How do you counter Misinformation?
[An old thread originally posted on Twitter in January 2020. Dealing with misinformation can be difficult, but needs to be done.]
There is so much misinformation that has got normalized that it has become virtually impossible to have a conversation with anyone without losing your cool.
“CAA gives citizenship. It doesn’t take away citizenship.” is the favourite line they will parrot out if you talk about CAA/ NRC.
You can talk about cut off dates or ask why Rohingaya Muslims or Sri Lankan Tamils are excluded. You can ask why the word ‘persecuted minorities’ doesn’t figure in the list.
But no matter what you do, you cannot get people to budge. You are overreacting if you oppose CAA
The achievements of the Modi government can’t be questioned either.
India is 100% open defecation free; don’t we have an award from Gates Foundation to prove it?
Why were two Dalit children killed for defecating in the open if they had access to toilets, you could try asking. But they might well tell you that perhaps they like it!
Post one photograph from a protest on social media, and people you barely know will come and remind you about how protesters are burning buses and resorting to violence. If you try to pin them down on numbers, they look incredulously at you. They have been told protesters are violent, and they will not listen to reason.
How have people who should know better let themselves be brainwashed so completely? Why do well educated people accept things without questioning?
I’ve been silently watching this play out on WA and FB for a couple of days, and the propaganda strategy is deceptively simple.
On WhatsApp, first someone posts a sensationalized video with scrolling text that tells you what you are expected to remember. The video itself is highly edited, but it is the text that contains the interpretation that remains with the viewer.
While facts can be countered, interpretations are harder to change.
A couple of hours after the video, a long text message is posted which appears to critically examine the video, but in reality only reinforces the points that need to remain with you.
The content of the video is forgotten, only the analysis remains.
On Facebook, the strategy is slightly different. If someone questions the facts from a shared article, a different person responds with a second article. If you compare the articles, they are identical, but because they come from different sources, one legitimizes the other.
How do you counter this misinformation?
One way is to keep asking questions, and to countering with facts. This works better on WA, because when a person gets busted repeatedly for peddling fake news, they slow down or stop. That’s one less space available for propaganda.
On FB, one has to be more discrete, because you can be easily restricted from viewing future articles.
One strategy could be to tag the people who are engaging on a counter article on your own TL.
The other is to ask strategic questions, without arguing directly.
Engaging in direct conversations with people who are silent but sympathetic also works. If immediately after a problematic share, you send a counter narrative on the same medium, the person might believe you. If you are even luckier, the person may share that on the group too
But whatever strategy we adopt, it is important to reclaim those spaces we have chosen to vacate. As long as we were there, these spaces were kept slightly honest, but by withdrawing from hostile groups, we have created fertile ground for propaganda to thrive.
We cannot win over everyone, but we may be able to win over enough to tip the balance in our favour.
