Fight Lies
Fake and false information is proliferating. From bad headlines normalizing the regime by repeating GOP lies, to AI stories designed to make you click, disinformation is everywhere. After the ICE shooting in Minneapolis, four AI generated stories gained more than 4 million views in under 24 hours.
There are clear tactics to spot and counter the flood of falsehood. Truth matters. Defend it.
How to do it:
Spotting Fake News
Not all fake news is the same. To learn more about the types (misinformation, disinformation and malinformation), how to spot them, and verification sources, try this simple guide from the CUNY library. Illustration with AI makes the odds of fake news higher. If they use AI to illustrate, they probably use it to create other content, too.
AI stories are also now flooding the web, and they’re posted by AI accounts that emulate real traffic. They’re harder to spot, but this unlocked NYT article has some tip-offs. Assume that most reporting in the first 72 hours is suspect, and be particularly wary of crowd-sourced information with no clear origin. We like NewsGuard for quick debunking, but there are a number of tools to help you be wary.
There are also certain topics that are more likely to generate lies than most. Antisemitism is rooted in conspiracy, and any story that touches on it will generate lies from “both sides.” For example, the Bondi massacre generated thousands of false posts insisting Israel had killed Jews, and also stories that Ahmed al-Ahmed wasn’t Muslim, but an Arab Christian. Both stories were driven by bot campaigns designed to reconcile people’s world view: those who blame Jews for antisemitism often insist it’s self-inflicted. Islamophobes wanted to blame Muslim terrorism without inconvenient Muslim heroes. Other topics likely to trigger fake stories include: violent “lone wolves” spawn false identity information, including affiliation with target groups like the transgender community. The Epstein files are rife with disinformation and faked images (some may be false-flag to cast doubt on real images.)
If a topic is click-worthy or controversial, it will spawn opportunistic and malign fake news. Do extra fact checking for any trending topic.Debunking Lies
There are a few solid tactics for addressing lies when you find them. Here are some quick-tips:
- don’t share the link (it only rewards them.)
- Instead, take a screenshot, and use editing tools to put a big red X over it. Visual information is the strongest memory, so this is critical to prevent people from absorbing the lie.
- Use a “truth sandwich” when talking about a lie. People remember key words, and the first or last thing they hear. Do not say: “Democrats are NOT responsible for the shutdown.” Instead say the truth, then the lie, then the truth again: “Republicans can pass a budget with a straight majority any time they want, just like they’re appointing judges that way. They are responsible for the shutdown, not Democrats. Republicans can end the government shutdown any time they want.” Our focus stays on the truth thing we want people to remember, while quickly debunking the lie.
If you share something fake it’s okay! Shasta shared the Seahawk story pictured. We all make mistakes. If the post has very few interactions, take a screenshot, mark it up, and make a new post explaining why it’s false. If the If the post has a lot of interactions before you notice, EDIT the original post by placing a note at the very top acknowledging it’s fake information, and add a comment saying the same. If the post was original, you can also replace the image with a marked-up version. Admit that you’ve changed the content, and say why.
