It is media literacy week this week and the Health Unit is raising awareness around misinformation.
Medical Officer of Health with the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit Dr. Linna Li says at one end of the spectrum, in a conversation with friends you can be pretty confident that nobody is intending to deceive you or cause you harm, but…
The doctor adds sometimes the people providing the misinformation are not aware that the information is wrong, and sometimes they think they’re warning people about something or are genuinely helping people.
It is easy for people these days to make this type of information look legitimate and therefore it can be easy to persuade people that it is true.
The health unit has provided a number of tips on how to identify misinformation:
- They do not cite their sources.
- They trigger high levels of anger, fear, or outrage. These emotions can spread things better, faster, and stronger than a more neutral perspective.
- They use very black and white thinking (all good or all bad). Reputable sources show “grey” not perfect solution and often will share pros and cons.
- They only show one side of the story. Disinformation often avoids sharing cons to their alternative therapies/products.
- The information goes against what other health experts are saying.
- Use of the words “natural” or “clean” to imply there are no risks. These terms are not regulated, so they mean very little when it’s used to advertise a product.
- They stand to make money: Directing people to websites where you can find products to buy, paid access to “censored or banned” articles, ads generating revenue, paid newsletter subscriptions and memberships.
- They ask you to buy their products (books, alternative supplements or therapies), or pay to access their site, or secret information.
- These sources can use titles that sound very official, authoritative and appear like they are using science.
- They give a sense that they’re ‘letting you in on a secret’, you’re part of a club
- It provides easy answers or the answer to all your problems
- Of course, none of these are fool-proof and legitimate sources of information can use these as well, but these tips can help you assess information critically
- Simply asking ourselves “is this accurate” makes us less vulnerable to misinformation and less likely to pass it on.
Believing misinformation is NOT a reflection of someone’s moral character or intelligence. Disinformers have a many tactics they use that could catch anyone off guard.