In early January, CEO of Meta Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company would be ending its third-party fact-checking program and instead switching to a community-driven system (much like Elon Musk’s X). Zuckerberg says this change — which will affect Meta-owned companies Facebook, Instagram, and Threads — helps prioritize “free expression”. However, this change will make social media users vulnerable to a whole world of misinformation and disinformation.Â
Previous to this policy change, Meta utilized a fact-checking program that worked to “fight the spread of misinformation and provide people with more reliable information.” These independent fact-checkers came from the International Fact Checking Network (IFNC), a subsidiary of the nonprofit organization the Poynter Institute. Now, in an open letter to Zuckerberg in response to the removal of fact-checking, the Poynter Institute wrote, “We believe the decision to end Meta’s third party fact-checking program is a step backward for those who want to see an internet that prioritizes accurate and trustworthy information.”
Ultimately, for those who get their news from social media (or even those who just want to be responsible internet users), this change means individuals need to take fact-checking into their own hands. But how do you even go about fact-checking? Below, Her Campus shares some pointers for fact-checking on social media responsibly.Â
Check Your Emotions
According to Alicia Ramirez, adjunct professor at USC Annenberg and founder and publisher of the Riverside Record, most misinformation that circulates widely elicits a very “visceral response.” Therefore, one of the easiest ways to get into the habit of fact-checking is to be cognizant of how something you see online makes you feel. When reading something, Ramirez advises asking yourself one question, “Does this elicit an emotional response?” And if it does, she says, “go check it.” Whether that response is anger, sadness, or even joy, be wary of why what you are reading is causing you to feel so deeply, because it may be by design.
Read Multiple Sources
It’s also important to read more than one source about any given topic you see online. This will instantly help train your eye to be critical of contradictions, inconsistencies, and biases. By reading more than one thing about a topic — whether it’s a short social media post or a longform article — from more than one source, you will have a better chance of understanding the topic from multiple points of view.
Be mindful of echo chambers
Social media platforms are notorious for using algorithms to deliver relevant content to their users. They gather information about what you like, who you follow, and what you search all in an effort to create a pleasing — and, let’s be real, lucrative experience. And while sometimes it’s great to be served the exact outfit inspo you were hoping to find for your upcoming date party, algorithms also have downsides — one of which being that the can create echo chambers. An echo chamber is an environment where individuals only encounter beliefs or opinions that align with theirs. Echo chambers are particularly dangerous when it comes to political mis- and disinformation in that they can stand in the way of someone seeing a diverse collection of perspectives on an issue. It is very difficult to avoid being in an echo chamber, but being aware that you exist in echo chambers can make you a more critical consumer of media, and thus lead you to seek information from outside of your bubble.
Seek out primary sources
To a journalist like Ramirez, looking into the original source material of any given fact is, well, a given. “If I am reading a news story about the wildfires happening here in LA, then I will go to CalFire’s Website or LAFD’s website so I can find the information myself.” For those who aren’t in the habit of this yet, you can start by looking at any sources cited or quoted in a story shared on social media (and if there are no sources, consider that a huge red flag). When you find those sources, you can then look them up and see not only whether what they’re cited as saying is correct, but also whether they themselves are reputable sources in the first place.
Pay Attention To Who’s Posting
In an age when almost anyone can say almost anything on the internet, Ramirez warns individuals to be aware of who is the person behind the post. If you see something posted by someone online, Ramirez says to ask yourself, “Is this person a trustworthy person? Do they have a real photo, their work affiliation [listed in their bio]?” These details can help indicate whether the person posting might be considered a legit source, a sh*tposter, or even just a bot.
Utilize sites that fact-check or expose bias
Meta may be nixxing fact-checking, but that does not mean everyone is! Fact-checking is all about resources and reliability. Here are a few sites that are well known for promoting credibility:
FactCheck.org: A research-based fact-checking project, FactCheck.org goes through the transcripts and videos from talk shows, TV advertisements, C-SPAN, presidential remarks, and more to monitor factual accuracy.Â
Politifact.com: Another branch of the Poynter Institute, Politifact relies on fact-check requests by readers and analyzes social media and TV.Â
Snopes: Started in 1994, Snopes is the oldest and biggest fact-checking website, acting as a companion for individuals who are fact-checking on their own.
A key component of fact-checking is also being aware of bias. AllSides, for example, is a site that gathers multiple articles about a topic from across the political spectrum, clearly labeling articles as “from the right,” “from the center,” and “from the left,” showing how one topic is covered from a variety of angles and illustrating how political bias can contribute to misinformation and a distortion of facts.
Look Out For AI
By this point, most netizens have encountered a video or image on social media that just seemed… off, to say the least. Sometimes, it’s easy to spot when something online was made with or by AI (the hands are usually a giveaway for me), but with AI becoming more sophisticated by the day, it can be difficult to decipher what is real and what is fake. Fact-checking media for AI is difficult, but the MIT Media Lab created a guide to help users out, sharing tips that include paying attention to certain characteristics of faces — things like odd shadows, skin that is too smooth or too wrinkled, a lack of blinking, or awkward lip movements can all be markers of something being AI-generated. Still, even if you train your eye to spot AI, you should be using all of the aforementioned fact-checking pointers to help ensure you’re actually in the clear to believe the images and videos you are seeing.