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These innovators are helping us navigate digital media in the age of misinformation and fake news
Our world is more connected than ever, with news from the other side of the world reaching our phones and TV screens within a matter of moments. This interconnectedness and virtually unlimited access to rapid information helps us stay up-to-date on the world’s most important stories, from natural disasters to game-changing political events, in a way that was completely unthinkable before the birth of the Internet.
However, as more people, companies, and governments have entered the digital sphere, it has meant that we’ve become exposed to more voices, both on social media and traditional news outlets. With all this noise, it’s getting a lot harder for individual users to sift through the information to find what’s relevant to them. And increasingly important, it’s getting harder to identify stories and posts that are accurate and appropriately fact-checked.
Why is media literacy important?
The Internet is an extremely powerful tool, and the things we see and read on a daily basis will naturally impact the way we think about the world around us. But, when we’re continually exposed to false news and biased information, it has a tangible – and potentially extremely harmful – effect in the non-digital world. Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter), for instance, came under fire earlier this year when experts highlighted that false, xenophobic information spread on the platform played a significant part in the violent, far-right riots that took place across the UK over the summer.
In light of this, as well as growing concerns over the spread of AI-generated images and videos, and particularly the impact they can have on voters during election season, media literacy and a critical digital eye are more important than ever. Tomorrow marks the start of Global Media and Information Literacy Week (24-31 October), and aptly, the theme is ‘The New Digital Frontiers of Information: Media and Information Literacy for Public Interest Information’.
Technology can do harm when it comes to spreading misleading information, but it can also be used to help protect and empower us online. Here are five of our favourite examples.
Top 5 media literacy solutions
A platform rates news reliability and bias
What and how a news publication reports can depend on a lot of factors, including the country it’s based in and its political leaning. Latin for ‘from the source’, Ad Fontes Media created an interactive bias analysis map that lets users visualise where various media outlets from across the world sit on the political spectrum. With the help of its team of analysts, the map also situates companies higher or lower depending on whether they’re likely to publish unreliable information. Read more
Making scientific research accessible to all
For those worried about increasingly narrow perspectives forcing people into echo chambers, a new discussion platform helps bring the latest research to the forefront of public discourse. Proemial, an AI-powered platform for open discussion, personalises reading recommendations to users. The company brings together a variety of AI models to digest research and then make it not only applicable to scholars, but also interesting, relevant, and easy to understand for the general populace without specialist knowledge. This way, experts can bring their fact-backed research to a broader readership, combatting the spread of ‘fake news’ that often contradicts scientific evidence. Read more
Fact-checking AI bots combat fake news
The rise of generative AI has supercharged the growth of disinformation and harmful online content. One organisation working to combat this is Meedan, a non-profit that runs programmes that build capacity and digital literacy for news organisations and their audiences. Meedan also produces open-source software that allows users of WhatsApp and other platforms to forward suspicious messages to fact-checking conversational tipline bots that flag content as true, false, or misleading. Read more
Helping students understand algorithmic bias
Algorithms are everywhere, and they increasingly govern almost everything – from what we see on social media to whether we are considered for a job. In response, Seattle-based company Artefact created a project that helps students learn more about how algorithms affect everyday life. The Most Likely Machine project introduces young people to important ideas around digital literacy, helping students see the impact of personal bias on algorithm design and become more attuned to it in the digital world around us. Read more
A cybersecurity platform spots deepfakes
The World Economic Forum has ranked disinformation as one of the top short-term risks in 2024, and with the proliferation of AI, disinformation and false images are becoming harder to separate from the truth. Cybersecurity platform Clarity AI provides tools for real-time deepfake detection in a variety of media. For journalists, Clarity Studio is available as a free resource that analyses images, audio, and video from URLs or uploaded files to ensure that their sources are accurate. The company also has an offering for businesses so they can spot deepfakes in real time during work calls. Read more
Compiled by: Matilda Cox
