Some mistakes are passed down through generations and we don’t seem to learn from the past. Like hanging out with the wrong crowd; dyeing your hair a color that doesn’t suit you; and trusting technology a little too much. Yet, debatably worst of all, people trust and believe information that comes from unverified sources all the time. Now more than ever people are relying on social media posts as sources of real information, and this can affect politics.

People building their beliefs on political matters through fake news is a hazard to democracy. 

Fake News: What is it exactly?

Fake news is a phrase going around a lot recently, coming up online, by politicians, and laws. What does it mean exactly? Wikipedia categorized it as ‘false or misleading information claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news.’ So why is it becoming so relevant now?

With the steady rise of platforms such as TikTok, X, and Instagram, which are increasingly seen as sources of legitimate news, people are often accepting information from strangers without question. Influencers, who often have no journalistic background, are considered news sources by some, and others often believe every headline they see on Twitter, where fake news is particularly widespread.

While this poses a risk to society, it can be even more dangerous for democracies.

Is your opinion due to free will, or are you manipulated to think that way?

You might think you have strong opinions shaped by your morals, but fake news can manipulate your world-view. Especially with the easy access the public has to AI-creation; it is unbelievably easy to create stories with realistic AI-images to back up claims. 

We have all heard the popular “Don’t believe everything you see on the internet.” You might even think you are a pro AI detector and can always spot those messed up hands in AI images, but sometimes a simple text over an image can distort your reality.

Take this image as an example, showing the cover of Vogue from 1939 of Hitler and of a modern-day cover of vogue showing Ukrainian president Zelensky. 

Sparking outrage across the internet, especially by pro-Russian individuals, it was a sinister connection between Adolf Hitler and modern-day figures in Europe to them. After all, if Hitler was painted as a hero by Vogue back in 1939, while he was a brutal, tyrannical man, could this same case be made for Zelensky? Does Vogue paint murderers as war heroes?

But this was all false, a fabricated lie that still managed to spark so much outrage on the internet. A tweet that could’ve been made by you or me had such outrage, that publications such as the BBC and fact checkers had to post articles telling people that it was not real. 

Division within society

Fake news comes with the ability to create division. Divide amongst different groups in society, but also divide within the same groups in society. When people are fed fake news, they begin to deepen their ideological beliefs and it intensifies. Any existing prejudice or bias is amplified. Social media typically worsens this as the algorithm presents you with posts that align with your personal beliefs.

Fake news plays on people’s emotions. Negative emotions that hide within you are brought out; fears, and insecurities, all feed the fake news cycle. 

For example, fabricated news about immigrants can spark hatred and deepen the divide in society. 

During the summer of 2024 in the UK we observed tens of riots. The cause – immigration. People wanted to feel safe in their streets again, and the fatal stabbing of 3 girls by an immigrant, who arrived by boat in the UK in 2023, fueled this deep fire within people to do something about it. To go out on the streets and riot, to cause a commotion so the government hears them loud and clear. 

What if I told you this was all a lie, at least the immigrant part? Social media created this false narrative of immigrants tormenting British citizens and bringing unrest to the country. However, police confirmed that the suspect was born in Wales. 

29 riots were fueled by fake news. 

This is the reality of fake news, it divides societies.

Voting behaviours

In an age where you cannot fact-check every “fact” or news you come across on social media, your perception of reality can become warped. Fake news inadvertently leads to strengthening prejudicial beliefs. For example, people can begin to only vote for anti-immigration governments, etc. Can we trust that in an age of fake news, voting behaviors represent people’s opinions?

 When people aren’t only presented with the truth, it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate fact from fiction. The spread of disinformation on social media endangers the democratic process as people begin to vote with distorted perceptions of reality instead of factual information.

 This is why resorting to Social media as the only source of information is dangerous for us. This is why we need to be more aware of what we consume. This is why you shouldn’t let them get to you too.

Text: Selin Oztuna

Featured image: @Cotton bro studios via pexels