One of the biggest issues in modern society is disinformation on online platforms. One of the hardest tasks is to distinguish the liability of any giving online post such, as social media posts or online articles, news, and other types of posts. Don’t think that it’s just some dumb web that is created by some dumb people, or it will cause no harm to the harmony of the world. In reality, the Pizzagate event is the perfect example of it. People in this world do believe in that nonsense news and articles. Conspiracy theories and fake news are damaging our society in a fundamental way. After reading information that is published by A Dutch organization whose detection is to working against disinformation, I now get a clear sense of why is it a problem.

Fake news could exist in any form, online articles, posts, and even news reports. Fake news, most often of time, is entirely fabricated. The creator is likely to use it as to tool to gain personal interest. However, fake news doesn’t have to be entirely artificial to serve the purpose of misleading. It’s common to find a half-true online post. In the modern world, online platform has become an essential part of people lives. It certainly serves many positive purposes, but it also become the glasshouse for disinformation. Social media particularly are used by government officials to influence public opinions. Not only used domestically but also internationally. According to DROG, there are 47 million tweeter accounts, 15% of them are political bots which is an artificial account who’s job is to share any giving source at a massive rate. During the 2017 French presidential election, the 2016 pizza gate conspiracy theory controversy (which is accepted by a number rightwing politicians to discredit Clinton ), 2014 Malaysia airlane flight MH17 all have seen the presence of Bots and we have experienced what can disinformation can do to our world. During a troubled time, people are tends to believe in conspiracy theories or fake news. As a result, it will only deteriorate the situation. Disinformation could eventually divide our society if we fail to recognize false information.  

Overall, disinformation is a serious threat that people should acknowledge, but it doesn’t mean that there is no solution to it. Tech giant Google and Facebook, and some governmental agencies are trying to figure out how to stop the spread of fake news. Regardless of how hard they try, fake news will get on your screen. Acknowledge the following characteristics that are shared by many unreliable sources that will help you recognize disinformation. Fake news posters often use emotion as a way to drawn attention from the public. Conspiracy theory is a good tool for them to gain followers. Whenever being challenged, their common strategies is to discredit organization who disagree with them. Moreover, they often use emotional content to lure people in bit by bit. Overall, Education and knowledge are by far, the best tool against disinformation.