Monthly Archives: January 2022

Williams is a political science major originally from Carmel Valley. Ziment is a public policy analysis major, originally from 4S Ranch. Both are students at Pomona College in Claremont.

A new conspiracy theory is gaining traction: Omicron is a variant invented by the Democrats in order to help them in the midterm elections. Pete Hegseth, a Fox News commentator, suggested that you could count on a variant about every October, every two years. Its natural to wonder who would believe ridiculous conspiracy theories like these. Maybe its not necessarily a sudden widespread belief in the accuracy of conspiracies, but rather a new digital world that is allowing them to spread and prosper.

This digital world is led by social media, which is the main perpetrator in causing an increasing support for conspiracy theories by driving inaccurate sharing and causing the processing of information to remain at the surface level.

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Many assume that political ideology drives belief in fake news and conspiracy theories, and while its true that partisanship matters, it isnt as important as many make it out to be. Its also not that people are unable to distinguish accurate news from false news. While people are more likely to believe partisan political views with which they agree, studies show that when people are asked to rate true headlines, their ratings are accurate. They may even be more able to assess the accuracy of views of those with politics similar to theirs.

So what actually drives this phenomenon?

It comes down to heuristics (mental shortcuts) and the degree of analytical thinking. The idea that like goes with like leads people to believe conspiracy theories because your brain instinctually believes that big causes must have big effects.

The illusory truth effect is another heuristic that describes how prior exposure to a fake news headline increases belief later on. The amount of time of exposure to a media can be an extremely influential factor in belief. Psychology researchers Gordon Pennycook and David G. Rand highlight that peoples likelihood to believe in fake news content decreases when they are more reflective and are able to differentiate between truth and falsities. Overconfidence obstructs reflective thinking, leading to more belief in conspiracy theories.

In the tug of war between the intuitive and the rational systems, social media aids in jump-starting processing at the intuitive level. By bypassing deeper processing, support for conspiracy theories is increasing because they are not being fully processed for their accuracy. It is not necessarily that people are not caring about ensuring the accuracy of what they are reading and sharing. Instead, social media is aiding in focusing their attention on other factors that distract from the necessary deeper processing to discern what is truth and what is not.

A recent study found that distractors on social media and their desire to attract followers are all contributing to an increased likelihood of sharing misinformation. For conspiracy theories, increased sharing of media regardless of its veracity means a more prolific message and a wider base for these false stories to grow with. And with more of a following, these stories gain validity, and the self-perpetuating cycle driven by social media feeds the fire of the spread of misinformation.

What is at the crux of this new development is the finding that the form of digital media influences how information is processed. Images or text blurbs, commonly found on platforms like Twitter, are processed quickly and automatically. Thus, the conspiracy theories being presented in this format and on these platforms are being processed more quickly in a less controlled and accuracy-based manner.

These recent findings surrounding the influence of the type of media on processing coupled with the rise to fame in concise and approachable media platforms like Twitter and TikTok are what are breeding an environment in which conspiracy theories are finding greater traction and are thriving now more than ever.

Given all of this, its no surprise that research by Xizhu Xiao at Chinas Qingdao University and Porismita Borah and Yan Su at Washington State University shows that social media news use was associated with higher conspiracy beliefs, and trust in social media news was found to be a significant moderator of the relationship between social media news use and conspiracy beliefs.

So whats the solution? Studies show that credibility indicators, which fact-check sources and present a rating, reduce false sharing. But this isnt something that everyday people have control over. What can individuals like you do to combat this effect? Research shows that being an active, thoughtful and open-minded social media user is associated with good online behavior. Before you share something, spend a few seconds simply thinking, Is this something that you think is true?

Link:

Opinion: People can spot fake news. So why do conspiracy theories thrive on social media? - The San Diego Union-Tribune

At the end of 2020, it seemed hard to imagine a worse year for misinformation on social media, given the intensity of the presidential election and the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic. But 2021 proved up to the task, starting with the Jan. 6 insurrection and continuing with copious amounts of falsehoods and distortions about COVID-19 vaccines.

To get a sense of what 2022 could hold, we asked three researchers about the evolution of misinformation on social media.

Anjana Susarla, Professor of Information Systems, Michigan State University

While misinformation has always existed in media think of the Great Moon Hoax of 1835 that claimed life was discovered on the moon the advent of social media has significantly increased the scope, spread and reach of misinformation. Social media platforms have morphed into public information utilities that control how most people view the world, which makes misinformation they facilitate a fundamental problem for society.

