Social Media: An Uncensored Source of (Mis)information

Arianna Guerra 

ag598417@ohio.edu

 

In this new age of technology, people of all ages and backgrounds look to social media for fast news content and while these platforms have proved to be valuable for spreading information quickly, they are not as great at ensuring all information is true. 

Many people love social media because it allows them to quickly take in current events, interact virtually with loved ones and network professionally. However, because everyone can use social media as a creative outlet there is nothing stopping someone from publishing false or misleading information. 

What's the big deal you ask? Online users are not certified journalists and therefore not ethically obliged to publish factual information on their own pages? 

Well technically yes, but an ethical issue can arise faster than it takes someone to hit post. 

For example, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) faced much more than questions about her policies and political views when she was revealed to be Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden's pick for vice president. 

According to an opinion article published by The Washington Post, Harris was quickly labeled an "opportunistic liar" who used sex to get to her current position. 

These allegations surfaced when Steve Balwin, a former California State Assembly member, made a Facebook post that accused Harris of using her romantic relationship with assembly speaker Willie Brown to secure her position as the district attorney of California. 

"Willie launched her career because she was having sex with him. The idea that she is an 'independent' woman who worked her way up the political ladder because she worked hard is baloney. She slept her way into powerful jobs" wrote Baldwin. 

Although Baldwin expected this post to only reach his small group of Facebook followers, his accusation spread like wildfire and was quoted by official political blogs, podcasts and news stations, even though the accusation had no evidence to it. 

       Picture source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

This is an example of how a simple social media post can go viral in a matter of hours. 

Harris has faced sexist and inappropriate criticism due to this post. The focus has been taken off of her as a political leader and instead some media outlets have been more interested in questioning her character as a woman.

Baldwin later apologized for his post and according to The Washington Post and acknowledged the phrasing of his public post was reckless. He also stated this experience now makes him more skeptical of political posts that he sees on social media. 

While information is constantly flowing online especially when it comes to politics it has become easier to find oneself falling down a rabbit hole of misinformation. This is because the internet is a vast space that cannot be fully monitored and many argue that it shouldn't be. 

Facebook in particular is a platform that is infamous for contributing to biased political news and advertisements. 

According to an article published by Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, Facebook is a hub for false political ads and voter suppression of certain people groups. 

Although Facebook promotes itself as a virtual space where people can spread and gain knowledge fast, this article has found that is not always the case. 

In fact, Zuckerberg shares he believes people vote based on their lived experience and Facebook is a part of that experience for many. This is where the problem seems to be. 

Many people do consider their social media content to be factual and use it to help them make decisions when voting. It is a quick and accessible way to understand candidates and policies, however, Facebook and other social media platforms cannot ensure that the information that users are taking in is accurate. 

This can be damaging to the average social media user who does not think to fact check all of the news they see online. 

In an article, Bloomberg Businessweek explores how political candidates use social media strategically to impact the election in very real ways. When studying President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, the publication discovered the Trump campaign was using social media to encourage voter suppression among white liberals, young women and African Americans. 

These three groups were perceived to be, the 2016 democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton's strongest constituent groups. 

Reporting breaking news in a timely manner is an important part of journalism, but this profession ultimately revolves around truth. Journalists must remember their ethics when using social media to report.