The concept of a flat Earth was held by ancient cultures, but disproven by Greek mathematicians like Pythagoras and Eratosthenes.

Contemporary flat Earth organizations and individuals still believe in the theory, despite contrary scientific evidence.

Some people believe the Earth is flat, often in conjunction with conspiracy theories about secret societies.

FLATEARTH NATIONS is a flat Earth organization with a presence on social media platforms like WordPress, BitChute, and Brighteon, and ties to other conspiracy theory groups.

FLATEARTH NATIONS and associated groups promote ideas including a plasma moon, faked moon landings, and a "Greater World Map".

Public figures like NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving and NFL players Darius Slay, Sammy Watkins, and Patrick Queen have publicly expressed belief in the Flat Earth theory.

The resurgence of flat Earth beliefs may be linked to online misinformation and conspiracy theories.

Flat Earth believers argue that the Earth is flat, contrary to scientific evidence, and often separate themselves from others, viewing non-believers as deceived.

Associating with flat Earth believers can expose a teenager to harmful misinformation and conspiracy theories.

Parents can mitigate risks by promoting critical thinking and media literacy in their teenagers.

The internet and social media facilitate the spread of misinformation, including flat Earth content, among teenagers.

Education and media literacy can prevent the spread of misinformation among teenagers by promoting critical thinking.

Media literacy is essential for combating disinformation by enabling individuals to assess source credibility and identify false information.

To effectively communicate the scientific evidence for a round Earth to teenagers, parents and educators should be accepting and open.

Parents should listen and offer emotional support before giving advice, and education can help prevent the spread of misinformation among teenagers by teaching critical reading and thinking skills.

The concept of a flat Earth was held by ancient cultures, but disproven by Greek mathematicians like Pythagoras and Eratosthenes.

Contemporary flat Earth organizations and individuals still believe in the theory, despite contrary scientific evidence.

Title:

Content: Virgin Galactic's history-making space launch has left flat Earth conspiracy theorists losing their minds at the surface of the planet.

Fuming conspiracy theorists believe the recent live stream footage of three civilian astronauts heading into space proves they are correct about their claims.

A few comments on the YouTube livestream saw the nutters break through with their wild theories, foaming at the mouth as they pointed out the lack of "oval" in the Earth.

READ MORE: Virgin Galactic's first civilian spaceflight enters space with Olympian onboard

Their comments were drowned out by furious believers in the spherical nature of the planet, telling others not to "feed the flat earth trolls" as they vied for attention.

One mad comment read "THAT DOESNT LOOK LIKE AN OVAL TO ME," while another equally reasonable individual added: "LOOK AT IT??!!! WHERE IS THE CURVE IN THE EARTH?!!"

Their totally sane comments come as the Richard Branson-owned company set off on a history making flight, taking a former Olympian and a mother-daughter duo to the edges of the atmosphere.

The trio' weightless triumph was not all good news though as a small collection of conspiracy-mad individuals believed it was evidence of a flat Earth.

A third tin foil hat wearer added: "This looks like a flat earth to me."

But cooler heads in the comments prevailed, or tried to, as they hit back at those claiming the earth was flat and tried to reason with those responding to the conspiracy nuts.

One person wrote: "Between the flat-Earthies and the anti-woke twits, this chat is a bit of a fail. Congrats to the crew and the passengers and the people who aren't all bottom hurt by other people doing things."

Another added: "Don't feed the flat earth trolls."

But still the conspiracy-mad members of chat pushed on, with some saying "you can literally see the flat edge of earth" while another, quite plainly, wrote: "IT IS FLAT."

For the latest breaking news stories and incredible tales from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.

Some people believe the Earth is flat, often in conjunction with conspiracy theories about secret societies.

Title:

Content: ADVERTISEMENT

In the age of lightning-speed communication, it’s more important now than ever to have good media literacy. It’s how you can tell the difference between misinformation and actual facts. Unfortunately, some people are more than happy to click the reshare button without considering what they’re doing.

The @cnviolations account shares some of the most epic moments when community fact-checkers called out misinformation on X (formerly Twitter). Scroll down to see just how shameless some lies on social media can get... and why informative context is so important!

As we’ve covered on Bored Panda recently, some people like to believe in conspiracy theories because it gives them a sense of control in a chaotic and confusing world. The scarier and more uncertain a situation is, the more likely that people will cling to theories that, though inaccurate, help them make sense of the world.

