On source criticism day, the Internet Foundation warns of false information in social media.
In a new report, they show that six out of ten Swedes have experienced misleading tasks online over the past year.
“It is serious that there is such a great incidence of information on social media,” says Björn Appelgren, people education manager at the Internet Foundation.
March 13 is the day of source criticism and at the University of Skövde’s library it is noticed with an exhibition. Information posters with tips on how to review sources are interspersed with literature on the subject. In this academic environment, source references and references are clear, but on the web it is often unclear where the information actually comes from. It testifies to students at the university.
– With social media or in reality it can be a little different. There I have some difficulty compared to the school, says economist student Zayn Adams.
– If there are things that you think are too good to be true, then you start to think, says engineering student Claes Bergman.
“Seriously with so much disinformation”
The Internet Foundation draws attention to the day of source criticism by releasing a new report that warns of lack of knowledge about source criticism in the Swedish people. The report shows that six out of ten Swedes encountered false information on social media in the past year.
– It is serious that there is such a great occurrence of disinformation on social media. For we humans are dependent on knowledge to form a picture of the outside world, says Björn Appelgren, People’s Education Manager at the Internet Foundation.
Many are cheated
The presence of false information is not the only cloud of concern. The report also shows that four out of ten Swedes have believed in information that later proved to be incorrect.
– I think it has to do with how the digital information landscape works. Anyone can publish themselves and then claim anything, says Björn Appelgren.