Power of Misinformation: Role of Youth in Promoting Media Literacy

“Information” is a need for every living being. Without access to information, decisions, right or wrong, cannot be made. With the rapid digitalization of the world, the spread of information has become instantaneous. It is a blessing, but not without a disguise. The same digital media has increased the spread of misinformation. Therefore, it is essential to have media literacy. Youth, who are one of the major demographics that use digital platforms for information, have a significant role in promoting media literacy to combat misinformation. This article, accordingly, discusses the role of youth in promoting media literacy, while also talking about the definitions and consequences of misinformation and media literacy.

Definition of Misinformation

A piece of information, which lacks accuracy and misleads people can be identified as “misinformation”. This term has been defined in multiple ways across various literature. Some sources describe it as false or fabricated information, which is predominantly unintentional, while others emphasize that it could be intentional. (Comito, 2023) Accordingly, “misinformation” can be defined as pieces of intentionally or unintentionally created information that are inaccurate, and mislead people.

Consequences of Misinformation

1. Growth of mistrust in legitimate sources of information

The “intentionality” of misinformation, which is often used by the leadership to shape outcomes in their favor, has led to the growth of mistrust in legitimate sources of information. Accordingly, certain institutions, authority figures, facts-based journalism, and science, which contribute to the maintenance of a credible and informed society, are losing the trust they once had. (DeRuyver, 2023)

2. Distortion of the reality

Misinformation also has the consequence of conforming to a distorted reality. It leads to an “epistemic shattering”, which leads to people no longer sharing a common understanding of reality. It creates a barrier to collaboration, integrity, and uniformity of people. (DeRuyver, 2023)

3. Creation of acts of terrorism

The variations in the understanding of reality will also lead to inciting individuals to engage in acts of violence and terrorism. For example, the January 6th mob on Capitol Hill of the US was a result of President Trump’s accusations alleging election fraud occurred in the 2020 Presidential Election. (DeRuyver, 2023)

4. Leads to flawed decision making

Decisions made according to misinformation are more dangerous than the ones made with less information. Whether it’s political, academic, or personal, such decisions will often lead individuals to greater danger, which also proves the importance of combatting misinformation. (LibGuides: Fake News: Consequences of Fake News, n.d.)

Media Literacy and Its Importance

In this article ,“media literacy” is proposed as a method of combatting misinformation. Literature provides various definitions of the term. Accordingly, media literacy is “the knowledge, the attitudes, and the sum of the skills needed to know when and what information is needed; where and how to obtain that information; how to evaluate it critically [to make educated judgments about information] and organize it once it is found; and how to use it in an ethical way” (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2011, as cited in Adjin-Tettey, 2022).

The significance of media literacy in combatting misinformation is vast. Some of them are given below.

1. Develop skills in critical assessment

Media literacy improves the ability and skills to assess information critically. This skill is important to identify the authenticity of information, which contributes to making accurate and informed decisions. (Adjin-Tettey, 2022).

2. Increases active engagement

It is easier for individuals to create opinions on various subjects when they are literate. Therefore, they become active users of information. It means they constantly and consciously interact with the messages and information they receive. (Potter, 2001, as cited in Adjin-Tettey, 2022). Active engagement results in the dissemination of authentic information rather than misinformation.

3. Prevention of the proliferation of misinformation

Democratization of media ownership and content creation is the main reason for disseminating fake information/ misinformation. When media users get the relevant skills to identify what is the truth and what is not, the proliferation of misinformation will eventually be prevented. (Adjin-Tettey, 2022)

4. Strengthening individuals against manipulation

Various entities use intentional misinformation to proceed with their agendas. However, through media literacy, individuals can equip themselves in a way that will make them resilient to manipulation.

Role of youth in promoting media literacy to combat misinformation

Youth, as the drivers of the world in the ages to come, have a responsibility to play a role in combatting misinformation through media literacy.

1. Raising awareness through education

According to Pew Research, 39% of adults under thirty regularly get information and news through online means (Chavda, 2024). Therefore, there is a risk of frequent circulation of fake news among youth. To combat that, youth have a self-responsibility of being aware of methods they can use to differentiate the truth from the fake. Apart from getting oneself knowledgeable or media literate, youth can organize workshops, and education initiatives to disseminate the gathered knowledge further promoting media literacy.

Examples of youth-led initiatives

• Break the Fake Movement – This is an alliance of young professionals, dedicated towards combatting fake media, encouraging people to be information and media literate (Break The Fake Movement PH, 2024).

• MediaWise by Poynter – This is a platform dedicated towards empowering communities with the skills to identify misinformation through media literacy (The Poynter Institute, 2024).

2. Collaborating with institutions

There are various Inter-governmental, and non-governmental organizations, that initiate events and programs to use youth as a catalyst to fight misinformation through media literacy. Youth can participate, promote, as well as co-organize/ volunteer such initiatives through their platforms to a larger audience. The mentoring program organized by UNESCO for the participants of the youth hackathon where 400 teams from 50 countries have registered to promote media literacy in digital spaces is an example that can be taken (“Empowering Youth to Combat Misinformation: Media and Information Literacy Hackathon,” 2024).

3. Presenting innovative solutions

Every aspect of life shifted from physical to online space with Covid-19. Accordingly, today’s youth have become digital natives. Youth have the relevant experience and knowledge about technology. Further, IT and software engineering are very popular study streams among the youth. Accordingly, the tech-savvy youth can contribute to promoting media literacy to combat misinformation through innovative solutions such as creating apps or other technical equipment/software, that can detect misinformation.

4. Peer-to-Peer influence

As a majority of the youth actively engage in social media platforms, there is a vast network created among them. The individual networks each of them has can be leveraged to spread media literacy, which will eventually contribute to combatting misinformation.

Conclusion

Misinformation is disseminated in a rapid phase with the technological advancement. To combat it, media literacy, which empowers individuals to critically evaluate the receiving information to only accept the truth, can be used. Youth as digital natives have the utmost responsibility to protect people and society through media literacy from misinformation.

References

Adjin-Tettey, T. D. (2022). Combating fake news, disinformation, and misinformation: Experimental evidence for media literacy education. Cogent Arts and Humanities, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2022.2037229

Break The Fake Movement PH. (2024, September 26). Break the fake movement PH. Break the Fake Movement PH. https://breakthefakemovement.com/#about

Chavda, J. (2024, October 16). More Americans – especially young adults – are regularly getting news on TikTok. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/17/more-americans-regularly-get-news-on-tiktok-especially-young-adults/

Comito, C. (2023). The role of social media in the battle against COVID-19. In Elsevier eBooks (pp. 105–124). https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-323-90531-2.00002-3

DeRuyver, D. (2023, August 17). Why the Leadership Industry Should Worry About Mis- and Dis-information. International Leadership Association. https://ilaglobalnetwork.org/why-the-leadership-industry-should-worry-about-mis-and-disinformation/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAhbi8BhDIARIsAJLOludFH20MTc6bl64DmJoyM3N9193EmekOEihdazbdws6bpOM4TO-1SgwaAjlMEALw_wcB

Empowering Youth to Combat Misinformation: Media and Information Literacy Hackathon. (2024, September 4). UNESCO. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/empowering-youth-combat-misinformation-media-and-information-literacy-hackathon?utm_source=chatgpt.com

LibGuides: Fake news: Consequences of fake news. (n.d.). https://libguides.uvic.ca/fakenews/consequences

The Poynter Institute. (2024, September 17). MediaWise - Poynter. Poynter. https://www.poynter.org/mediawise/