Conspiracy theories aren’t backed by evidence. The people who believe in them discount any evidence that doesn’t support them. However, if you’re willing to consider evidence and are open to changing your mind when given solid proof, you’re less likely to fall victim to a conspiracy theory.

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The world doesn’t objectively become a less complicated place because someone chooses to believe simplistic black-or-white narratives. It’s up to us to look for the nuances and embrace them, even if they’re uncomfortable or don’t match our subjective experiences or political leanings.

A good rule of thumb is to be extremely wary of claims that are overly simplistic or have very clear heroes and villains. The world is more complicated than clean and clear fights between perfect good and total evil. That’s why context, provided by reliable sources, matters so much.

#8

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Over 693.6K people follow @cnviolations, aka ‘community notes violating people,’which documents some of the most epic takedowns of misinformation, as done by members of the @communitynotes project—a real program meant to combat lies on X.

The @cnviolations account on X is in no way affiliated with the social network, nor the @communitynotes program. However, indirectly, it shares a lot of comedic moments and also shows to what extent some social media users twist the truth or believe in others’ lies.

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The actual Community Notes project has 782.8K followers and describes itself as a collaborative way to add helpful context to posts. This way, everyone using X or reading tweets (or are those called Xs now?) elsewhere, can stay better informed.

Though it’s no panacea, the project does reduce the number of people who are misled. All with the power of helpful notes!

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The people who contribute to the Community Notes mission are regular users of the X social network. They sign up to write and rate notes. As the founders of the project point out, “the more people that participate, the better the program becomes.” It’s not like random notes show up on posts all over X, however.

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Only notes that are rated helpful by people “from diverse perspectives” appear on posts.

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“To identify notes that are helpful to a wide range of people, notes require agreement between contributors who have sometimes disagreed in their past ratings. This helps prevent one-sided ratings,” the Community Notes team explains in detail.

They believe that it’s vital to give X users a voice in providing informative, diverse context to posts on the network.

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One of the fundamental values of Community Notes is transparency. “All contributions are published daily, and our ranking algorithm can be inspected by anyone,” the founders point out that anyone is able to see how things work “under the hood.” It’s nice to see that they’re staying consistent on the importance of openness in everything that they do.

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Any contributor can suggest a note on any post. Other contributors then rate those notes. However, it’s not a popularity contest by any means. “Because notes need to genuinely be found helpful by people who tend to disagree, the program is more likely to identify notes that many people find helpful.”

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One question that X users have is whether other users can be trusted to add context to other people’s posts.

“We believe regular people can valuably contribute to identifying and adding helpful context to potentially misleading information. Many of the internet’s existing collaborative sites thrive with the help of non-expert contributions—Wikipedia, for example—and, while it’s not a cure-all, research has shown the potential of incorporating crowdsourced-based approaches as part of a broader toolkit to address misleading information on the internet,” the Community Notes team explains.

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According to surveys conducted by the project, people were 20 to 40% less likely to agree with potentially misleading posts if they could read a note attached to them.

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Which of these misinfo takedowns impressed you the most? Which ones made you giggle? What’s your personal relationship with X been like after it changed its name from Twitter? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comment section after you’ve enjoyed this list to the fullest, dear Pandas.

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See Also on Bored Panda
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Title:

Content:     People Are Sharing Debunked Conspiracy Theories That People Believe Anyway, And I Kind Of Can't Believe Some Of These

    "Not only is the entire conspiracy surrounding it completely implausible, it's also so easily defeated. It's just random garbage with a thousand predictions that haven't come true. Just give it up already. Even most doomsday cults give up after four or five faulty predictions."

    Sometimes you hear someone repeat a conspiracy theory that is obviously total nonsense — and it makes you say to yourself, "People still believe that?"

    Redditor u/Gaza1121 recently asked the people of Reddit, "What conspiracy theory is so easily disproven that you don't understand how it's still going?" At the very least, these answers might help people get a clue about a thing or two:

    1. "Flat earth."

    —u/Vivid_Reading_2159

    "I’ve truly never understood what the big conspiracy is about this — who would benefit from lying about the earth being a globe? I understand most other conspiracies and what the purpose that they would serve, but this one is so moronic it’s just beyond me. Why do they think we would be lied to about gravity?"

    —u/PM_ME_YOUR_SUBURBS

    2. "Elvis faked his death. If he was going to do that, wouldn’t he have chosen a more dignified way to go?"

