‘Onus is on us to stop false news from spreading’

PETALING JAYA: Social media platforms are ideal environments for spreading fake news because of the ease of sharing and reach, said Assoc Prof Dr Selvakumar Manickam.

“Fake news is created and disseminated on social media using various methods by having content creators fabricating stories, distorting facts or taking information out of context.

“The use of text, images, videos or a combination of these can make claims appear more legitimate,” said the Universiti Sains Malaysia cybersecurity expert .

Fake news creators can exploit social media algorithms by making content with higher levels of engagement (likes, shares and comments) to increase visibility and reach, he added.

Prof Selvakumar was responding to questions on the monitoring of sensitive social media postings on race, religion and royalty (3R) and fake news, where he opined that Facebook was the most likely platform used for spreading disinformation.

This is because it has 2.9 billion active users and its algorithms show posts that can be easily visible for sharing, he added.

However, Prof Selvakumar said Facebook has been criticised for its slow response to the fake news issue, especially in the lead-up to the 2016 US presidential polls.

As such, he said, Malaysia also might face a similar situation in the six upcoming state elections.

Nevertheless, Facebook and other social media platforms have taken steps to combat fake news by working with fact-checkers and government agencies, and leveraging on artificial intelligence, he added.

“Once a fake news content is created, it is disseminated on social media, including apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram.

“Users can share, like, retweet, or comment on posts, thereby increasing their visibility and potentially reaching a wider audience, especially when it touches sensitive issues such as 3R.

“However, the onus is on us, the users, to play a bigger role in spotting, looking for evidence, and reporting it to the relevant platform and portals such as sebenarnya.my,” he said.

When asked as to why people get taken in by such postings, he said it was due to the lack of media literacy and confirmation bias and echo chamber factors.

Confirmation bias refers to the tendency of people to accept or take note of information if it appears to be in line with what they already believe or expect, even when such information is misleading or false.

An echo chamber refers to situations where people only hear opinions of one type, or opinions that are similar to their own, resulting in the reinforcement of their own views, while disregarding other information that runs counter to their convictions.