The U.S. election in 2022 is just around the corner. To help people during this critical period, social media sites need to make efforts to stop the spread of misinformation.
(Photo : Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Voters cast their ballots at a Masonic Lodge on June 5, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. California could play a determining role in upsetting Republican control the U.S. Congress, as Democrats hope to win 10 of the 14 seats held by Republicans.
During the past U.S. elections, Facebook, Twitter, and other online platforms faced criticism because of the way they handled fake news and other untruthful content.
To ensure that the previous misinformation issues will not happen again, social media companies said they formulated plans to prevent fake news in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections, as reported by Fast Company.
Which Social Media Site Can Efficiently Handle Misinformation During Election?
Dam Hee Kim, a University of Arizona assistant professor, explained that social media sites are important sources of essential news.
(Photo : Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images)
A picture taken on May 14, 2012 in Paris, shows an illustration made with a figurine set up in front of Facebook's homepage. Facebook, already assured of becoming one of the most valuable US firms when it goes public later this month, now must convince investors in the next two weeks that it is worth all the hype.
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However, she added that these platforms could also become a source of misinformation.
Now, here is the ranking of Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and other sites based on how they handle the spread of untruthful posts:
Twitter (B)
People don't consider Twitter among the biggest culprit of misinformation.
YouTube (B-)
YouTube is among the platforms that can recommend reliable sources.
Facebook (C)
Facebook is criticized for misinformation that can easily spread on this platform. Experts said that this was seen during the 2016 presidential election campaign.
TikTok (D)
Unlike other platforms, TikTok has less strict rules when it comes to fake news. Researchers explained that misinformation could easily spread on this platform because videos are more difficult to fact-check.
How to Spot Fake News?
FactCheck.Org provided some tips on checking if the post you are reading on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites, is true or false.
These include the following:
- Always check the source. Make sure that its "about" section is true. Try searching on Google if the source is reliable.
- Check who wrote the article or who posted the content. Search for the author's background.
- Try checking the headline. If the headline sounds fishy, then the content could be false.
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Written by Griffin Davis