    —u/jb40018

    3. "Dinosaurs never existed."

    —u/Outrageous_Winner663

    4. "That JFK, Jr. didn’t die and was going to come out of hiding to be Trump’s VP."

    —u/jwt0001

    5. "That the Holocaust was a hoax."

    —u/Left-Star2240

    "Eisenhower demanded they photograph and document it because he knew people would try to deny it happened. 'While I was touring the camp I encountered three men who had been inmates and by one ruse or another had made their escape. I interviewed them through an interpreter. The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty, and bestiality were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick. In one room, where [there] were piled up 20 or 30 naked men, killed by starvation, George Patton would not even enter. He said he would get sick if he did so. I made the visit deliberately, in order to be in position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to 'propaganda.'"

    —u/bostonwolf

    6. "The moon landing. The entity with the most at stake for the US successfully landing on the moon was the USSR, who also had the ability to track the spacecraft and refute that it landed. They never said a word."

    —u/314159265358979326

    7. "Vaccines cause autism."

    —u/llcucf80

    8. "That the grieving families of children shot in American schools are 'crisis actors.'"

    —u/InverseRatio

    9. "Today I discovered that there's large groups who believe that 9/11 was CGI and there never really were any planes. Hundreds of people in an Instagram post talking about how fake it looks and it's clearly edited. Then I realized anyone under the age of 22 weren't alive for it — and if they're under 25 and they don't remember it, and any teenagers from outside of the tri-state area might not even know anyone who was there."

    —u/Stonewall30nyr

    10. "Obama birtherism. A lot of other bonkers insane conspiracy theories are more insane in a 'supernatural insanity' sense, but they're also so far out there that you can barely apply common sense to them. What would motivate the lizard people? Who knows? They're lizard people! Whereas, let's see, a not-particularly-well-off woman living in Hawaii is pregnant — and the powers that be are somehow aware that her biracial child is someday in the future going to want to run for president."

    —u/Alex_Werner

    11. "Cancer has been cured and big pharma is sitting on it because it is more profitable not to cure cancer. The first problem with this is that there are multiple types of cancer. So there can't be a one size fits all cancer cure. Second is that a cancer cure would be exceedingly profitable for whatever company created it."

    —u/Thick-Worry5028

    12. "QAnon. I mean, they made a fucking documentary series about it and outed its creators. Not only is the entire conspiracy surrounding it completely implausible, it's also so easily defeated. It's just random garbage with a thousand predictions that haven't come true. Just give it up already. Even most doomsday cults give up after four or five faulty predictions."

    —u/Noobeaterz

    13. "Chemtrails."

    —u/you-are-number-6Q

    "I met someone who was into chemtrails — they thought everything was lithium poisoning and that the colors of the sunset was lithium in the atmosphere. They had a good hot dog stand, though."

    —u/SuspiciousStable9649

    14. "Jet fuel is a hoax and airliners run on compressed air."

    —u/Amberskin

    15. "The earth is five thousand years old."

    —u/cblume

    16. "The 2020 election was stolen."

    —u/prodigy1367

    17. "One I see sometimes as a math major, is that 0.999...does not equal 1 in the Real numbers. There are some math quacks out there who adamantly insist, no matter how you prove it to them otherwise, that 0.999...and 1 aren't just two ways of writing the same number."

    —u/bodyknock

    18. "Charles de Gaulle was King Charles's biological father."

    —u/joecoin2

    19. "The Titanic switch. I still have a hard time understanding how there are people that genuinely believe that shit."

    —u/daviepancakes

    And finally...

    20. "The republican party is fiscally conservative and believes in small government."

    —u/Psychogopher

FLATEARTH NATIONS is a flat Earth organization with a presence on social media platforms like WordPress, BitChute, and Brighteon, and ties to other conspiracy theory groups.

