<ul><li>Finland has a country-wide media literacy program at all levels of education.</li><li>Research suggests that misinformation-related education works; Finland is the top European country for media-related critical thinking.</li><li>Research in Uganda suggests that such training can work even in low-resource contexts.</li><li>The United States could benefit from evidence-based curricula aimed at media literacy.</li></ul>

Finland: A Model for Media Literacy Training

The Finnish educational model  teaches young students to push back against “fake news” as early as primary school. The Finnish government began this pedagogical push in 2014 when Russian disinformation became increasingly widespread in Finland.Such a program is increasingly necessary as Finnish children, like their counterparts around the world, consume news not from traditional sources, but from social media, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Snapchat.

Making Them Aware At An Early Age

Finland is overwhelmingly the top country in the <a href="http://osis.bg/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/MediaLiteracyIndex2019_-ENG.pdf">European Media Literacy Index</a>. The report described Finland and other high-scoring countries as  best equipped to withstand the impact of fake news due to the quality of education, free media, and high trust among people. This early media education is an essential part of Finland’s success.

Early Media Literacy Education Works

The education system emphasizes the breakdown of misinformation, disinformation, and "malinformation".Misinformation includes errors that may be unintentional. Disinformation encompasses outright lies. And malinformation is what know as “gossip.” Malinformation may be accurate or inaccurate; either way, the goal is to cause harm.

Don’t Call It “Fake News”

Finland is a model for media literacy training at any age.

Stashed ideas

How Finland Fights Disinformation

People are often misinformed about things. Sometimes they obtain that bad information from false or misleading media coverage; sometimes that media coverage is deliberately false. And there’s a fine line between media coverage that seeks to frame issues appropriately and coverage that’s propagandistic.Propagandistic media coverage is bad, spreading false information deliberately or carelessly is bad, misleading people is bad, and it’s unfortunate that voters (and, frankly, elite policymakers) often make important decisions operating under misconceptions.

Misinformation and Propaganda

Accusing other people of being misinformed is easy since the stupidity of others will always be more evident than our own blind spots.Thanks to the internet, now we can:<ul><li>Read many abstracts of new academic research, read some actual papers, and maintain a vast storehouse of links.</li><li>Directly access think tank output on policy issues, as well as the running commentary from think tankers and university scholars on the issues that they study.</li><li>Look up anything that we are curious about. </li></ul>

The Internet Makes Us Better Informed

A survey from the <a href="https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/political-communication/civics-knowledge-survey/">Annenberg Public Policy Center found</a> that in 2006, only 33 percent of people could correctly identify the three branches of government. By 2021, that was up to 56 percent. It’s also a powerful reminder that a huge share of the population doesn’t pay any attention at all to politics and government. A broader survey of political knowledge from the American National Election Survey shows <a href="https://twitter.com/thomasjwood/status/1491423064852398082/photo/1">no change in civic awareness</a> except perhaps a small rise since the 1990s in knowledge of which party controls the majority in Congress.

People Getting More Aware

If you give people a <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w25514">cash incentive to turn off their Facebook account</a>, they spend more time watching TV but also more time socializing with friends and family. This leads to an increase in their subjective well-being (i.e., they’re happier) and generates “a large persistent reduction in post-experiment Facebook use.” People struggle to go cold turkey. But once they do, they generally like it. So what about misinformation? It turns out that getting offline “reduced both factual news knowledge and political polarization.”

Facebook Really Is Bad For You!

A normal person can tell you lots of factual information about his life, his work, his neighborhood, and his hobbies but very little about the FDA clinical trial process or the moon landing. But do you know who knows a ton about the moon landing? Crazy people who think it’s fake. They don’t have crank opinions because they are misinformed, they have tons and tons of moon-related factual information because they’re cranks.

