How disinformation plagues our society and blurs the line between fact and fiction
We live in a unique time where disinformation is easy to spread online. The reality is that everybody has become a journalist, with platforms like Twitter/X advocating for free speech over the truth. The world has again constructed an arena filled with lies and malicious rumours that are portrayed as veritable news, so it is no wonder that it is becoming harder to weed out the reality amongst the fantasy. The line between opinion and fact has been dangerously blurred, and we have created a world where the two are often interchangeable.
But it isn’t just blatant disinformation that causes issues. Speculation by those in positions of power feeds that disinformation, giving it a foundation to build on. The riots seen across England this summer were an example of that. At the end of July, Southport was left in shock by a ‘ferocious knife attack’ that claimed the lives of three young girls, and left many others injured. Our country stood still for a moment, and then chaos ensued. There was huge speculation online and on the television around the nationality of the killer, with some speculating that he was on a terror watch list. There was a vacuum – a lack of information. So, naturally, the tragedy was exploited to push disinformation.
There is a difference between disinformation and misinformation. The latter is defined as “false information that is spread, regardless of whether there is intent to mislead”, whereas the former is defined as “deliberately misleading or biased information; manipulated narrative or facts; propaganda.” The vast majority of false information spread at the time of the riots fell into the latter, malicious, category.
A former counter-terror chief accused Nigel Farage of inciting the violence in Southport ahead of widespread riots just days after. This came after Farage published a video in which he questioned whether “the truth is being withheld from us” after the attack in Southport. Farage argued that it was “quite legitimate to ask questions”. For this, he faced rebuttal from many, including Theresa May’s former chief of staff, Lord Barwell, who said that: “If he has questions, he could have asked them in the House of Commons yesterday – but he wasn’t there. Instead he prefers to encourage those spreading misinformation.”
Several months later, it was reported that Axel Rudakubana, the Southport suspect had been charged with production of ricin, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism. It is important to recognise that at the time of the attack, there was no evidence in the public arena that suggested Rudakubana was a terrorist. I believe a debate must be had around the definition of terrorism, but as it stands, at the time of the incident, it did not meet that legal definition. Farage and the armchair detectives of social media did not have any information whatsoever that suggested otherwise, but the speculation alone that they peddled was harmful and undoubtedly contributed to the riots.
We know that the mainstream media often get things wrong, and when they do, it usually has disastrous consequences. There are growing calls for the BBC to be defunded and for the licence fee to be scrapped. It is my view that news and media broadcasters must be regulated heavily and held accountable for what they put out to the public. But those stones seem to be thrown from within a glass house. Broadcasters like GB News are regularly in hot water with Ofcom and have recently been handed a penalty of £100,000 for breaching the rules after an hour-long programme in March this year. The show featured the then Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, in a question-and-answer session. Ofcom ruled that an appropriately wide range of viewpoints were not presented, and that Sunak had a “mostly uncontested” platform to promote the policies and performance of the Conservative Government. This isn’t necessarily an example of disinformation, but the ruling certainly calls into question the integrity and impartiality of platforms like GB News.
Not so long ago, we saw Twitter/X turn into a vacuum of rumour claiming that the prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was withholding a dark secret. This idea was peddled by self-proclaimed journalists spouting unfounded and spurious speculation claiming that a big story about Starmer was about to drop. It won’t surprise you to hear that nothing ever came from that. The truth is that this Government is still in its infancy and remains extremely fragile, and these completely baseless claims sought to unseat Starmer and rub salt on an already deep wound in society. The end goal? Well, with the evidence at hand, one can only assume that the right-wing media are absolutely shaking with excitement at the thought of Nigel Farage walking into Downing Street, and it seems plain as day that certain factions in our media will stop at nothing to achieve that.
So, how exactly do they achieve that? It’s simple. They give us their opinion and spread rumours. They fuel speculation. They villainise the most vulnerable people in society. Crucially however, the only way they can effectively do all of that is to present all these things as fact and news. It is becoming clearer to me that ring-wing populism is thriving on the divisions in society. Fears are being played on and abused.
Disinformation is leading our country into a dark era of politics, and we need to recognise that people are being indoctrinated. So many areas of our country have been let down for so long. Chronic underfunding by the last Conservative Government has led to people looking for a neighbour to blame. And what is the most effective way to utilise those divides? Give people a common enemy. We are entering a new age of politics in the United Kingdom, and I shudder at the thought of where we will be in five years from now.
Image: Flickr/Gage Skidmore
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