Title:

Content: Support Your Freedom to Speak:
The Moon Is Made Of Plasma (Ancient Mystery Teacher, FEN, VOC, AWR)
20 views
FLATEARTH NATIONS
Published Yesterday |

Thanks to Ancient Mystery Teacher @TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ancientmysteryteacher/

PLASMA MOON And GREATER WORLD MAP
https://www.bitchute.com/video/eIg05MTfbhZ3/
GREATER WORLD MAP And MACROCLIMATE CHANGE
https://www.bitchute.com/video/OFBL8gK0kszq/
Great Conspiracy Behind Great Reset
https://www.bitchute.com/video/RAJphd6FD618/
All The Moon Landings/Missions Were Faked To Hide This Fact
https://www.bitchute.com/video/cm4MJVXnfu6I/

Download the above videos (higher resolution):
PLASMA MOON And GREATER WORLD MAP
https://archive.org/details/plasma-moon
GREATER WORLD MAP And MACROCLIMATE CHANGE
https://archive.org/details/macro-climate-change
Great Conspiracy Behind Great Reset
https://archive.org/details/great-conspiracy
All The Moon Landings/Missions Were Faked To Hide This Fact
https://archive.org/details/moon-mirrors-earth

FLATEARTH NATIONS
WordPress: https://flatearthnations.wordpress.com
BitChute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/flatearth-nations
Brighteon: https://www.brighteon.com/channels/flatearthnations
VIBES OF COSMOS
Mountaindub: https://mountaindub.bandcamp.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VIBESOFCOSMOS
Odysee: https://odysee.com/@VibesOfCosmos:4
AEWAR
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@aewaranon

Keywords
hoaxnasaapolloflat earthmoon landingfake spaceplasma moonartermis

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FLATEARTH NATIONS and associated groups promote ideas including a plasma moon, faked moon landings, and a "Greater World Map".

Public figures like NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving and NFL players Darius Slay, Sammy Watkins, and Patrick Queen have publicly expressed belief in the Flat Earth theory.

Title:

Content: “Everyone Gets Hit in the Head”: Travis and Jason Kelce Boldly Claim 20% NFL Players Are Flat-Earthers

Samnur Reza
Published

Eight-time NBA All-Star and Mavericks point guard, Kyrie Irving, has time and time again claimed that the earth is flat. Sadly, this belief is widely held around the globe. When discussing the same and if there are NFL players who also call themselves flat-earthers behind closed doors, Jason Kelce and his brother Travis boldly claimed that a good chunk of the NFL locker room actually believes the earth to be flat.

During a recent episode of the New Heights podcast with comedian Andrew Santino at the discussion table, the younger Kelce said, “We’ve mentioned on the show that conspiracy theories help bring NFL locker rooms together,” before asking the guest, “What are your conspiracy theories?”

Without skipping a beat, Santino posed the question about what percentage of NFL players actually believe in the Flat Earth theory. In response, Travis claimed that at least 10 to 15 athletes in every locker room are flat-earthers. Jason Kelce, however, added that if someone were to conduct an anonymous poll about it, the number of flat-earth believers could potentially jump up to 20%, equating to approximately 11 players out of a 53-man roster.

“Dude, honestly, there are at least 10 to 15 guys in every locker room; I would imagine,” Travis remarked, followed by Jason adding, “If you took an anonymous poll like nobody had to disclose their name or anything like that, you’re over 15% of an NFL locker room… Maybe over 20.”

This revelation baffled the Ricky Stanicky actor, but Travis consoled him by jokingly saying, “Dude, everyone gets hit in the head.” Nevertheless, while the Kelce duo’s numbers may be somewhat exaggerated, there have been some instances when NFL players have openly admitted believing in the earth being flat.

Darius Slay, Sammy Watkins, and Others Are Flat-Earthers

As per Sports Illustrated, free agent wide receiver Sammy Watkins claimed back in 2017 that the earth is flat. But he isn’t the only NFL athlete on that list, as Eagles CB Darius Slay told Tori Petry of DetroitLions.com back in 2018 that the earth is flat.

“I mean, I think it is (flat), we’re walking flat, so how is it round?,” claimed the All-Pro cornerback.

Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen followed suit just last year and claimed the same thing. “PSA,” Queen wrote in a tweet. “Earth is flat. Thank you. Carry on!!”

The list goes on! Former Texas Tech safety, Tyler Owens, apparently told reporters at the Scouting Combine that he doesn’t believe in space or any other planets. Thus, he finds the Flat Earth Theory ‘interesting’ and ‘valid’.

“Nah, I don’t believe in space…. like, you know, I’m religious, so I think like… we’re on our own right now. I don’t think there’s, like, other planets, and stuff like that. I don’t know,” Owens said, as per DailyMail.

