How do we, as busy internet users, safeguard ourselves from the deluge of misleading, manipulative and just plain wrong information online? Especially now, with more and more Australians getting their news and information from social media, and in the wake of Meta, announcing it will no longer support third-party independent fact-checkers across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
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00:00The spread of misinformation is the biggest risk to humanity over the next two years, according to the World Economic Forum.
00:07So, what does this mean? And how do we, as busy internet users, safeguard ourselves from the deluge of misleading, manipulative and just plain wrong information online?
00:19Most of the information out there, especially on social media, hasn't been reviewed or held to editorial standards before it's published.
00:27Social media networks and search engines, they weren't created for accuracy or to help civil society.
00:33They are big global businesses set up to make as much money as possible.
00:38And they do this by showing users lots and lots of ads that are paid for.
00:43So, to them, it doesn't matter if the information is factually correct or balanced or ethical.
00:49It just has to engage you so you keep coming back and see more ads.
00:54The first step to fact checking on the go is to check the source of the information.
00:59When something piques your interest on your feed, check who's sharing it and where the post or link originated.
01:05Is the creator identified, reliable and trustworthy?
01:09Are they pushing an agenda or trying to scam you?
01:12Is it attached to a reputable website?
01:15Misinformation thrives on emotion, especially negative emotions like fear and anger.
01:22So, try to step back from that and view any information or media you come across critically.
01:28Check website addresses too and check the About and Contact and Privacy sections to see who's behind the information.
01:36On social media, avoid sharing or reacting to posts from anonymous accounts where you don't know their background
01:43and so you can't make a judgment about what they're saying.
01:46Click on account bios to check.
01:49Google them if you're not sure.
01:51When you're trying to check whether something is true, look for subject matter experts.
01:55It's no use getting advice from a physicist, say, about celiac disease or asking a social scientist about the changing climate.
02:04Finally, look for the consensus of evidence.
02:07So, a lone voice claiming something when 97% of other people in the field disagree may not be reliable.
02:15Find sources you can trust, like government agencies, not necessarily politicians with a political agenda,
02:21but departments and that kind of thing, reputable news outlets, subject matter experts at universities.
02:28All these sources review information before it's published and they hold it to standards of accuracy and balance and ethics.
02:36Once you've identified the source of the information and determined that it does come from a legitimate group or person,
02:42it can help to then do some lateral reading.
02:46Check other expert sources before you respond and make sure you're getting all the facts before you make a decision on the information you're looking at.
02:54For example, do you remember seeing this image during the catastrophic fires in California?
03:00It was shared by several Hollywood A-listers, including, reportedly, Isabella Rossellini and Robert Redford,
03:06and it seemed to convey perfectly the horror of the fires that had devastated the Hollywood Hills just days after the 2025 Golden Globes on January 5.
03:16But the image was a fake.
03:19Using reverse image search tools, including TinEye, RevEye, and Google's search by image function,
03:25users can quickly see that this image is most likely made using artificial intelligence, and it just wasn't a real photo.
03:34Artificial intelligence poses a new era of concern.
03:39Deepfake videos have been around for years, but with AI it's become much easier to make these sophisticated fake videos.
03:47These kinds of videos could undermine democracy and sway elections by convincing voters that candidates have done or said something that never really happened.
03:57This is going so well.
04:00It's going exactly how I'd always dreamed.
04:03It's pretty simple. Misinformation can actually be incredibly dangerous.
04:08We know that it can affect public health.
04:11It can affect responses to disasters like bushfires and floods.
04:17It can affect elections and civic engagement.
04:20Crust in institutions as well.
04:23Democracy as a whole and public policy.
04:26And, of course, it can affect individuals in a really big way.
04:30What it comes down to is we need facts and reliable information to function properly as a society.
04:37All throughout this video, we've been speaking to media literacy legend Saffron Howden.
04:42You've heard the way she speaks, and you've seen some of her mannerisms and the way that she speaks.
04:47It may not surprise you to know, however, that Saffron is not actually fluent in every world language.
05:01No, we use freely available AI technology to make this video.
05:08Pay attention to the eyes in the AI generated video and the voice.
05:13In both cases, there's something slightly unnatural about it.
05:18Now I can give it any script I want, and my clone will say what I want it to say.
05:24If you can, reduce the speed of the suspected deepfake.
05:28That way it's easier to see any abnormalities popping up in the frames.
05:32If the video depicts a celebrity or politician, you can do a little bit of research to see whether that video and what's being said in it has been reported widely by news organizations.
05:42But in most cases, it pays to just take a minute to examine what you're looking at before you respond to it.
05:48Remember, anyone with a digital device and an internet connection can now publish information.
05:56So we need to be really careful with what we're taking as fact or true.