There are two primary challenges in addressing misinformation. The first is the dearth of regulatory mechanisms that address it. Mandating transparency and giving users greater access to and control over their data might go a long way in addressing the challenges of misinformation. But theres also a need for independent audits, including tools that assess social media algorithms. These can establish how the social media platforms choices in curating news feeds and presenting content affect how people see information.

The second challenge is that racial and gender biases in algorithms used by social media platforms exacerbate the misinformation problem. While social media companies have introduced mechanisms to highlight authoritative sources of information, solutions such as labeling posts as misinformation dont solve racial and gender biases in accessing information. Highlighting relevant sources of, for example, health information may only help users with greater health literacy and not people with low health literacy, who tend to be disproportionately minorities.

Another problem is the need to look systematically at where users are finding misinformation. TikTok, for example, has largely escaped government scrutiny. Whats more, misinformation targeting minorities, particularly Spanish-language content, may be far worse than misinformation targeting majority communities.

I believe the lack of independent audits, lack of transparency in fact checking and the racial and gender biases underlying algorithms used by social media platforms suggest that the need for regulatory action in 2022 is urgent and immediate.

Dam Hee Kim, Assistant Professor of Communication, University of Arizona

Fake news is hardly a new phenomenon, yet its costs have reached another level in recent years. Misinformation concerning COVID-19 has cost countless lives all over the world. False and misleading information about elections can shake the foundation of democracy, for instance, by making citizens lose confidence in the political system. Research I conducted with S Mo Jones-Jang and Kate Kenski on misinformation during elections, some published and some in progress, has turned up three key findings.

The first is that the use of social media, originally designed to connect people, can facilitate social disconnection. Social media has become rife with misinformation. This leads citizens who consume news on social media to become cynical not only toward established institutions such as politicians and the media, but also toward fellow voters.

Second, politicians, the media and voters have become scapegoats for the harms of fake news. Few of them actually produce misinformation. Most misinformation is produced by foreign entities and political fringe groups who create fake news for financial or ideological purposes. Yet citizens who consume misinformation on social media tend to blame politicians, the media and other voters.

The third finding is that people who care about being properly informed are not immune to misinformation. People who prefer to process, structure and understand information in a coherent and meaningful way become more politically cynical after being exposed to perceived fake news than people who are less politically sophisticated. These critical thinkers become frustrated by having to process so much false and misleading information. This is troubling because democracy depends on the participation of engaged and thoughtful citizens.

Looking ahead to 2022, its important to address this cynicism. There has been much talk about media literacy interventions, primarily to help the less politically sophisticated. In addition, its important to find ways to explain the status of fake news on social media, specifically who produces fake news, why some entities and groups produce it, and which Americans fall for it. This could help keep people from growing more politically cynical.

Rather than blaming each other for the harms of fake news produced by foreign entities and fringe groups, people need to find a way to restore confidence in each other. Blunting the effects of misinformation will help with the larger goal of overcoming societal divisions.

Ethan Zuckerman, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Communication, and Information, UMass Amherst

I expect the idea of misinformation will shift into an idea of propaganda in 2022, as suggested by sociologist and media scholar Francesca Tripodi in her forthcoming book, The Propagandists Playbook. Most misinformation is not the result of innocent misunderstanding. Its the product of specific campaigns to advance a political or ideological agenda.

Once you understand that Facebook and other platforms are the battlegrounds on which contemporary political campaigns are fought, you can let go of the idea that all you need are facts to correct peoples misapprehensions. Whats going on is a more complex mix of persuasion, tribal affiliation and signaling, which plays out in venues from social media to search results.

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As the 2022 elections heat up, I expect platforms like Facebook will reach a breaking point on misinformation because certain lies have become political speech central to party affiliation. How do social media platforms manage when false speech is also political speech?

Anjana Susarla, Professor of Information Systems, Michigan State University; Dam Hee Kim, Assistant Professor of Communication, University of Arizona, and Ethan Zuckerman, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Communication, and Information, UMass Amherst

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Also read: Gurugram woman, who filed 7 rape cases against 7 men, now held for extortion

Excerpt from:

2021 was the year of fake news and misinformation on social media. Its going to get worse - ThePrint

Woke, sharp and alert on the eve of 2022? Well, think again; look behind the landmines of misinformation that you tip-toed over in the year gone by.