Even Seahawks QB Geno Smith has claimed that the whole thing is still up for debate. Moreover, Jason Kelce once revealed that, out of curiosity, he had asked one of his coaches about the Flat Earth Theory and if anyone believed in it. Right there and then, an athlete nearby said, “I mean how you know it isn’t?”

Despite its absurdity, the debate will rage on till the end of time, it seems. However, there are simple experiments that can be conducted in front of a flat-earther to convince them otherwise, as perfectly demonstrated by Wired.

About the author

Samnur Reza

Samnur Reza, or "Rocky," is an NFL editor for the SportsRush. Although his love for football began with Tom Brady, he’s now a devoted fan of Jalen Hurts and is keeping his fingers crossed for the first ring. When asked how he remains loyal to the Eagles, he channels his inner Jim from The Office and responds, 'On a wing and a prayer.' Much like his love for football, Rocky is a dedicated cinephile with an impressive amount of screen time. He’s also fond of cats and has a furry friend named ‘Eva’.

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What NBA star claimed that the earth is flat?

The resurgence of flat Earth beliefs may be linked to online misinformation and conspiracy theories.

Title:

Content: Rapid Digitalization Comes With Many Issues, Including Lightning-Fast Spread Of Disinformation – OpEd

By and

The era of rapid technological advancement and digitalization has interconnected the world, enabling the swift dissemination of information across borders. However, this digital revolution has brought about the widespread proliferation of disinformation, the deliberate spread of false or misleading information to deceive or manipulate the public. Social media platforms, algorithmic amplification, lack of media literacy, and malicious actors contribute to this phenomenon.

Disinformation impacts politics, society, and the economy, eroding trust, fueling polarization, and causing financial losses. Solutions include enhancing media literacy education, promoting independent fact-checking, regulating digital platforms, launching digital literacy campaigns, and prioritizing ethical AI development. To effectively combat disinformation, a collaborative effort between government, tech companies, and individuals is necessary. The challenge lies in striking a balance between harnessing the benefits of digitalization and countering the risks posed by rampant misinformation.

In an era defined by unprecedented technological advancement and rapid digitalization, the world is more interconnected than ever before. Information flows freely across borders and oceans, shaping public opinion, influencing political landscapes, and molding societal narratives. However, as every light casts a shadow, alongside the many benefits of this so called “digital revolution”, various disadvantages have also emerged, the most prominent of which, serving as the dark ‘underbelly’ of modern digital age, is the lightning-fast spreading of disinformation.

The ubiquity of social media, the rise of algorithm-driven content distribution, and the lack of effective regulatory measures have paved the way for the rampant dissemination of false and misleading information throughout the world, but what exactly is disinformation? Before discussing the causes and impact of disinformation, we must first establish what disinformation is itself. Disinformation, often used interchangeably with misinformation, refers to the deliberate spread of false or misleading information with the intent to deceive or manipulate an audience or the general public.

While disinformation is not a new concept, the digital age has exponentially amplified its reach and impact. Historically, disinformation campaigns required significant resources and effort to disseminate through traditional media channels. Much of the disinformation used to be shot down or ‘fact-checked’ before it would take off. In contrast, the modern day communication technology (such as the Internet) provides fertile ground for malicious actors to spread falsehoods with unprecedented speed and efficiency to a significantly wider audience (internationally) with little or no fact-checking and verification being carried out.

There are many causes contributing to the unfiltered spread of misinformation, the most prominent being social media platforms. Social media platforms, once hailed as tools for global connectivity and communication, have become breeding grounds for disinformation. The rapid proliferation of content, coupled with algorithm-driven feeds designed to maximize user engagement, has created an ecosystem where sensational and false information often outperforms accurate news. The echo chambers formed on these platforms further exacerbate the problem, as users are exposed primarily to content that aligns with their existing beliefs (no matter how outlandish or distorted), reinforcing divisive narratives and further propagating their inaccurate beliefs, locking the users in a cycle of confirmation bias.

The most common victims of misinformation through social media are usually the elderly and aged people, who often take the information on these social media websites at face value and lack the means (or education) to be able to verify the authenticity of the information circulating on these websites. Another major culprit of reinforcing misinformation is algorithmic amplification. The algorithms employed by social media platforms and search engines play a pivotal role in shaping the information landscape. These algorithms, designed to prioritize content based on user preferences, inadvertently promote sensationalism and emotionally charged content.

