Combating Misinformation In The Post-Truth Reality

“How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again!”

• Mark Twain

Hard, yes; impossible…. no.

The main issue we face as a pro-democracy and pro-American movement - is the extreme amount of disinformation being pushed by multiple adversaries - whether it’s foreign governments, self interested billionaires, or corrupted government officials.

Many, many, many Americans are lost in this cycle - consuming almost only media that is compromised in the above ways. These misinformation machines get tens of millions (or more) eyeballs - how can we compete and restore logic to America?

Each of us individually do not have the reach, but together we can make a massive difference – really! Together and engaged, we outnumber those who wish to spread misinformation.

By the way, if you do not have the energy to do these things - there is no judgement. Take care of yourself first and foremost!

Here’s my quick gameplan for individuals:

• Posting facts and fact checks to all social media platforms - daily.
  • This is the most important one, especially if you are followed by people consumed by misinformation.
  • Don’t block people who are consumed by misinformation - by posting you are forcing them out of their bubble.
  • It only takes a seed to begin the process of bringing someone out of the misinformation bubble.
  • Turn off replies / comments if you have to.
• Use these strategies for when you engage with misinformation:
  • Do not attack the person.
  • Politely ensure the person has read the fact check or source.
  • Ensure that their counterargument has a specific claim they are disputing, and a non-partisan source.
  • Do not argue forever - if the person just refuses to agree on reality - or won’t accept anything except biased media sources - move on.
• Stick around on certain social media sites (or joining new ones).
  • Especially on platforms where you are more likely to see misinformation.
  • Any factual arguments you can get in front of anyone - is useful.
• Support independent media.
• Encourage those who are consumed with misinformation, to get another perspective.
• Be fearless.

Some great resources you can use to post and form your arguments:

• ProPublica
• Politifact

If we all do even some of these things, we will start to pop the misinformation bubble with logic and facts.