It's quite likely that in 2021, you too might have tripped over a fake, at least once, even if inadvertently.

Did you hear about a bride paragliding into the wrong wedding venue who ended up marrying a different person? Or a beau gifting his lover a piece of jewellery made from his own teeth?

From a creepy creature landing at Bihar's Darbhanga to spotting a wailing mermaid at the Mangalore beach, 2021 has had its share of strange and bizarre misinformation that managed to bluff people.

ALSO READ | Dial M for Muslim, Jamtara boys and other hot trends in fact checking during 2021

Like the many variants of Covid-19, misinformation also came in different shapes and colours.

Here are some Alpha, Delta and Omicrons of fake news we came face to face in 2021. Equally contagious. While some left you amused or perplexed, others were downright disgusting.

Who were the most fact-checked personalities of 2021 in India?

We tried to find the answer by using "Google Fact Check explorer" -- a repository of fact check articles by various fact-checking organisations, a kind of ready reckoner.

This helped us identify the top five personalities whose posts triggered the maximum number of fac?t check articles. These were the people who came under the scanners of fact-checkers multiple times.

BJP leaders Sambit Patra, Amit Malviya and Priti Gandhi, Pakistan-born Canadian columnist Tarek Fatah, and editor-in-chief of Sudarshan News, Suresh Chavhanke topped the list.

Netizens almost believed a weird story on social media about a "creepy creature" falling from the sky in Bihar's Darbhanga during cyclone Yaas. The story got thousands of shares before it was debunked. Huh, it turned out to be a silicon toy created by an Italian artist.

On a wing and a prayer, literally? This video of a man lying on the turbine engine of an aircraft made people skip a heartbeat. More so, because this came at a time when visuals of people desperately trying to flee Afghanistan were all over the internet.

It was an amazing digital creation by a Vietnamese graphic designer.

The wailing Mermaid on the seashore of Mangalore was in fact an awareness video on sea conservation, shot in Sri Lanka.

Marriages are made in heaven. But a paragliding trip for a destination wedding could land a bride with the wrong husband ?

Sounds funny. But several mainstream media outlets tripped over this bizarre story of a bride in Gwalior paragliding into a wrong wedding venue and marrying a different person. This was a fictitious story published on a satire website.

Did Covid concerns force Olympic organisers to make "anti-sex beds" for athletes?

No, these beds were designed before the pandemic and could bear more than 400 pounds weight -- enough for most, if not, couples. Even if the news is fake, nothing sells like sex. So, many chose to jump over to this ludicrous bed.

A Muslim BTS fan accidentally plays the song "Dynamite" instead of the azaan on loudspeakers at 4 am and gets arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur. While this could make for a crazy fan story, this too was fictitious.

We take great pride in the fact that Sanskrit is a scientific and mathematically compatible language.

But someone decided to take us for a ride in a satire piece claiming that an IIT gold medallist has created an Indian messaging app using Sanskrit coding.

Stoking our fear for the deadly virus, a satire article claimed that CNN has praised Taliban fighters for using masks.

Another said the US is detaining non-vaccinated people in camps.

Many gulped them all, with our eyes wide shut.

Stories that were so disgusting that you felt like puking.

The story of a street food vendor in Guwahati who mixed urine in food was already unpalatable. A further twist to give it a communal spin made it even more sickening.

If you've read the famous story "The gift of the Magi", you know that true love knows no boundaries. But which girl in the world would want jewellery made out of her lover's teeth as a gift?

Convincing anti-vaxxers to get a shot in the arm is challenging enough. But these guys floated the idea of Covid vaccine shots in the penis and still found some takers.

If you've any doubt that the infodemic of misinformation could be as contagious as the Covid-19, just look at the rubbish some people choose to believe.

The video of Covid vaccines turning people into magnets might have started as a prank. But soon it was spreading all over the internet and in the WhatsApp groups.

The story of vaccines turning people into zombies and cannibals looks like a shot straight out of a zombie film. But the fact-checkers discovered to their horror that there is no dearth of conspiracy theories and zombie fans.

We don't mind when onions make us teary eyed. But won't you panic if someone tells you that that dreaded black fungus, mucormycosis, is sitting right under the onion peels?

By now, you already know that there were no creeps falling from the sky in Darbhanga, that you've not turned into a magnet after taking the shot of vaccine and that the black fungus in the onions are rather harmless.

But the zombies of misinformation are unlikely to go away. Like the Omicron variant, they might just change their tentacles in the new year.