As a result, misinformation and ‘click-bait’ content often garner more attention and engagement than well-researched, nuanced reporting. This algorithmic amplification contributes to the viral spread of disinformation, drowning out legitimate sources and undermining the public’s trust in credible information. A person is more likely to watch a 5 minute video with accentuating visual and audio content rather than read a 5 page research report on the same topic. These algorithms further make excellent (although equally malicious) use of cognitive bias among people (by providing them with content supporting the same topic/lies over and over again), as well as take advantage of the inherent confirmation bias.

Another major cause is the lack of adequate education regarding the internet and modern day digital technology, causing a crippling low rate of media literacy among the population. The digital age has ushered in an era of information abundance, but it has not necessarily equipped individuals with the critical thinking skills needed to navigate this deluge of data (A library is useless to a person who doesn’t know what to read and when). Media literacy, the ability to assess the credibility of sources and discern between accurate and false information, is crucial for combating disinformation.

Unfortunately, many individuals lack the necessary skills to evaluate information critically, making them susceptible to manipulation by malicious actors. The most common culprits of spreading misinformation (through times immemorial) are political andideological groups (who may or may not be state-sponsored), who intentionally spread misinformation to advance their agendas, sow discord, and/or manipulate public opinion through extensive use of propaganda, bias, and outright lies. In some cases, this misinformation aligns with preexisting beliefs of the target audience and victims, making it more likely to be accepted and shared by them. This may be done by political parties to garner public support (and get more votes), or may be done by external states to sow discord and unrest in the target country and create instability.

This escalation of misinformation and propaganda has various outreaching impacts on various aspects of our lives, socially, politically and economically. Politically, disinformation can be used to sway elections by making false accusations and allegations on opposing parties, accusing them of unethical or illegal activities (such as corruption) and throwing dirt on the general characters of political individuals so that the people will not give them their votes, giving rise to political strife and turmoil. Misinformation can also be used to erode trust in democratic institutions, and it can be used to fuel social unrest domestically by external actors to create an opportunity for exploitation. Socially, it can contribute to the polarization of society anddeepen divisions among groups of people based on ethnicity, race, caste or creed, and incite violence among the different groups of people, fueling instability and social unrest.

Economically, false information can lead to financial losses, impact stock markets, alter consumer behavior, and damage the reputation of businesses. Furthermore, public health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have highlighted the life-threatening consequences of the spread of medical disinformation.

Dealing with the disease of misinformation can be a daunting task, but it is not impossible. The pandemic of misinformation can be controlled and minimized (although it may be impossible to eradicate it) through a collective and coordinated effort from the government, tech companies, media organizations and individuals. The first and foremost action should be to enhance media literacy education, increasing both its quality and quantity, and incorporating it in basic education systems.

Promoting media literacy from an early age will equip individuals with the skills needed to critically evaluate information sources and discern credible information from falsehoods, as well as enable the individuals to assist others in discerning fact from fallacy. Secondly, independent fact-checking and verification (by individuals, organizations, or both) should be implemented and promoted on social media platforms that serve as the breeding ground for misinformation. Independent fact-checking third parties can play a crucial role in debunking false information and providing accurate context. A perfect example of this can be seen on the social media platform Twitter, where average users are able to provideverifiable context to information posted by other users.

Thirdly, the government should regulate the usage and flow of data and information on the internet and digital platforms. Governments can establish clear regulations for social media platforms and other online spaces, ensuring accountability for the spread of disinformation and imposing penalties on malicious actors. Tech companies could be forced to enhance transparency in their algorithms and take responsibility for the content they amplify, prioritizing accuracy over sensationalism.

Additionally, digital literacy campaigns should be launched, describing the dangers and risks of misinformation to average individuals. Governments, NGOs, and tech companies can collaborate to develop digital literacy campaigns that educate users about the risks of disinformation and provide tools for responsible online engagement. Lastly, with the most recent advancement in digital and technological world, and the widespread availability of artificial intelligence (AI), tech companies could prioritize the ethical development of artificial intelligence algorithms, focusing on minimizing bias, promoting diverse perspectives, and reducing the amplification of false information.

