Internet misinformation
The topic of internet misinformation offers rich opportunities for student discussion, particularly around key concepts and research methods. Evaluating the validity and reliability of sources is an important skill. Gathering news articles can serve as valuable provocations, prompting conversations about bias, measurement, perspective, and responsibility. While artificial intelligence tools can quickly summarise news reports, an important question remains: how reliable are these summaries?
Why the issue of misinformation is important
The spread of misinformation has become so widespread that the American Psychological Association (APA) recently released a consensus report on how to avoid believing everything you see on the internet, especially on critical topics such as health and climate change. In psychology, evaluating research reports, assessing the validity of data, and determining the reliability of sources are essential skills. Critically analysing news articles can help students strengthen these abilities.
Introducing the topic
Searching for suitable materials can be time-consuming, so a colleague recommended using iask.ca. This site recently summarised and published an article from the Guardian newspaper that asked if “online toxicity and misinformation” by a few hyperactive users was ruining the internet experience for the rest of us.
I suggest following the two hyperlinks first yourself before introducing the material to students. This will help you prepare to guide a discussion on the validity of the article’s argument. Ask them to summarise the Guardian article, identifying its main argument, at least two pieces of supporting evidence, and three examples of the consequences of misinformation.. They could then discuss the following:
- Which piece of data seems most supportive of the writer’s argument, and why?
Answers may vary. The reasoning is more important than the specific choice. Many students might identify the researchers’ study itself, which, at the time of writing, is only available as a preprint. This could lead to a discussion about the validity of research articles that have not yet undergone peer review. - How accurate is the AI summary of the article? (From the iask.ca link)
Most students may find it largely accurate, although some might notice the irony of an AI-powered site deciding what was “most noteworthy” in an article that critiques how algorithms skew our perception of what is important. - What evidence—either anecdotal or research-based—could counter the argument?
There are many online support communities for people with various needs. For every site that seems toxic, there is often another providing positive help. Additionally, some data in the article lacks cited sources, so it cannot be verified. - How are the concepts of bias, perspective, and responsibility relevant to this issue?
- Bias: Misinformation often reflects the bias of the source producing it. Many social media users repost articles with exaggerated or misleading comments that misrepresent the original content.
- Perspective: Misinformation usually offers only one viewpoint on complex issues, such as climate change, immigration, or gender identity, lacking nuance and complexity.
- Responsibility: Many articles and posts show a lack of responsibility, for example, by discouraging necessary medical treatment, promoting mistrust in expert opinions, or replacing credible sources with uncited internet claims.
Student responsibility
Once you have modelled this, students could take responsibility for bringing in material to critique. This could be condensed into a short activity, and you could ask for news articles relevant to a certain context or particular HL extension. This makes psychology relevant to their lives. Places to go for research can be their own social media sites, which will often give links to relevant articles, and also: BBC, Reuters, Mashable
This recent article about the role of TikTok in spreading health misinformation could be used as a discussion starter for exploring the responsibility that social media companies have towards their consumers.
Upcoming post: Your FAQs
The questions are still coming in, and mainly about course organization, which is not surprising at this time of year. These and other questions will be answered in the next blog!