On August 27, 2021, the Youth Time International Movement event was launched in Belgrade, Serbia, with the support of Erasmus +, dedicated to media literacy and protecting people from fake news.
The event was attended by representatives of different countries, including Russia, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic and others. Participants spoke about the activities of the media in their countries, about the problems of the media sphere faced by the ordinary population.
All the participants were united by the problem of the presence of a large amount of fake information in the media, as well as the general subordination of the media to the government and the lack of freedom of speech.
And if the state subordination of the media and the restriction of freedom of speech, which often follows one from the other, are familiar to the world, then fakes began to gain global power relatively recently.
At the moment, the main topic for disinformation is, of course, the Coronavirus and everything related to it, from the idea of chipping to the story of the spread of Covid-19 through 5G towers.
Unfortunately, often such news is written quite plausibly, supplemented by arguments and logical reflections, which is why an ordinary person cannot always distinguish between truth and lies.
As statistics show, the number of fake news is growing every year. For example, in 2021, there was 50% more false information in the Russian media than in 2020, as the chairman of the working group on countering the dissemination of inaccurate information, public control and Internet security Alexander Malkevich announced the day before.
In Russia, a lot of false news on the eve of elections, after or during incidents, whether it be forest fires or accidents in crowded places. In addition, the “machine for creating fakes” is actively working in relation to news that came from abroad, it is worth remembering the US elections or the protests in Belarus.
Other countries, including the UK, Europe and the United States of America, are not doing much better. For example, the American media like to publish false information about the country's government, and Britain and the EU about history and economics.
In 2021, Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media recognized YouTube as the leader in the dissemination of fake news, which is not surprising, because on this site everyone can advertise their opinion. It is worth noting that YouTube also publishes a large amount of truthful information from primary sources and those who consider it their duty to find reliable data and share it with other users of the platform.
Even experts are often unable to distinguish truth from disinformation. In order to draw a conclusion about any situation, it is necessary to consider it from different angles, including even absurd aspects. This approach is especially relevant in the modern realities of Covid-19.
Photo: Rony Thilakan
