DISINFORMATION

We do not live in a world of hate -- but these days, it certainly feels that way.

Fake claims about the 2020 Election are flooding social media -- as expected. Polling showed a huge advantage for Biden in mail-in voting, and mail-in voting takes longer to count. According to a New York Times analysis, more than 433,000 mail-in ballots were counted for Trump in Michigan, about 30 percent of the mail-in ballot vote in the state. Social media origins : If you see something floating around social media, like a meme or a story, try to find the original source and check it yourself. The Trust Index team fact checks questionable information circulating on social media and in our communities.

In a world filled with confusion, lies, and disinformation, it can be nearly impossible to figure out what’s real and what isn’t. Instead, it’s on each person to be vigilant in the fight against the spread of lies and deceit. Bell says the complexity of disinformation campaigns makes it hard to spot, “Disinformation is, is very subtle. And the kind of clever part is we don’t know if it’s disinformation or not. And then the second piece is when we do encounter something, that’s clearly misinformation, if it’s an important bit of misinformation, it’s probably worth correcting it.

Misinformation and disinformation are different words for false information. While misinformation may be passed along without malice, or many times by accident, disinformation is the evil cousin. “Disinformation campaigns around the world, that for a number of reasons it is cataloged that they are there to disrupt elections. Disinformation about COVID-19When it comes to disinformation, the news that’s being passed around about COVID-19 might be the largest problem we have. Hyman says there’s a biggie out there now, “There’s the current one out about only 6% of the COVID deaths are actually COVID deaths.

Many call it “fake news,” others might call it something else, but misinformation is false or inaccurate information, and it’s everywhere. Bell said disinformation can be part of a campaign designed to sway opinions in one direction or another. Hyman said it all spreads so quickly because “when you encounter some misinformation or part of a disinformation campaign, you may then share that information on social media, then you become an agent spreading that misinformation further." And you then share that but now you’ve shared something that is part of a disinformation campaign. Not all badBut this isn’t all to say that social media is bad and that all information on social media is bad.

Mentions of QAnon in a group focused on a different subject won’t necessarily lead to a ban, Facebook said. Facebook announced its new approach weeks after deciding to limit the spread of content from Facebook pages, groups and Instagram accounts that support violent acts, such as those associated with QAnon. “Starting today, we will remove Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts for representing QAnon, even if they contain no violent content," Facebook wrote in a press release Tuesday. The QAnon phenomenon has sprawled across a patchwork of secret Facebook groups, Twitter accounts and YouTube videos in recent years. Reddit, which began banning QAnon groups in 2018, was well ahead, and to date it has largely avoided having a notable QAnon presence on its platform.