A WHOLE-OF-NATION APPROACH
When one considers the longer term threats that loom on the horizon, it’s clear {that a} holistic, whole-of-nation method to growing options is required.
As noticed in different nations, fact-checking efforts too might be weaponised or politicised, with completely different sides of political divides deploying fact-checkers to undermine each other.
Past the growing divisiveness this could encourage in societies, one other impact might be to confuse most people to the purpose that belief in any supply of data – together with credible platforms equivalent to established media retailers – diminishes irreparably.
As such, what is required for a long-term, sustainable and sturdy counter to misinformation and disinformation is for all stakeholders to come back collectively to work for a standard aim.
In Singapore, the federal government has enacted legal guidelines aimed toward stopping on-line falsehoods from being unfold. On the identical time, academic efforts have been deployed by tutorial establishments and organisations such because the Nationwide Library Board to construct larger information, media and knowledge literacy.
This must be paired with the work by tech corporations, unbiased fact-checkers and media retailers to make sure that sources of disinformation are restricted and disempowered, whereas additionally encouraging the event of high-quality, trusted and credible sources of factual data.
If there’s any small silver lining from Meta’s resolution to drag again from fact-checking and content material moderation and its subsequent results – it’s that it serves as a reminder of the truth of the threats we face as a society from faux information and disinformation, and the way an informed, knowledgeable and activated citizenry is likely to be our greatest guess to overcoming present and future threats.
Nicholas Fang is a former journalist and Nominated Member of Parliament. He’s additionally the founder and managing director of Black Dot Analysis, a market and social analysis company that operates Singapore’s main unbiased fact-checking platform.
