Session Three:

Mis/Disinformation

Show Me!

Show Me!

Choose your verdict

Our Turn!

Stop. Think. Check

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Background

• This article received almost one million likes and shares during the 2016 American Presidential election campaign. Of all the news stories, true and false, published during the campaign, this one was shared the most.
• Pope Francis told the Reuters news agency, "I never say a word about electoral campaigns."
• At the time, the ETF News website was getting about 3.5 million hits per month, which is worth thousands of dollars in advertising revenue.
• The person behind the ETF News website was a 24-year-old man living in Romania.

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Verdict:

Misinformation

Disinformation

Show Me!

• In 2019, TV star Ellen DeGeneres and movie star Sandra Bullock filed an official lawsuit against 100 unknown people, who had created ads for beauty products.
• The ads said that Ellen and Sandra used and loved their products.
• Ellen and Sandra said that they "have never heard of, used or endorsed" (that means encouraged other people to use) the products.
• It's a big problem for lots of celebrities. The famous TV doctor Mehmet Oz has said that his legal team sends out 3,000 letters every year after people illegally use his name and picture to try to sell their products.

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Show Me!

Choose your verdict

Background

• In 2016, Donald Trump said before the American election that he was afraid it could be "rigged." He meant that he was worried his opponent would cheat.
• A young man with no relationship to Donald Trump, other than supporting him, decided he wanted to help Donald Trump. His name was Cameron Harris.
• He bought a website name for $5 and set up the fake news site "Christian Times."
• He found a photograph from an election in faraway England, and made up a story about a man finding ballots already marked for Donald Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton. The inference was that they would be slipped into the real election, and she would win.
• He created six Facebook profiles, published the story, and then shared it on Facebook.
• It was shared six million times.
• He earned about $22,000 from the site, and Donald Trump won the election.

Choose your verdict

Our Turn!

Our Turn!

Background

• On July 27, 2021, a social media account called "Billie Eilish Updates" (@BilliesUpdatess) posted what looks like an article from the American pop culture magazine People.
• There was no such article published in People.
• There is no record of any such quote on any reputable entertainment reporting website.
• The pop star's brother said that @BilliesUpdatess was spreading a lot of lies about her.
• The account has now been suspended.

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Choose your verdict

Disinformation

Incorrect information that is intentionally created and shared. Three kinds of disinformation:

• Damage the reputation of someone e.g. a competitor in politics or business
• To get sympathy or support for something
• To make money - information includes ads and links to click which earn the person sharing money (this is the top reason)

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Misinformation

Sharing information as they are excited or surprised and act quickly without stopping, thinking and checking first.

They don’t know the information is

false and their intention was

not to do any harm.

e.g. Rihanna's Tweet

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