The Dark Power of Misinformation

Perhaps the worst aspect of social media is how easily it allows us to stay in our own information bubble. Whatever news article or video we might click on, the algorithms automatically recommend even more of those same type of stories.

Before long, we are living in a world of confirmation bias, as almost all the information we consume on social media serves to reinforce what we already believe. Even worse, these algorithms make it easier for many of us to believe things that are just not true.

This is because if there’s one thing that a news bubble does more than anything else, is it diminishes our objectivity. The need to use our critical thinking skills becomes less necessary, as every new bit of information tends to reinforce what we already believe, even if that information is wrong.

One nearly tragic example of how living in an information bubble can be so dangerous was from a couple of years back. In that story, a 29 year old Boston man led police on a 20 mile, 2 state, high-speed chase with his five young kids in his van.

He also live-streamed what was happening, and at one point, directed his camera at the van’s speedometer, showing he was driving 110 miles an hour. “We don’t want to die,” one of the children screamed, as they all begged him to slow down. Here’s a short clip from that live-stream.

The scariest part of that whole episode might be that he had been watching QAnon videos for only a few weeks before becoming radicalized. He was immersed in these videos on YouTube, and the algorithms kept sending him more and more of the same type of videos to watch.

He was repeatedly consuming false information in his news bubble, and yet every video he watched convinced him more and more that these things were true.

The algorithms simply didn’t care if the information he was consuming was false, or if he went temporarily insane. It only mattered that he was consuming more and more content.

Another more recent example is the man from North Carolina who was arrested for making threats to FEMA workers. The threats came after he posted a message on Facebook calling for people to “overtake” the FEMA site in Lake Lure, North Carolina.

That message was based on what he says were social media reports that FEMA was withholding supplies from hurricane survivors. In his news bubble, those reports were believable even though they were based on unsubstantiated rumors in the wake of the hurricane.

A more under-the-radar example of news bubbles is how the Department of Defense recently updated a 2016 directive to allow for a broader military involvement in domestic law enforcement, especially under emergency conditions.

While the directive primarily focuses on intelligence support,it explicitly permits military commanders to use lethal force if an imminent threat is identified, and it expands the circumstances under which the DoD can assist law enforcement.

What makes this particular story fascinating is that it’s almost exclusively being reported on conservative and far-right sites, while the main stream media and far-left media outlets are strangely silent.

But this is not false information, as the directive outlining the new policy went into effect on September 27, 2024, and the DoD subsequently authorized its release to the public. It is a matter of public record, and under normal circumstances this story would have been widely reported on the Left.

But it has not been, and in large part this is because the main stream media is so consumed with the clear and present danger from Donald Trump, that they are blinded to how the current administration is now allowing for a broader military involvement in domestic law enforcement.

For their part, the conservative and far-right outlets who have reported this story, frame it as evidence that the Biden Administration is planning on using the military to tamp down on any large scale protests that might arise after the election, especially if Harris wins.

The irony in that perspective is that it’s actually Donald Trump who has publicly stated that he intends to use the military for domestic law enforcement. The DoD’s directive is a virtual green light for a potential Trump administration to be the authoritarian he wants to be.

In a world of news bubbles and filled with misinformation and false information, there are a couple of things we can actually do to somewhat protect ourselves from being deceived. These things are not perfect, but they are a good starting point.

1) Stay away from the extremes. A large amount of the blatantly false information and misinformation originates on the far-right. These outlets will spread ANY rumor as long as it results in more views and clicks.

2) Be aware of your own news bubble. If you are only consuming information that reinforces what you already believe, for example if you watch MSNBC all day long, or read the Huffington Post nonstop, you are weakening your ability to think critically.

You need to force yourself to occasionally watch less biased content, such as Reuters, BBC News or CNBC. Even if you don’t agree with everything they report, simply exposing your mind to a slightly different perspective will help your overall objectivity.

And of course the same goes for us who sit and watch Fox News all day, or can’t wait to hear the latest story on Newsmax or OAN. We have to find a way to move back to the middle ground on our news sources, for the sake of our own minds.

The benefit of our consuming information from a wider variety of perspectives, especially those which are less biased, is that it diminishes the ability for social media algorithms to push us into those news bubbles.

Now is the time to fight back against a tendency to live in a news bubble, because otherwise we allow ourselves to become more susceptible to being deceived with false information. And things are only going to get worse from here on out.

A recent story on Axios called “America’s gullibility crisis” might have summed this up the best: “Never before have so many people been so exposed to so much misinformation. Given the increasing ubiquity of AI-generated content, this may be only the beginning.” ♦