An increasingly large problem: misinformation online. Social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are among the most successful communication tools ever. Accessible to almost everyone, they are an indispensable part of our everyday lives and represent the main hub for opinion-forming and information dissemination in the 21st century.
Undoubtedly, the platforms benefit from lively discussions on all sorts of topics, especially controversial ones.
But how dangerous can this desired exchange become if false information, hate, and incitement take over the content and headlines? After all, the general population has been given the opportunity to get involved in all sorts of topics in an unprecedented way.
What responsibility do social media platforms therefore bear, when they are the place where information is spread and discussed in seconds?
Misinformation - The Origin
To find an answer to these questions, one must first concern oneself with the business of networks.
It is important not to forget that social media operates with a profit motive. The bolder, more outlandish, and more attention-grabbing the headline, the more reach, clicks, and views are achieved.
Therefore, many have an interest in controlling their algorithms in such a way that even partially problematic topics are intensified and pushed. This is because excitement drives traffic, and traffic drives business.
For this reason, one can by no means be sure whether headlines and text content correspond to the truth and whether social media serves as a safe source of knowledge acquisition.
Who bears the responsibility?
To better assess the responsibility of platforms, one must consider the interventions initiated against fake news. Freedom of expression, like offline, is not absolute on social media. Applicable personal and protection rights have been repeatedly strengthened by lawmakers in recent years, and platforms have at times been forced to remove illegal or unlawful postings. In extreme cases, users may be completely removed, blocked, or banned. However, this requires them to have repeatedly shared fake news or unlawful content.
The first question can therefore already be answered. Social media contributes significantly to the spread of misinformation, as the platforms work with distribution mechanisms and controlled algorithms and offer the possibilities for exchange in the first place.
Using the example of Donald Trump, who was banned from Twitter in 2021 after repeated warnings for spreading fake news and negative propaganda, our topic can be illustrated even more clearly.
As a public figure with many followers, advocates, and comments, the former US President's Twitter account was never quiet. Day and night, thousands of people flocked to old and new posts, discussions began, comments were made, and further articles and posts were linked. Thus, Trump was already in the public eye before any scandals and was associated with every imaginable topic on social media.
Accounts that are permanently running all the time attract attention, come under fire, and are scanned daily for illegal statements. Swift action is taken, and misinformation can be detected and officially blocked.
The problem therefore lies with the small, lesser-known accounts. With people who deliberately set out to bring their potentially problematic opinions to the masses.
It's not without reason that most social networks have a list of banned words, which are blocked upon publication. However, these are often circumvented through abbreviations, replaced letters, or special characters.
Birds of a feather flock together
An increasingly relevant topic is that like-minded people exclusively surround themselves with like-minded people and reject other opinions without deeper investigation. Thus, Twitter and co. unintentionally create a bubble for one-sided information, hatred, incitement, and more.
Despite platforms„ efforts to prevent the spread of fake news and misinformation, it is not possible to guarantee this 100%% to this day. In a successful democracy, the interest in exchanging opinions and “looking beyond one's own nose" should be encouraged. In addition to the misinformation that has inevitably circulated so far, social media platforms, where external influences shape opinions, are simply the wrong channel for obtaining information and exchanging views.
In summary, social media platforms, despite certain interventions, inevitably contribute to the rapid spread and audience reach of misinformation and fake news. Ultimately, therefore, everyone should cross-reference rapidly disseminated information with reputable sources and form an informed opinion, rather than blindly trusting information from social media.
Despite everything, it's important to focus on the positive progress.
Because the majority of social media creates a platform for positive exchange, rapid information dissemination, notification, and reaching a large number of people in the shortest possible timeframe. If we now consider, in the future, the research into new technologies against hate, incitement, and
By deploying fake news and introducing stricter regulations and controls, it is possible to eliminate the „social media as a disseminator of misinformation“ space.