Normal People Vs Crazy People

A lot of people know that the licensing of the polio vaccine in the 1950s was widely greeted with celebratory headlines and the ringing of church bells. A lot of people also know that as part of a pro-vaccination effort led by the March of Dimes, Elvis Presley got vaccinated on camera for the Ed Sullivan show. The <a href="https://sph.umich.edu/polio/">announcement came on April 12, 1955</a>, and Elvis went on TV in <a href="https://sph.umich.edu/polio/">October of 1956</a>. Eighteen months after authorization, vaccine uptake was still slow, and that was after a much longer development process.

Anti-Vaccine Sentiment Isn’t New

There is fundamentally no way anyone could be unaware that the bulk of public health and medical professionals say the vaccines are safe and effective. The anti-vax stance isn’t misinformed about this reality; it simply asserts that public health and medical professionals are bad and you shouldn’t listen to them.

The Deeper Issue Of Trust: Expert Views Gone Wrong

Discerning the truth is hard, and it requires debate and dissent. Functional expert communities and well-run journalism institutions are open to new information, to changing their minds, and to correcting the record. Our overall level of public health knowledge is improving rather than getting worse. People take the health risks of smoking much more seriously, and compliance with seatbelt rules is high even though practical enforcement is weak. Remember: S<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1984/07/13/ny-is-first-state-to-get-seat-belt-law/b86fd522-bb32-4286-980a-caefdb3edfa5/">eatbelt mandates were very controversial when they were first introduced</a>, taking years to be fully accepted.

Truth Is a Moving Target

The thing that really has increased is polarization and the accompanying “everything is about everything” totalizing political conflict.Polarization seems more likely a consequence of good information than bad. This creates a lot of very real problems for a political system that is not built to operate with highly organized, highly ideological political parties. But misinformation doesn’t seem to be a significant contributor to it. If anything, things are getting harder because information has gotten better.

Information and Polarization

Things are getting worse because information has gotten better!

If anything people have become better informed

The "misinformation problem" seems like misinformation

Everything created on a digital device, such as a smartphone or laptop, has a digital fingerprint attached to the file. That digital fingerprint is called metadata. It sticks to the document, whether a video, photo, spreadsheet or other document, until some person or program removes it. For example, if you take a photo with your phone and view the photo with a metadata viewer, the data will include what phone you used, the date and time, and the latitude and longitude.

Understanding metadata

It is possible to change metadata. For example, when you pull your photo into Photoshop, you can edit the metadata to make it appear that you were anywhere else in the world. It is essential to triangulate metadata with other elements to confirm or debunk an image. Sites such as Twitter or Facebook does not pass along metadata. However, Telegram does not remove metadata on videos and photos shared on it, making it possible to know where images were captured.

Metadata isn't foolproof

When you view a photo or video, the metadata can show if the information is accurate or questionable. If the metadata does not match the claims, it is possibly staged. In addition to examining metadata, researchers also look at smaller details to see if they add up.

Metadata in action

A look at the techniques that journalists and other investigators use to verify whether images and videos are real and in accurate context.

How to spot video and photo fakes

Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it.

All misconception is a distortion of the original, but the nature of that distortion can vary. Some misconceptions contain disinformation - deliberate false information designed to mislead people. However, many misconceptions centre on misinformation - misleading information resulting from unintentional mistakes.

Why a half-truth is so easy to believe

The reasons for unintentional mistakes can vary. For example: <ul><li>We reshape information every time it is shared with other parties, similar to a game of telephone.</li><li>We try to simplify more complicated concepts in our desire for clear stories about the world around us. However, when we hear a good story, we find it difficult to change how we see that information, even if exposed to new evidence.</li></ul>

Unintentional mistakes

How facts can become distorted and misleading.