Read more:

From wailing mermaids to vaccinated zombies: Fake news that tickled your fancy in 2021 - India Today

The worlds eternal golden girl Betty White passed away in Los Angeles on Friday, just 18 days shy of her 100th birthday.

But fans of the beloved comic actress initially believed the news was a sinister hoax pulled by pranksters on the last day of 2021.

White had been subject to multiple death hoaxes over the years most memorably in 2014, when a satirical headline about her hair, titled Betty White Dyes Peacefully in her Los Angeles Home, was widely misinterpreted.

On Friday, fans were hoping news of the Hollywood icons death was yet more fake news and took to Twitter to share their wishful thinking.

Not believing Betty White has died until her official social medias say something, one skeptic posted. I scream hoax cause its close to her birthday. Sorry 2021, YOU DONT GET TO HAVE HER.

Some claimed that it was too coincidental that White has died on the final day of a horror year, which was wrought by the ongoing pandemic, political division and a series of natural disasters.

Theres no fing way 2021 took away Betty White at the last second. Please let this be a hoax, a devastated fan wrote.

I thought it was another hoax, just when we thought we could escape the wrath of 2021 we done lost Betty white at the last damn minute, another chimed in. This is unreal.

After the 2014 Empire News article sparked death rumors, her rep was forced to come out and state that the actress was alive and well.

However, numerous outlets continued to run with rumors that she had passed away.

The article continued to circulate on the internet, and was picked up again in November 2019, resulting in a second wave of fear that White had died.

Despite wishful thinking from fans, Whites passing on Friday was confirmed by her agent and close friend Jeff Witjas in a statement shared with People magazine.

Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever, Witjas said.

I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I dont think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband, Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.

Meanwhile, a legion of famous friends flocked to social media to pay tribute to White in the wake of her death.

Valerie Bertinelli, Seth Meyers, Debra Messing, Andy Cohen, Ellen DeGeneres and Mario Lopez were among the big names to tweet tributes just minutes after the news was revealed.

Read more here:

Fans convinced Betty White's death is a hoax after her passing is announced - New York Post

Pawe Supernak/PAP

The Polish prime minister has said media reports of opposition figures being spied on with Israeli-made software must be verified against fake news.

Mateusz Morawiecki was commenting on media reports that mobile phones of some members of Poland's opposition had been infected with the Pegasus spyware made by Israel's NSO Group.

Pegasus is spyware enabling access to mobile devices and allowing the extraction of passwords, files, photos, browsing history, contacts and identity data.

The known victims include Roman Giertych, a former education minister who has also represented Donald Tusk, the opposition leader, in his professional capacity as a lawyer, Maria Wrzosek, an independent prosecutor, who has voiced opposition to the Polish government's reforms of the judicial system and Krzysztof Brejza, the main opposition Civic Coalition's chief of staff.

Morawiecki told a Tuesday press conference that media reports regarding the use of Pegasus should be "corrected" as "we must not allow ourselves to be imposed upon by fake news."

He reiterated that "there is no evidence that such wiretapping took place."

In a statement to PAP last week, Stanislaw Zaryn, the director of the National Security Department, called the Associated Press and subsequent Polish media reports unfounded, and said that all surveillance operations in Poland were carried out in keeping with binding laws and regulations.

Tusk said at a press conference on Tuesday that the Civic Coalition would file a motion to set up a parliamentary investigative commission to probe the use of Pegasus against the opposition.

"This is the deepest democratic crisis since 1989," Tusk added.

Excerpt from:

PM says reports of spying on opposition are fake news - The First News

This Christmas marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the first Harry Potterfilm, and on January 1, HBO Max will release a special,Return to Hogwarts, featuring interviews with the original cast. Noticeably absent from the reunion isHarry Potterauthor J.K. Rowling, who has become outspoken on gender issues and regularly expresses concern that the transgender activist movement is erasing the concept of womanhood. She is increasingly assailed by progressives, and thus it's possible that the controversy is the reason she's being left out. (Neither Rowling nor Warner Bros. have commented on the author's omission from the special.)

Rowling is not exactly a conservative: She has described her politics as center-left, and has supported both the Labour Party and the U.K. remaining part of the European Union. She is at the very least politically open-minded, however her books frequently toy with libertarian ideasmost notably in the later entries, when the incompetence, corruption, and eventual outright authoritarianism of the Ministry of Magic (the wizarding world's government bureaucracy) is on full display.

