The influence of social platforms on people has made a tremendous rise in the amount of disinformation being spread across the globe. The complex and vast environment of the internet has increased the scale of information available to the user at each moment. People rely on the news spread on social media as they have everything at their fingertips. They could easily generate, share and interact with billions of users worldwide. But there are two sides of the same coin. On one side, it gives rise to several opportunities. But on the other aspect, it gives rise to several dangers as they are unaware of the fake information being spread.

Most people are hardly aware of the sources that provide this information. Much of the news pieces on social media are from noncredible sources. More than 50% of the users believe that news is fake. But the rest of the population solely trusts this false information and spreads it regardless of the fact that they are misleading others. Nowadays, ‘clickbait’ is also a major issue. Even reputed media channels have started using it to generate engagement for their articles.

Case Study of Disinformation

Covid-19 was a trending topic on the internet for the past two years, and the amount of disinformation that was spread was very high. People shared the news without even validating the information.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected millions of people all around the globe. Many people tried to make the public aware of the disastrous effects of this pandemic. But there were an equal number of other people who just spread disinformation which was much more infectious. This false spread of information became so rampant that the World Health Organization coined the term “infodemic” to describe these conspiracies and unsubstantiated claims surrounding the outbreak.

The major disinformation spread was regarding the home remedies for combating the virus, which included drinking water every 15 minutes, ingesting garlic, being exposed to heat, and so on. All these were rejected by the World Health Organization. Yet still, these are being spread as preventive measures despite the explicit dispelling of these remedies as appropriate.

How To Spot and Stop Disinformation?

• It’s always important to have a critical mindset while reading online. Always make sure you are reading from a trustworthy news provider. Sometimes we get attracted to certain headlines, but the news would be very different. This is the technique of that channel to attract users and increase views, also known as the act of ‘clickbait’. A fact check should be done by the media outlets before sharing information.
• If something feels wrong while reading an article, always make sure that you do a small digging into the references and try to understand what they are claiming. But sometimes, they can trick us by creating fake URLs as well.
• Disinformation can also be spread from person to person. Someone may tell their friends or family a false story, and when they share it with others, it amplifies information to a wider set of audience. Always make sure when you share anything with others, you have clear knowledge about it.
• Detecting and responding to disinformation is necessary. It requires to be done in a customized approach. All the requirements and sensitivities of the organization should be met while planning this approach.
• Continuous monitoring is required and assesses the risks involved due to the spread of this disinformation.
  Always try to educate yourself about disinformation and how to spot it. Invariably trust your instincts, and don’t let others mislead you. You can always find the truth with a little bit of work.

Conclusion

One of the major factors in the rise in the spread of disinformation is Artificial Intelligence. Disinformation groups that are utilizing AI can output massive quantities of fabricated articles. These blur the line between what the public thinks is fact and what they think is fiction.

This is a difficult problem to solve. To tackle it, organizations need to develop a better understanding of modern digital information ecosystems. Developing a system to record and log troublesome content that is noticeable is important and useful. Forming relationships with credible information sources and trusted journalists helps prevent the spread of disinformation. Working with like-minded organizations is also essential to mitigate the effects of disinformation.

The use of the right tools and strategies prevents disinformation from impacting your organization and your work. Consistent monitoring is required to ensure the contents are verified before being processed.

We at iEDPS (Infosys Enterprise Data Privacy Suite) make sure that the information is relevant and secure. We help by providing security to those fields that are sensitive and have several encryption techniques that help in data privacy and ensure that sensitive data is masked.