Media Literacy: A guide to critically analysing information
Media literacy (the ability to critically analyse information) is becoming a vital skill that people need to function in a digital world. This article can help people learn about disinformation, misinformation, deepfakes and the potential risks of echo chambers.
Ofcom, Shout Out UK and the Electoral Commission are collaborating on the Dismiss campaign. Although focused primarily on young people, the resources are useful for equipping everyone with the skills they need to dismiss disinformation.
This article links to short animated videos for each of the key areas in the campaign: misinformation, bot accounts, echo chambers, harmful deepfakes, and data manipulation.
Mis/Dis information
Misinformation is information that is false, but not intended to cause harm.
Disinformation is false information that is deliberately created and shared to cause harm.
Both can cause harm, but the difference is intent.
How to dismiss mis/dis information
Bot accounts
A bot account on social media is an automated account that is designed to act like a human. These accounts might like, share and repost content, either for positive or negative reasons.
Echo chambers
Only seeing posts that agree with your opinion? An echo chamber (or filter bubble) is where the algorithm only feeds you content that you already agree with. This is known as confirmation bias. It can lead to people not being exposed to alternative viewpoints and becoming further away from each other in their beliefs.
Harmful deepfakes
Deepfake technology uses Al to create realistic fake videos, audio or images. These can make it look like somebody is saying or doing something that they're not. They can be created for entertainment, but can also be used for harmful purposes.
How to dismiss harmful deepfakes
Data manipulation
This is when numbers or statistics are changed, or numbers or statistics are deliberately presented in a way that supports a specific story.