As a fan of the books and films who had not revisited them in quite some time, I had always remembered how unflatteringly Rowling portrayed the government of her fictional world. But I was surprised to rediscover another entity that is absolutely savaged in the Harry Potteruniverse: the mainstream media. Rewatching the films this month for the first time in years, I was particularly struck by how much fake news was printed in the pages ofThe Daily Prophet.

TheProphetis the main source of news for wizards and witches living in England. Owls deliver it daily to virtually all magical folk, including teenagers: Harry and his classmates receive the paper while they eat breakfast at Hogwarts. It is the wizarding world's version of the mainstream media; it is also an ever-evolving source of lies and propaganda.

In the fourth book and film,Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the newspaper takes on a tabloid role. When Rita Skeeter, a star reporter for the Prophet, interviews Harry about his participation in a magical tournament, she misquotes him deliberately and sensationalizes his life and habits. She also writes articles falsely claiming that Harry and his best friend, Hermione, are in a romantic relationship.

But this is the least of The Daily Prophet's appalling failures. In the fifth book and film,Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the newspaper sides with the government, openly aiding the Ministry of Magic's efforts to paint Harry and his mentor, Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, as lunatics and conspiracy theorists. Harry and his friends know that the dangerous dark wizard Voldemort has returned, but the truth is inconvenient for the Ministry, and thus the media does everything it can to paint Harry as deranged. Sample headlines include, "Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lied?" and "Dumbledore: Is He Daft or Is He Dangerous?"

In the final novel, after the villain Voldemort has taken over the government and installed a puppet minister, The Daily Prophetbecomes an outright fascist publication, in full support of Voldemort's tyrannical and genocidal agenda. Meanwhile, alternative media sources take up the cause of reporting actual news about Voldemort's sinister agenda and Harry's resistance to it.The Quibbler, a newspaper edited by Xenophilius Lovegood, father to Harry's friend Luna, starts out the series with a low reputation on account of some poorly sourced articles; toward the end, it's the only newspaper printing the truth about Voldemort. Indeed, in order for Harry to provide his eyewitness account of Voldemort's rise, he relies on The Quibbler to publish "Harry Potter Speaks Out At Last: The Truth About He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the Night I Saw Him Return."

Some of Harry's supporters also launch a pirate radio program, Potterwatch, which provides information about Voldemort's attacks on non-magical folk. Podcasts and contrarian papers are the journalistic heroes of the wizarding world; the mainstream media is, to quote one notable real-world muggle, "the enemy of the people."

Many of the stars of the Harry Potterfilms seem eager to reprise their roles in a potential sequel series or reboot: Here's hoping that any futurePotterproject both 1) involves Rowling, and 2) reflects the source material's independent outlook toward the news.

See more here:

Harry Potter Knew the Fake News Media Is the Enemy of the People - Reason

The ruling New Democracy accused the opposition party SYRIZA of a miserable mud war against the prime ministerfollowing social media leaks concerning the illness of Konstantinos Mitsotakis, the son of the prime minister, with COVID-19.

In a statement, the ruling party noted that all this, the accusations against Mitsotakis, is done with the blessings of Mr. Tsipras.

The prime ministers son had contracted COVID-19 before Christmas and was quarantined for as many days as he needed.

SYRIZA continues, either openly or underground, using internet trolls and its friendly media and websites, the miserable mud war personally against the prime minister, New Democracy said in a statement.

In the beginning, he was the only target. Then his wife was added. Then came the turn of his children, the statement said.

This time the lies concern his son Konstantinos [Mitsotakis], who had tested positive for the coronavirus and allegedly went on an excursion, violating protocols.

From the first moment of the positive diagnosis, he was quarantined and stayed in his room, observing all the prescribed health rules, and of course he did not go on any trip.

Along with the euphemism in the official announcements of SYRIZA, the basements of Koumoundourou are working overtime in the production of mud and fake news and all this with the blessings of Mr. Tsipras, of course.

READ MORE: SYRIZA MP Chousein Zeimpek: Turkey is a secular state unlike Greece.

View post:

Konstantinos Mitsotakis Fell Ill With Coronavirus - Fake News Of SYRIZA That He Went On An Excursion, Says - GreekCityTimes.com

Are you sure that the quote your just read which was claimed that it was said by Ratan N. Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons and Chairman of Tata Trusts, actually came from him only?

You know what, many quotes which are doing the rounds on internet in the name of Ratan Tata are not actually said by him. And, Ratan Tata is one such person who never hesitates to call spade a spade.