As the world hurtles forward in the age of rapid digitalization, the lightning-fast spread of disinformation stands as a significant challenge to the integrity of information ecosystems. To safeguard our society and country from misinformation and propaganda, both domestic and foreign, and to maintain and promote social and political stability, we need to be able to adequately handle and minimize the affliction of rampant misinformation. However, this cannot be achieved by individuals alone, instead it would require the government, the tech companies, and the individuals, working hand in hand towards eradication of misinformation through enhanced and accessible media literacy education, government regulations of social media platforms and increased accountability, and independent fact-checking and verification conducted readily on dubious and suspicious information. Only then can we strive to harness the benefits of digitalization in earnest while mitigating the risks posed by the unchecked spread of misinformation.

  •  Ali Abbas, Alumni, Department of Public Administration, FMS, BUITEMS
  • Mir Hassan, Lecturer, Department of Public Administration, FMS, BUITEMS

Ali Abbas

Ali Abbas, Student, BSPA (6th semester, Department of Public Administration, FMS, BUITEMS

Title:

Content: ⇓ More from ICTworks

10 Things to Know About Children and Misinformation and Disinformation

By Guest Writer on November 3, 2021

The rapid spread of misinformation and disinformation (mis/ disinformation) online has emerged as a pressing public issue of the 21st century that affects all those accessing online networks, as well as those offline.

As active digital users, mis/disinformation is very much a part of children’s lives. In addition, mis/disinformation among parents, caregivers and educators can have a negative effect on children, even if the children themselves are not directly exposed to it. Children can be targets and objects of mis/disinformation, spreaders or creators of it, and opponents of mis/disinformation in actively seeking to counter falsehoods.

The new rapid analysis report “Digital Misinformation / Disinformation and Children” by the UNICEF Office of Global Insight and Policy outlines what we know about children and mis/disinformation, and the challenges for policymakers, technology companies, educators, and parents and carers in countering mis/ disinformation.

10 Things to Know: Children and Mis/disinformation

Misinformation is false or misleading information that is unwittingly shared, while disinformation is deliberately created and distributed with an intent to deceive or harm. Together they range from satire and parody, to dangerous conspiracy theories. Here are 10 things you need to know about how they affect children.

1. Mis/disinformation online is a pressing public issue.

The rapid spread of mis/disinformation online affects everyone online and offline. As active digital users, mis/disinformation is very much a part of children’s lives. Mis/disinformation on social media spreads farther, faster, and deeper than truthful information. Hot-button and divisive issues, such as immigration, gender politics and equality, and vaccination are common subjects.

2. There can be real-world consequences.

Mis/disinformation has been used to incite violence and crime targeted at ethnic minorities – which has resulted in deaths and displacement of children, led to lower child COVID vaccination rates, undermined trust in journalism and science, and drowned out marginalized voices.

3. Algorithms are a key to mis/disinformation.

Algorithms drive personalized news feeds and curate search results, content, and friend recommendations by tracking user behaviour. Algorithms sometimes promote misleading, sensationalist and conspiratorial content over factual information and can be key vectors in amplifying the spread of mis/disinformation.

4. Children are vulnerable to the risks.

Because of their evolving capacities, children cannot always distinguish between reliable and unreliable information. As a result, not only can they be harmed by mis/disinformation, but may also spread it among their peers. Even very young children or those without access to social media networks may be exposed to mis/disinformation through their interactions with peers, parents, caregivers and educators.

5. Children can challenge mis/disinformation.

Children can be targets and objects of mis/disinformation, but they can also actively counter its flow. They can contribute to online fact-checking and myth-busting initiatives, such as against COVID misinformation in Nepal. UNICEF Montenegro’s Let’s Choose What We Watch programme has given young people opportunities to practice their media literacy and journalism skills and so improve the quality of reporting child rights.

6. Education is important.

Equipping children with the critical reading and thinking skills can help them determine the veracity of information. Considering how mis/disinformation moves easily between online and offline contexts, it is important to develop critical thinking skills amongst children even in non-digital contexts.

7. Collective action is required to protect children.

Policymakers, civil society organizations, technology companies, and caregivers including parents and educators must work together to protect children from the harms of mis/disinformation. Efforts to slow the spread of mis/disinformation are not coordinated, and there is little reliable data on the scale of the problem.

8. We need child rights-based regulations.

UNICEF recommends that policymakers devise regulation to protect children from harmful mis/disinformation, while enabling children to safely access diverse content.  Regulation should focus on requiring procedures for classifying content and ensuring transparency and accountability. Finding the balance between rights-based online protection and freedom of expression is a very significant policy challenge.

