger social media users are more likely to call out problematic posts that are misleading or fake, which has to do with the fact that they spend more time on these apps.

A big concern with fake news on social media is that even if individuals are willing to call it out, they might not always be able to identify it. Much of this has to do with the quick, bite-sized nature of social media posts. There are few opportunities for contextualization, and information that is fake or misleading can easily be reposted. Jacoby writes, “That opens its own avenues for trouble: instances in which a Gen Zer may have the ability to discern misinformation, but not necessarily the time or desire to do so.”

Younger social media users are likely to call out problematic posts that are misleading or fake. Chart courtesy of POLITICO.

Even though tech companies are not official news organizations, they have no choice but to have some sort of responsibility in the quest to curb the spread of fake news. However, given the COVID-19 pandemic, it is undoubtedly more difficult to allocate resources to something that is not the primary task of the organization. For instance, Facebook has stated that it has fewer people available to process new authorization for ads about social issues, elections or politics amid the pandemic, causing backups in approving content on the site. Still, mitigating the spread of fake news needs to be a priority for tech companies.

Journalists also need to have an equal part in fighting the spread of fake news by being diligent in their reporting. There is already enough fake news spread on social media platforms. Official news sources need to make sure that they are sharing content that is reliable. Consumers also have a role by increasing their media literacy. There is no way to stop misinformation, but people can educate themselves to think critically about the media they are consuming.

Clearly, social media is an effective way to share information. We just need to make sure it is the right kind.