In one such instance, calling out the fake news, Ratan Tata on Apr 11, 2020, tweeted, "This post has neither been said, nor written by me. I urge you to verify media circulated on WhatsApp and social platforms. If I have something to say, I will say it on my official channels. Hope you are safe and do take care."

TWEET

This post has neither been said, nor written by me. I urge you to verify media circulated on WhatsApp and social platforms. If I have something to say, I will say it on my official channels. Hope you are safe and do take care. pic.twitter.com/RNVL40aRTB Ratan N. Tata (@RNTata2000) April 11, 2020

Countering another one, Ratan Tata on May 3, 2020, tweeted, "Im afraid this too, has not been said by me. I will endeavour to call out fake news whenever I can, but would encourage you to always verify news sources. My picture alongside a quote does not guarantee me having said it, a problem that many people face."

TWEET

Im afraid this too, has not been said by me. I will endeavour to call out fake news whenever I can, but would encourage you to always verify news sources. My picture alongside a quote does not guarantee me having said it, a problem that many people face. pic.twitter.com/pk0S75FxPA Ratan N. Tata (@RNTata2000) May 3, 2020

Earlier, Infosys co-founder, Narayana Murthy had sought blessings from TATA sons, Chairman Emeritus, at TiE con Mumbai. And, the pictures had become the talking point on the internet.

Infosys co-founder, Narayana Murthy seeks blessings from TATA sons, Chairman Emeritus, @RNTata2000 at #TiEconMumbai.A touching gesture of humility & a historic moment indeed. #WednesdayWisdom #narayanamurthy #ratantata pic.twitter.com/MmwNPm4SY4

TiE Mumbai (@TiEMumbai) January 29, 2020

Today, Ratan Tata turned 84, and we wish him a very happy birthday. And, a great and healthy year ahead.

Originally posted here:

Throwback: When Ratan Tata called out fake news! This post has neither been said, nor written by me - Zee Business

Its not easy to make New Years resolutions at a time when the future seems less predictable than ever. But here are a few ways in which you cant go wrong, even if your resolutions are a few days late.

* Take a pledge of civility and charity toward political opponents. The big story of the 2021 Christmas season was an Oregon man being patched through to President Joe Biden for a livestreamed Christmas call and using the occasion to taunt him with "Lets go Brandon," a widely known euphemism for a profanity toward Biden. The man also posted a video recording of the call to YouTube.

Most conservatives thought it was "hilarious," and/or changed the subject to claim that the culprit was about to be hounded out of a job and otherwise ruined. (In fact, while the man did unfortunately get some threats, most of the blowback consisted of him being rightly called a jerk.) Many pointed out that "the left" was profanely rude about Trump for four years. Thats classic "whatabouting" and if you want to play that game, Trumps entire public persona is about insulting people.

"They started it!" is a prescription for a race to the bottom. We might start finding our way back when people demand civility and charity toward "the other side" from their own.

* Avoid spreading "fake news." Even people who dont circulate fringe nonsense e.g., that COVID-19 vaccines are meant to inject us with mind-control microchips can easily fall for stories that confirm their assumptions. (Yes, I've also been guilty on Twitter.)

Plenty on the left, including members of Congress, repeated claims that Kyle Rittenhouse, the teen who shot three people during civil unrest related to racial justice protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, drove to Kenosha from Illinois armed with an automatic rifle to hunt protesters. In fact, he worked in Kenosha, where a friend kept his rifle, and while his armed patrolling was arguably reckless, he did not shoot until attacked.

Plenty on the right repeated claims that a Virginia school refused to investigate a sexual assault by a male teen who got into the girls bathroom by claiming to be transgender. In fact, the assault was investigated, and the boy was in the girls bathroom because he and the victim had agreed to meet there not because of transgender policies.

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"Check before you pass it on" is always a good principle.

* Dont make everything about politics. Sports. Entertainment. Books. Friendships and family. We can blame social media for exposing us to each others politics more than ever before; but social media is only what we make of it. One of the worst ideas out there is that our problems are so dire, we cant afford to be nonpolitical about anything. That approach itself can become a dire problem.

In 2022, take a break from politics. That can also help with the fake news and the incivility.

Opinions expressed by Cathy Young, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, are her own.

Cathy Young is a contributing editor at Reason magazine.

Go here to see the original:

Young: Resolve to make 2022 a better year - Newsday