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 and prepare people with more critical thinking skills. People with large social media influence, like celebrities, famous scholars and so on, should actively take their responsibility to stop the spread of wrong information.
Describe the severe outcome:
personal level: a deliberate or unintentional rumor could lead to human flesh search which would expose all personal details of the target person. His reputation could be damaged and personal life could be disturbed. e.g. Chinese anti-corruption campaign uses social media as a platform to expose corrupted officials. However, some people use it as a chance to discredit political opponents.
society/national level: a false rumor like disease outbreak or crime could cause mass panic and result in social disorder. e.g. rumor about Ebola spreading fast in Guinean made student scare to return to school.
Solutions:
1.authorities
telecommunication department should make laws to punish those false information, e.g China just prosecuted two people who made profit by spreading false information on social media. However, such laws may be criticized of speech control(will evaluate more)
education department should teach students to have more critical skills so that they would be able to tell the false information. e.g. Singapore MOE. This is the key to stop false information but its effect would only be shown in the long run.
2.people with large social media influences
include celebrities, famous scholars and people with many followers on social media
No comments:
Post a Comment