How does a fact become a misconception? Dig into the world of misinformation to see how facts can become distorted and misleading. -- In 1901, David Hänig published research that led to what we know today as the taste map: an illustration that divides the tongue into four separate areas. It has since been published in textbooks and newspapers. There is just one problem: the map is wrong. So how do misconceptions like this spread, and what makes a fake fact so easy to believe? Joseph Isaac dives into the world of misinformation. Lesson by Joseph Isaac, directed by CUB Animation. Animator's website: http://cubanimation.com/en/intro-en/ Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletter Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebook Find us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitter Peep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-people-fall-for-misinformation-joseph-isaac Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Maria Lerchbaumer, Ever Granada, Marin Kovachev, Ravi S. Rāmphal, Penelope Misquitta, Tekin Gültekin, Jhuval, Hans Peng, Gaurav Mathur, Erik Biemans, Tony, Michelle, Katie and Josh Pedretti, Vaibhav Mirjolkar, Thomas Bahrman, Allan Hayes, Aidan Forero, Uday Kishore, Mikhail Shkirev, Devesh Kumar, Sunny Patel, Anuj Tomar, Lowell Fleming, David Petrovič, Hoai Nam Tran, Stina Boberg, Alexandrina Danifeld, Kack-Kyun Kim, Travis Wehrman, haventfiguredout, Caitlin de Falco, Ken, zjweele13, Anna-Pitschna Kunz, Edla Paniguel, Elena Crescia, Thomas Mungavan, Alejandro Cachoua, Jaron Blackburn, Yoga Trapeze Wanderlust, Sandy Nasser, Venkat Venkatakrishnan, Nicolle Fieldsend-Roxborough, John Saveland, Jason Garcia, Robson Martinho, Martin Lau, Senjo Limbu, Joe Huang, SungGyeong Bae, Christian Kurch, Begum Tutuncu.

Why people fall for misinformation - Joseph Isaac

Misinformation is generally spread without malice or intent. Disinformation, on the other hand, is generally organized and has a specific outcome in mind. 
For example, during school days, the misinformation heard around Beef Jerky Sticks containing earthworms became so widespread that even now there are thousands of Google searches for the topic and the company even had special hotlines to handle questions.

Misinformation Vs Disinformation

Active social media listening is the best way to detect false information before it catches on. This is a baseline activity and its benefits reach far beyond identifying potential misinformation.Look at the data carefully to examine for a common language in comments or user-generated posts. Also, look broadly at posts your community managers are responding to and search for comments that might be otherwise overlooked in day-to-day community management (particularly if your team is large or the duty for responding rotates among different humans).

Protect Your Brand: Always Be Listening

Brands themselves sometimes contribute to a sense of confusion. Be extra clear about things that could cause confusion (like deals or things that have limited availability).  Also consider how you phrase Tweets and messages, especially if your brand is prone to phrasing things as a question. There are times when asking a question sparks community engagement. But it’s not always necessary. NPR, citing Betteridge’s Law, actually trains journalists to generally avoid it.

Brand Interactions

If you encounter false information it’s important to answer it with truth and link to a source where readers can further verify if they so choose. It is also important to do this promptly. If it is clear from a customer’s message that they are using your product or service and have encountered something that sparks a question, it’s probably not misinformation.

Correcting The Records

If someone shows up in your feed for the first time with clearly false information, take a moment to look at their other posts. Check to see if they’re a prospect or customer. If not, it is possible it may be a troll out to spread bad information about you.

Find The Source

What's the difference between misinformation and disinformation? And how can your brand prepare and respond to it?

Bite-sized knowledge
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#misinformation

IDEAS ABOUT #misinformation

How Finland Fights Disinformation

The "misinformation problem" seems like misinformation

It's time to

READ

LIKE

A PRO!

How to spot video and photo fakes

Why people fall for misinformation - Joseph Isaac

What Brands Need to Know About Misinformation and Disinformation

Bite-sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

#misinformation

IDEAS ABOUT #misinformation

How Finland Fights Disinformation

The "misinformation problem" seems like misinformation

It's time to

READ

LIKE

A PRO!

How to spot video and photo fakes

Why people fall for misinformation - Joseph Isaac

What Brands Need to Know About Misinformation and Disinformation

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career