{"id":62806,"date":"2018-10-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foxtail\/2018\/10\/04\/5-things-you-can-do-to-counter-misinformation\/"},"modified":"2021-02-02T23:08:43","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T23:08:43","slug":"5-things-you-can-do-to-counter-misinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/deep-dives\/5-things-you-can-do-to-counter-misinformation\/","title":{"rendered":"5 things you can do to counter misinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A decade ago, we elected our first \u201csocial media politicians,\u201d and we had hope that the internet would enable more accountability, openness, and trust in government. What many did not expect was the amount of misinformation that would spread as the internet democratized information and knowledge. Here are five things you can do to fight misinformation and counter its influence.<\/p>\n<h2>1. Spot misinformation and the motives behind it.<\/h2>\n<p>In today\u2019s media climate, it\u2019s becoming harder and harder to tell what\u2019s real and what isn\u2019t. We\u2019re bombarded daily with (mis)information that\u2019s trying to change the way we think about our government, our leaders, and even each other. We invite you to watch Mozilla&#8217;s original documentary short, <strong>Misinfo Nation: Misinformation, Democracy, and the Internet<\/strong>. Find out how to spot misinformation and seek out the truth.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/qldxyjEjjBQ?rel=0\" width=\"820\" height=\"462\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>2. Get educated on election meddling.<\/h2>\n<p>Election interference has been happening for centuries, but the misinformation spread online adds a new level of meddling opportunity. In the Season 3 finale of the <a href=\"http:\/\/smarturl.it\/irl_s03e07?IQid=IC\">IRL podcast<\/a>, Veronica Belmont explores how social media campaigns, online propaganda, and data mining are all racing to impact the way we vote. Have a listen:<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.simplecast.com\/97e209a6?color=f5f5f5\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>3. Keep Facebook off your trail.<\/h2>\n<p>Facebook lets political advertisers target you with content \u2014 information and misinformation \u2014 by tracking your activity on <i>and off <\/i>their platform.<\/p>\n<p>Firefox&#8217;s new U.S. Election bundle makes it easier to explore the Web without Facebook watching, and also enables you to participate in ProPublica&#8217;s effort to flag misinformation. It&#8217;s a win-win for you and the Web.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"button\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mozilla.org\/vote\">Download the Firefox Election Bundle<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>4. Learn why we&#8217;re all susceptible.<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"st\">Writer and cultural critic <\/span>Baratunde Thurton argues that because credible publications are given the same weight as non-credible publications online, we need to be more diligent to identify what is true.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3FIVXBawyQw\" width=\"820\" height=\"462\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>5. Vote.<\/h2>\n<p>While it may seem like we\u2019re living in a world divided, the truth is out there. And we all have the ability to vote, based upon it.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/internetcitizen\/2018\/09\/20\/be-a-voter-save-the-web\/\">Make sure you&#8217;re registered<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Mozilla brings you this content as a not-for-profit working to make the Web more, open, accessible, and free. It shouldn&#8217;t be hard to participate in politics \u2014 no matter your views \u2014 and Mozilla is out to make it a little easier.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A decade ago, we elected our first \u201csocial media politicians,\u201d and we had hope that the internet would enable more accountability, openness, and trust in government. What many did not expect was the amount of misinformation that would spread as the internet democratized information and knowledge. Here are five things you can do to fight [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1198,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[464058],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 things you can do to counter misinformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"5 things you can do to fight misinformation and counter its influence.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/deep-dives\/5-things-you-can-do-to-counter-misinformation\/\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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