9. Technology companies can help.

Technology companies are key actors in combating mis/disinformation. UNICEF recommends that they actually implement their self-declared policies and invest more in human and technical approaches. Technology companies should be transparent about mis/disinformation on their platforms and how they are combatting it, and prioritize meaningful connections and plurality of ideas for children in the designs of digital systems.

10. Civil society should provide policy guidance.

Civil society, including academia and international organizations, should conduct research on the impact of mis/disinformation on children and the efficacy of counter-measures, so that their findings can inform advocacy and policy responses.

A lightly edited synopsis of the Digital Misinformation / Disinformation and Children report by the UNICEF Office of Global Insight and Policy and 10 things you need to know by Steve Vosloo.

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Flat Earth believers argue that the Earth is flat, contrary to scientific evidence, and often separate themselves from others, viewing non-believers as deceived.

Associating with flat Earth believers can expose a teenager to harmful misinformation and conspiracy theories.

Parents can mitigate risks by promoting critical thinking and media literacy in their teenagers.

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Content: Media literacy key to combat misinformation, disinformation

Is media literacy the key to combating misinformation and disinformation?

Well, this was the subject of a conversation hosted by the Caribbean School of Media and Communication (Carimac), University of the West Indies, Mona Campus Jamaica; The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) on November 13.

TT journalist Wesley Gibbings was the main presenter at the conference titled A Conversation on Media Literacy.

In his presentation, he said media and information literacy, intrinsically including a higher level of digital literacy, provided the region with the opportunity to achieve a human-rights-compliant approach to addressing issues of misinformation, disinformation and other mass media dysfunction.

He was one of five panellists, which included director of UWI, Mona’s Western Jamaica Campus Dr Patrick Prendergast; secretary general of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Barbados Sonia Gill; president of the Media Institute of the Caribbean TT-based Kiran Maharaj and Carimac graduate student Kayla Keane.

Gibbings said the overriding assumption was that equipping consumers of media content with an ability to distinguish fact from fiction and truth from lies had the potential to greatly “diminish the impact of unreliable supply of news, information and other content.”

He added it was an important issue to consider, especially if it was conceded that digital content, in particular, would continue to grow and escape even through “the finest mesh of regulation.”

“More prohibition, as attractive as they appear to Caribbean decision-makers, is thus destined to be futile,” he said.

Through demand-oriented media literacy, both direct and collateral social damage could be avoided or minimised.

“The lower the demand, the greater the hindrance to supply,” he said.

It did not provide a comprehensive shield, so most defenders of rights agreed that the protections afforded to the subjects of social media or all media content, under common law and statute, should continue to apply, he said.

Gibbings said even the founding principles of free speech captured by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights identified duties and responsibilities and, with them, “widely accepted” limitations.

There were debates regarding the applications of these limitations alongside what was to be considered on questions of media and information literacy, he said.

Gibbings said there were nuances to consider when it came to this: issues such as defamation, threats to national security, and incitements to discrimination, hostility or violence.

He added there was also the principle that addressed the infringement of other rights, such as privacy.

“This should clear off the air among those under the misguided assumption that people who advocate for freedom of expression are somehow envisaging a situation of untrammelled liberty,” Gibbings said. Though it was true that more freedom was preferred over less freedom, he said.

Gibbings said media and information literacy addresses these concerns at several levels by actively engaging a wide cross-section of interested partners inclusive of state and non-state partners, with a special look to those involved in mass communication and this was not restricted to traditional media.

He added that media literacy was already part of the curricula in schools in some countries.

This expanded traditional emphasis on critical-thinking components in the school system, he said.

“One indirect impact of this is that the state becomes specifically involved in administering and evaluating progress on this as a national responsibility,” he said.

There was also the possibility of wider youth engagement, through this, in dissecting and influencing digital trends and becoming advocates for responsible media consumption, Gibbings said.

The conversation included discussion on critical thinking and the structure of news in today’s digital world.

The conversation lasted a little over two hours.

More in this section

The internet and social media facilitate the spread of misinformation, including flat Earth content, among teenagers.

Education and media literacy can prevent the spread of misinformation among teenagers by promoting critical thinking.

Media literacy is essential for combating disinformation by enabling individuals to assess source credibility and identify false information.

To effectively communicate the scientific evidence for a round Earth to teenagers, parents and educators should be accepting and open.

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Parents should listen and offer emotional support before giving advice, and education can help prevent the spread of misinformation among teenagers by teaching critical reading and thinking skills.