affected target group/stakeholders:ordinary people who use social media, government, innocent people who are targeted
agent of change/stakeholders: authority in charge of telecommunication, education sector
solution 1: Authorities of telecommunication department regulate information spreading on social media platforms and impose laws to punish those who spread rumors intentionally. Such method is using by Chinese government.
evaluation: 1,It would be difficult to differentiate whether or not the person is spreading intentionally. He may happen to believe what he spread to be truth.
2. Most governments may be reluctant to adopt such methods as it could be seen as strong censorship and jeopardize their reputation in freedom of speech.
3. No matter how strong the punishment is, the source or benefit of spreading rumor is still there. So, such method could only ease the consequences but never stop the spreading.
solution 2: School equip students with better critical thinking skill which enable them to tell the problem of rumors and then choose not to spread them.
Implication/Conclusion: Education could stop rumors from spreading but its time frame is too long. It may take years to see its effect. So I suggest to use both of the above methods. When education shows its effect, then abandon the first one due to its weakness in censorship.
Thesis: There are huge amount of information on social media and it is very difficult for ordinary people to tell the credibility. The wide spread of false information could lead to serious consequences. Authorities should make laws to prevent severe outcome from happening. Education sector should start to pay more attention to critical thinking skills and equip students with such skills.
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