Today’s society is known as the information society to the extent that we are immersed in the use of information technologies and social communication. The use of technology has changed the way of communication as well as the use of mass information.
We have moved from a directional information model between media and information consumers to a versatile model in which information consumers can also be information transmitters. Citizens can now be an informative agent through social networks and their influence can be high.
If the media are required to verify and verify the information they publish by having it professionally prepared for the people, there are also media outlets that seemingly normally give false, biased information or do not give all the data. a person can do a critical exercise on their own. Information can be given from a political or economic point of view, or also from the eternal dilemma of professionals who confuse the informational article with the opinion article, which are two different types of journalism.
The trajectory of a media outlet is vital if we want to be able to decide for ourselves whether we trust the objectivity that a media outlet should have, or at least appear to have. Although many media also define their editorial line with transparency. Therefore, an objective analysis of the treatment performed by different media can be compared to a particular piece of information.
The choice of information we consume is vital as well as whether we are well-informed. Disinformation and fake news are currently used as political weapons to destabilize governments or promote certain issues of interest to a lobby. Before we share information, retweet something, or spread it through instant messaging apps, we need to be consistent and see a medium’s rigor in journalism.
Also, we have to be careful if we take screenshots of some news that might be scandalous, we can go into a media outlet and verify if the news is really what we got. Or, on the contrary, if it is a scam. If we don’t cut the transmission chain, we contribute to the further spread of deception.
On the other hand, the so-called digital media, but in reality they are usually covers for the dissemination of some unverified information, in many cases they can be conduits for the dissemination of false news. It is up to each of us to share such information.
In recent years, it has become clear how disinformation, deceptions, fake news and false propaganda are used as information tools to try to influence the decision-making areas of citizens or to manipulate them with false information to achieve a certain purpose. aim.
Spanish intelligence services, for example, reported the relevance of certain information on Catalan nationalism attributed to Russian intelligence services. Or also the second in a multitude of reported interventions in the destabilization of the European Union and its various member states, with the support of anti-European parties on social networks. Or the countless frauds that have spread throughout the pandemic we’ve lived through for the past two years, along with many other examples.
Tools must be placed in our education system so that we can educate the public on the prevention of behaviors that can avoid falling into the trap of disinformation. Better information we have, education on prevention, checking information sources, being able to verify that what we’re getting is correct before skipping any data is crucial. It will make us more free as human beings and citizens. Fighting misinformation is everyone’s business.