Social media has proved to be a useful tool in multiple ways. For instance, it spreads information fast, and as long as you have access to the internet, you can easily access the information you require. Also, some of the information spread is truly important. From news of recent significant political events, social-economic trends to your friends’ whereabouts, social media is very convenient in many ways. Unfortunately, there are some significant negatives that come with social media as well. A lot of the information tends to be incomplete, useless, or in the worst case, completely false.
 
Since social media is so accessible, false information, or ‘fake news,’ has a more devastating effect than ever, especially in politics. Researchers at Oxford University stated that ‘the number of countries with political disinformation campaigns more than doubled to 70 in the last two years.’ Such disinformation manipulates supporters to conform and personally attack any opposition and resort to hatred, not logic.
 
Disinformation is spread through various formats in social media, especially through memes. Borrowing words from Albinko Hasic, while memes ‘may seem like the silly clutter of Internet culture,’ oftentimes they are used to spread political disinformation and hate in ways we may not be conscious of. Even worse, there is a more profound menace in these seemingly innocent memes: as much as anyone could easily access them, anyone could easily create them as well. It no longer requires meticulous artistic designs or speech to manipulate people, just some images and hateful text.
 
On the bright side, social media companies like Facebook and governments have made efforts to tackle disinformation; however, more action should still be taken. According to Samantha Bradshaw, a researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, a department at Oxford University, ‘Facebook has not addressed deeper structural problems that make it easy to spread false and misleading information.’ To combat such widespread disinformation, education on spotting false information is also essential, along with a general awareness of readers to research political statements on social media.
 
The ease of spreading and receiving false information has proved to be a crippling by-product of technological advancement. While it is hard to know whether this stream of lies may last long or not, the unpredictable implications it already has is dangerous enough, and it is crucial to keep in mind that anyone could be a victim of disinformation and propaganda.

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