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Open Thread: How have you been affected by false information?
We want to hear about how disinformation and misinformation have popped up in your life. What effect has dodgy information had on you and your loved ones?
EVER HAD A disagreement with a friend because one of you believes information the other says is false? Or have they had a row with you for sharing ‘fake news’?
Have family dinners become awkward when certain subjects are mentioned? Does everyone avoid eye contact when two guests begin verbally squaring-up over Covid-19, Ukraine, masks or 5G?
Or does the battle cry of ‘DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!’ cause you simply to switch off, not bother and tune out when you hear it – whether in the sitting room or in the Facebook comments.
Misinformation and disinformation have been around long before Trump, Brexit, the global pandemic and Ukraine conflict. However for many of us these major events of the past few years marked the first time it became clear how false information slips in our lives and the consequences it has.
This month The Good Information Project is investigating how information that falls short of being ‘the whole truth’ impacts people in Ireland and the EU.
We’ll be looking at ways we can fight disinformation as well as discovering how people get caught up in it in the first place.
We want to hear from you on this. How has false news affected you? Have you noticed friends or family sharing things which you’re dubious about online? Have you unfollowed a relative on social media? Did you stop watching the news? Did you watch more?
We want to ask what you classify as false information? Is it conspiracy theories? Does it include politicians putting spin on statistics?
Lastly we would like to ask you if you think the fight on false information can be won? How should we go about it?
Share your ideas in the comments below or reach out to us on Facebook or Whatsapp.
This work is co-funded by Journal Media and a grant programme from the European Parliament. Any opinions or conclusions expressed in this work are the author’s own. The European Parliament has no involvement in nor responsibility for the editorial content published by the project. For more information, see here.
