This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 22, 2024 - July 28, 2024

Truth can be elusive, but misinformation is a master of disguise. Often masquerading as partial truths or exploiting emotional triggers, misinformation can work its way into our feeds, manipulating clicks and potentially shaping reality in dangerous ways.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024, misinformation and disinformation have emerged as the top risk over the next two years. The diverse mediums of digital communication create a concern. With information existing in so many languages and nuances, it is difficult to identify and flag misinformation across all of them.

“The problem here is the mistrust that it generates and mistrust is not just a person. It could be mistrust on election results; it could be something as basic as public health. There are conversations revolving around vaccines that are still circling around [on the internet due to misinformation],” says Anuar Fariz Fadzil, head of public policy at TikTok Malaysia. He was speaking at the panel session of the “Surf’s Up: Deputies of Digital Literacy” programme in collaboration with TikTok Malaysia and the University of Nottingham Malaysia on July 11.

Focusing solely on misinformation might be too simplistic as there is a spectrum of information quality, from outright lies to debatable claims. The interpretation of information is fluid and the same fact can elicit different understandings depending on the audience, as people engage with information based on their existing beliefs and biases.

“I’m learning now that the best way to get engagement on social media is to in fact put context-less information and images as that is the way to drive engagement. If that is the logic of the algorithm and the way people consume content, then what are we up against?” says Sharaad Kuttan, anchor at BFM89.9, a business news and current affairs radio station.

Given that the reward structure on social media platforms relies on engagement popularity, it is not surprising that misinformation spreads like wildfire if it garners enough attention.

Social media creates a democratic space where all information, true or false, personal opinion or established fact, is readily available. It proposes a limited role for control or censorship, reserving it only for content that demonstrably causes harm or violates existing laws.

“One of the questions being asked is, how much is the narrative on social media controlled by governments when they put out instructions on what can and cannot be out there,” says Mediha Mahmood, CEO of Content Forum Malaysia. She added that, “As long as the content is not a breach of the law and is not harmful to anyone, it should be alright.”

With information moving at the speed of light, governments need to adapt quickly to the way people use social media. Community guidelines on social media platforms do help regulate content online; however, Anuar believes that open and honest discussions are crucial, even when questioning authority or criticising decisions. “But there needs to be maturity from society and governments [when navigating such discussions].”

“Because the idea is not for everybody to think exactly alike. The idea is for you to have an open conversation so that you can make the best decision in situations,” says Reina Lum, a TikTok creator who is also a former lawyer.

Content moderation and guidelines help, but fighting misinformation requires digital literacy from social media users and government bodies. Especially as information is now disseminated as entertainment on social media platforms, it can be even harder to spot the fake from the truth.

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