UNITED NATIONS: Sometimes social media influencers have to be given help so they can stop and verify the information before they put it out there, this is according to UNESCO.
Table of Contents
Influencers and the Spread of Disinformation
Two researches interviewed for the UNESCO report said that about two thirds of the content creators do not verify the information they post, which leaves them and their followers open to manipulation.
The findings are timely given the emergence of social media influencers as agents of news and cultural meanings to global audiences while 62% of those polled did not use basic fact-checking practices.
FOR MORE ARTICLES: ICONSDAILY
‘Digital content creators have earned their relevant position in the information value chain disseminating cultural, social or political information to millions of individuals. But many are struggling today from disinformation and hate speech on social networks and demanding training,” said the director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Audrey Azoulay, on Wednesday.
Working with Bowling Green State University in the USA, UNESCO recently conducted a survey of 500 influencers worldwide, across 45 countries, in their Behind the Screens project, which highlighted that media literacy and content verification protocols were severely lacking.
Among the sampled influencers, the study established that 63 percent of them embarked on their oppression without strict fact-checking procedures.
The survey revealed that how creators appraise the credibility of the information such as 42% of them use the number of likes and shares on social media as the main credibility indices; 21% of the respondents propagate information based on trust in friends only who posted the information.
UNESCO’s Efforts to Combat Disinformation and Empower Digital Creators
While traditional news media sub-branches are well experienced in their field, as a source they are ranked low with only 36.9% of creators using mainstream journalism for fact-checking.
Another main challenge was the digital rights.
Around half of the creators to have been surveyed had no clue about critical legal requirements and global norms that protect their work and persons featured in the final product.
More than half of those surveyed reveal they once encountered hate speech, but only 20.4% are aware of the correct procedure to report such cases to the platforms offering the content.
With regard to these challenges, the cooperation between Unesco and the Knight Centre for Journalism in the Americas (USA) aimed to launch the first-ever global training course for digital content creators, it was noted.
The new four-week program has been launched and currently, more than 9,000 participants from 160 countries have joined it to get the training on source verification, the methodology of fact-checking, and cooperation with traditional media.
As 73 per cent of creators are interested in such training, the move is in line with Unesco’s strategic plan to counter fake news disseminated online following their 2023 Guidelines for The Governance of Digital Platforms.
Thus, UNESCO keeps the dialogue going with the course participants after they are done to equip as many people as possible with a set of skills that will help them become responsible users of social media and spread reliable information.
READ ALSO: Reham Khan’s 3 Powerful Marriage Lessons for Hania Aamir