In all times of great collective excitement, unfounded rumors obtain wide traction. While the conventional battle is raging in Gaza and Israel, a separate unconventional battle is also raging to control the narrative that is being presented to the world. Each side desperately wants the world to believe its point of view. They are even spreading disinformation to manipulate public opinion. A fabricated video, purported to show a BBC report that weapons provided by NATO to Ukraine have been sold to Hamas, was posted on X (Twitter). Moreover, a video game clip and old imagery from the Syrian civil war were portrayed as if they originated from the recent Israel-Hamas conflict. Artificial intelligence(AI) bots are also being used to amplify articles that promote one’s narrative. Fake images show soccer stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo holding the Palestinian flag. Disinformation campaigns that are currently underway will inflame the conflict further.
Human actions have purposes. Individuals spread disinformation when it flatters their self-esteem or when there are economic incentives for spreading false information. Humans usually give too much importance to their selves and believe those stories that show that their nationality, race, sex, class, and creed are superior to others. In addition, some people want to be admired and mentioned constantly in the press so they share false opinions if they generate more clicks.
Humans usually give too much importance to their selves and believe those stories that show that their nationality, race, sex, class, and creed are superior to others
Governments all over the world are also disseminating disinformation to legitimize themselves. Governing elites try to convince the masses that they are the most suitable governors and they are not motivated by self-interest. One of the main causes of human misfortune is that it is discovered that humans can be scientifically manipulated. Bertrand Russel, a British philosopher, once said that there is no nonsense so arrant or complete that it cannot be made creed of the vast majority by adequate government action. The power of government to shape men’s opinions is very great. Governments are deploying various tools to influence the masses. One such tool is education. The purpose of education is to produce informed and knowledgeable citizens but some governments use it to propagate their private interests at the expense of the public. Teachers lend themselves to dishonest propaganda. Governments justify this policy by saying that nations become strong if all of its inhabitants have similar opinions and by suppression of liberty though this proved to be wrong in Pakistan’s case. Besides this, governments are also using cyber troops to conduct disinformation campaigns and for the amplification of favored narratives. Cyber troops are government actors tasked with the manipulation of public opinions online. Various political parties in Pakistan are using them to increase their supporters.
In the global arena, states want to increase and consolidate their power too. They have harnessed generative AI tools to serve their interests. Russia and China have exploited distrust of the US by characterizing the latter as intent on resource extraction and endorsing economic policies in other countries that protect its economic hegemony. They are offering themselves as alternatives who don’t have imperialist ambitions and who are less intrusive. Though the overwhelming evidence says otherwise. More and more poor countries are finding themselves entrapped in the Chinese debt trap.
Generative AI tools have made the production of fake news cheap. The deluge of disinformation is high since the public gained access to Large Language Models(LLMs) and chatbots. The content generated by these is persuasive and usually doesn’t contain human errors like poor syntax and mistranslation. These tools have lowered the cost of disinformation campaigns.
It is hard to believe the news provided by traditional media outlets too. Their reporting may not be unbiased. After the Al-Ahli Arab hospital blast, various Western media outlets supported the Israeli account though they found nothing that substantiated their allegation. US news network MSNBC suspended Muslim anchors after Hamas launched an offensive against Israel because their views may differ from those that the bosses endorse.
The deluge of disinformation is high since the public gained access to Large Language Models(LLMs) and chatbots
The offline consequences of pervasive disinformation are harmful. Propaganda and disinformation have produced a polarised and ill-informed society. Governments have succeeded in producing fanatical nationalists who think that the interest of their nation is necessarily opposed to that of another. The hate against other nations and religions has increased. A six-year-old Palestinian-American child was killed by his landlord while anti-semitic incidents are also rising. Men have become men’s worst enemy. The present state of the world shows that scientific progress without corresponding moral and political progress has only increased human suffering.
Individuals, governments, and social media companies can do many things to curb disinformation. Governments easily produced a population of fanatical lunatics. They can easily produce reasonable citizens too by giving freedom to teachers and urging them to teach the truth and instil into students the habits of impartial inquiry. It will be hard to manipulate people who have critical thinking skills. European Union promulgated the Digital Service Act(DSA) to penalize those social media platforms that expose users to harmful and false content. Twitter, Facebook, and others can reduce fake news by being transparent. They should disclose details of political advertising and the use of bots on their platforms. Elon Musk’s decision to dissolve Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council which helped curb fake content was wrong. Individuals can also tell whether some information is false by arming themselves with facts. The post or article may not be true if it is a promoted post and if there is no genuine engagement on the post. In addition, individuals should be wary of the opinions that flatter their self-esteem.
About The Author
Haleema Sadia is a Chemistry graduate of Quaid e Azam University in Islamabad. She is interested in politics and philosophy.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the original author and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of Rationale-47.
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