Social media has become part of people's life. We use all kinds of social media as platforms to interact with friends, get informations and so on. There are 890 million people who log on Facebook daily and the statistics is still increasing. However, informations we get for social media platforms are not poorly vetted and these potential false information can cause serious problems due to thier fast spreading speed. 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 of telecommunication departments should make laws to prevent severe outcome from happening and education sector should start to pay more attention to critical thinking skills and equip students with such skills.
On personal level, a deliberate or unintentional rumor could lead to human flesh search which would expose all personal details of the targeted person. His reputation could be damaged and personal life could be disturbed. For example, 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 by posting false information online. The targeted person could be ended up in internal investigation which could be considered as a stain in his profile. On a much larger scale, a false rumor like disease outbreak or crime could cause mass panic and result in social disorder. For instance, rumor about Ebola spreading fast in Guinean made student scare to return to school.
Actually many countries have started working on false information spreading on social media platforms. For example, China passed a law last year regarding punishment of intentional rumor spreaders. According to this law, if your post contains false information and it is re-posted for over 500 times or gets over 5000 comments, you will be sentenced for up to two years sentence(China Supreme Court Explanation, Sep 09 2013). India also implemented laws to give up to five years sentence regarding false online information which may lead to social panic, after Mumbai Explosion 2011(Section 505, India Penal Code). Such laws have shown positive effects in stopping rumor spreading and easing severe consequences. For example, after China prosecuted two people who spread rumors intentionally, there are less disguise information online now(Hu XY, Less online false information spreading, Dec 07 2013). However, there are still many problems of such method. It would be difficult to differentiate whether or not the person is spreading intentionally. He may happen to believe what he spreads. Also, implementing such laws means that the government has to monitor the online voice everyday and block some voices.On one hand, people may fear that the government use such laws as excuses to silence political opponents. On the other hand, 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. In the end, no matter how strong the punishment is or how strict the laws are carried out, the source or benefit of spreading rumor is still there. Such method could only ease the consequences but never stop the spreading because it never target at the original source.
Education is another possible way to solve false information problem. School equip students with better critical thinking skill which enable them to recognize rumors and false information and then choose not to spread them.The primary reason that false information could have such huge influence in due to fast spreading and the fast spreading is done by ordinary people who could be easily deceived. So, this problem would only stop when most people can recognize the problem by themselves. Education Departments should add critical thinking skills to school syllabus and start relevant lessons in primary and secondary schools. Since most online activities are carried out by teenagers, equipping them with better critical thinking skills is the most effective way of solving problem. Also, their presence in schools make the cost much lower than educating adult who are out in society. One more point to add is that, in this information explosion world, having good critical thinking skill is not only useful in stopping false information, but also helpful for students in their future life.
In conclusion, education could stop false information from spreading from the source but its time frame is too long. It may take years or even decades to see its effect. So I suggest to use both of the above methods. In the short run, we implement laws to punish intentional rumor spreaders and prevent severe consequences. In the long run, we let people to judge the credibility of sources by themselves through education. Once the education method starts to show its effect, the government can abandon the first one as people would be ready.
Camara K, Guinea Scrambles to shut down false vaccination Rumor, Voice of America, Feb 15 2015, Retrieved from: http://www.voanews.com/content/guinea-scrambles-to-shut-down-false-vaccination-rumor/2644744.html
最高人民法院解释关于打击网络谣言，Chinese Supreme Court Explanation of Stopping Online Rumors, Xinhua News Agency, Sep 09 2013, Retrieved from: http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2013-09/09/c_117293022.htm
Section 505 of India Penal Code,Retrieved from: http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1198526/
网络谣言传播热度下降，Less False Information Spreading Online, Hu XY, Changjiang News, Retrieved from: http://hb.ifeng.com/news/focus/detail_2013_12/07/1559504_0.shtml?_from_ralated
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