Editorial: We all have a duty to combat misinformation

Summary

This Sydney Morning Herald editorial makes the following points:

• The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is commended for its latest initiative to combat misinformation and conspiracy theories aggressively.
• Social media companies signed up for a new code of practice in Australia in February 2021, but the voluntary code has been criticised for lacking teeth.
• When misinformation gets to an online feed, it is almost too late to stop it from spreading.
• People with lower digital literacy, numerical literacy, health literacy and cognitive skills were particularly vulnerable to false information about COVID-19.
• We can defeat misinformation with a healthy dose of scepticism and a willingness to check facts and the source of any online information.

RAAF Professional Military Education PME

References

Recent Runway Posts related to this topic:

• We need more philosophy to create cognitive herd immunity | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
• Fake news, fact-checking, and bias: How to check for facts, bias, and fake news | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)

References from the Web:

• SEP 2021 Australia calls for global action to fight online misinformation—Reuters  
• FEB 2022 ‘Defend democracy’: The race to tackle conspiracy theories ahead of federal election—SMH

Source Information:

• Article Source: Sydney Morning Herald
• Media Check: Sydney Morning Herald - Media Bias Fact Check (mediabiasfactcheck.com)
• LEARNING OUTCOMES—RUNWAY | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)