Is it True? - Misinformation, Disinformation, and Fake News in Modern Times

Veronika Heller
3 days ago
5 min read

Nowadays, in a world where internet, social media and hyperconnectivity plays a critical part in our lives, information spreads fast, incredibly fast. In this process, this information spreads widely - often without being checked for its accuracy or correctness: for its truth.

This non-true information – whether it is false information shared without the intention of deceiving (misinformation) or false information shared with the intention of deceiving (disinformation) - is devastatingly harmful to how one forms their opinions. As for democracy, it can polarise citizens into strong, yet complementary opinion ‘camps'; encourage violent and extreme behaviour, reducing the faith in democratic processes overall (1). Being aware of how to deal with this type of (dis- and mis-) information is vital for daily life and for our democracies, especially in the current times.

Since “a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes”, what can one do to avoid being influenced by – or believing in – misinformation, disinformation, and in general false information?

Never Believe What You See – No Matter How Often You See It

It is a known psychological fact that if something is repeated, one is more likely to believe it. This concept – known as the illusionary truth effect (2) - happens because the human brain wants to process information as easy as possible. This so-called ‘processing fluency’ means that whenever information is easy to process, one assumes it to be true (3). And it goes even further: according to Referential Theory, the more references – created through repetition - one has in their memory to a certain statement, the more one assumes this statement to be true (4).

This makes social-media related information spreads especially dangerous since it is presented in a highly digestible way and is repeated very often through the workings of algorithms. Being aware of how one’s brain functions allows us to act accordingly. Try to trick out your brain by pausing and re-thinking – also known as critical thinking.

Be Aware of Sources

It is necessary to try to use multiple sources before believing something to be true. Different sources have different perspectives on certain issues, and getting an overview of all the different sides is helpful when forming one’s own opinion on it.

Verifying if the source is credible can be done by considering who is behind it. If the creator is non-identifiable, what could this suggest?

Using Multiple Sources & Cross-Check

There are many different sources, in terms of who created them, their purpose, and even their medium. Accessing sources that are of different ethical and political viewpoints is supportive in opening one’s field of information (5). Especially in news stories, the facts are often cast in the perspective and opinion of the writers. Being aware of this – by considering different writers – as well as alternatively using news-agencies as opposed to newspapers (such as Reuters) helps to form more truth-based opinions on certain information.

Other sources can be used to verify the ‘facts’ that a certain source states. More sources can also provide additional contexts, which increase the understanding one has of information. Especially in digital mediums – where it is all about attracting the attention of the digital user – information is often only shared in a ‘headline format’. It will take more time to read different sources, but it will inform one with more truth.

Echo-chambers are another factor in need to be aware of. This phenomenon happens when one is surrounded by opinions that are very similar to one’s own, and therefore one is not exposed to many other perspectives (6). Let us acknowledge that we all live in certain bubbles with certain standpoints – but let us commit to exposing ourselves to other bubbles with different opinion. This way we can avoid believing only in what we already known.

The concept of echo-chambers is especially dangerous online, as algorithms only provide one with the content and information one wants to see (which is usually what one aligns with in terms of perspective). One can change the algorithm by also following people whom one might disagree with, or that are of a different opinion, background or context. This way, the echo-chamber can open.

Use Logics

Usually, one has an intuition for the trustworthiness of a source. If the spelling is bad, the quality seems low, and the information is not shared in the main news – what could this suggest? Subsequently, the tone is often an indicator as well. If it is virulent and blaming – how fact-based might the information really be? And in general, if the source is known for often spreading non-true information, is what you are reading or hearing now likely to be true?

It is the obvious questions that one should ask, but often, due to a seeming convenience, it is ignored or forgotten.

If you are aware of cognitive processes and do these actions, you are more likely to not be misled by non-true information, and to not believe in it (at least in the long-term). Hence, you will be more prone to taking in correct information; to taking in the truth.

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It must be added, however, if there even is something like ‘the truth’? Philosophers have debated this throughout centuries. The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as “the real facts” (7) - but what even is real? When considering if something is the Truth or a Lie, one can only conclude that it is neither.

This is due to various reasons, such as (but not limited) to the following factors:

Truth depends on context
Truth is subjective
Truth is only true at one moment of time, but can evolve in the next
Truth is influenced by perspective
Truth and fact are different
Right does not have to mean true since it is related to morality

Often, one considers a statement that is a ‘fact’ to be fully correct. For example, that the Earth is Round. However – is that really the case? Of course, it is – but in the Middle Ages it was considered to be a lie, and people who thought otherwise were seen as lunatics and even criminally charged – such as Galileo Galilei (8).

Then there are facts: 1+1 simply is 2. That is the truth. And to say that 1+1 is not 2 is a lie. But are facts always true? For a person in the Middle Ages, it was a fact that the Earth is flat, while it certainly is round. The truth changes with new information being discovered– it constantly evolves. Being aware of this allows to let one’s opinions stay mouldable to more information that comes in. This flexibility is important to form – not necessarily true – but at least correct-information based judgements.

While there might be no full truth, and no right or wrong in terms of evaluating the correctness of something, there certainly is a right or wrong in the moral sense. Just think of Kant (9). It is – morally - wrong to murder someone for no reason – no matter the perspective, opinion, or new information on the topic. Here, there is a right or wrong – but that is because cognition and morality are distinctively separate entities.

Next time when you think of something being ‘the truth’ or ‘a lie', think again. The absolute truth simply does not exist. But a degree of rightness and correctness does. A degree that is influenced by how you respond to and reach out to information.

Work Cited

Council of Europe. “Dealing with propaganda, misinformation and fake news”. Democratic Schools For All, https://www.coe.int/en/web/campaign-free-to-speak-safe-to-learn/dealing-with-propaganda-misinformation-and-fake-news
Peacocke, Antonia. “Say it Enough, They’ll Believe It”. Philosophy Talk, 20.11.2020, https://philosophytalk.org/blog/say-it-enough-theyll-believe-it/
Barber, Sarah J, Hassan, Aumyo. “The effects of repetition frequency on the illusory truth effect”. SpringerOpen, 13.05.2021, https://cognitiveresearchjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41235-021-00301-5
Krastev, Sekoul, Pilat, Dan. “Why do we believe misinformation more easily when it’s repeated many times?”. The Decision Lab, https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/illusory-truth-effect
European Comission. “6 tips to spot and stop information manipulation”. News and Media, https://ec.europa.eu/stories/6-tips/
Bitesize. “What are echo chambers?”. BBC, https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zbwkbqt
Dictionary. “Definition: ‘Truth’.” Cambridge Dictionary, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/truth
Wolf, Jessica. “The truth about Galileo and his conflict with the Catholic Church”. UCLA Newsroom, 22.12.2016, https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/the-truth-about-galileo-and-his-conflict-with-the-catholic-church
Cureton, Adam, Johnson, Robert. “Kant’s Moral Philosophy”. Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, 23.02.2004, https://plato.stanford.edu/e