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information to determine its
veracity.
He explains the seven
potential sources of bias and
provides simple assessment
tools to identify partiality
and erroneous content. He
also encourages readers to
evaluate their own predispo-
sitions toward various issues.
“Everybody is inherently
biased, but we need to be
aware of how our biases
affect how we absorb infor-
mation and how we pass it
on,” said Bean, who has done
extensive research on AI and
media literacy.
DISINFORMATION OR
MISINFORMATION?
Although these terms are
sometimes used interchange-
ably, they have different mean-
ings. Barbara
McQuade,
University of
Michigan law
professor and
former U.S.
Attorney for the
Eastern District
of Michigan, explains the
distinction in her bestselling
book Attack from Within: How
Disinformation is Sabotaging
America.
She describes disinformation
as “the deliberate use of lies to
manipulate people” for profit
or to advance a political agen-
da or candidate.
Misinformation is the unwit-
ting spread of falsehoods by
people who share or repost
content without validating its
authenticity.
Although misinformation
is not spread maliciously, it
is equally damaging. Sharing
posts or “news” stories without
verifying their accuracy allows
the lies to spread like unre-
strained wildfires with interna-
tional reach.
A prominent example is the
media coverage of the Oct. 17
rocket explosion at the Al-Ahli
hospital in Gaza that killed
hundreds of people. Relying on
a statement from Palestinian
officials falsely blaming Israel
for the attack, several U.S. news
outlets, including the New York
Times, the Associated Press
and the Wall Street Journal,
published the story before veri-
fying the facts. The news ignit-
ed an international firestorm
of protests and vehement
condemnation of Israel along
with a surge of antisemitic hate
crimes around the world.
Although the news organi-
zations corrected their stories
once it was established the
blast originated in Gaza rather
than Israel, the damage caused
by the erroneous reporting
could not be undone.
Disinformation campaigns
are a bit different: Recent
examples include an Israeli boy
and his sisters killed during
Hamas’ attack on Kibbutz Nir
Oz on Oct. 7 accused of being
“crisis actors,” and pro-Hamas
accounts misrepresenting foot-
age from the Syrian civil war as
showing children being killed
in Gaza.
“Sometimes false claims are
spread by people who know
better but go along anyway,”
McQuade said. “They choose
tribe over truth.”
She says the tactics used
by Russia to sow discord and
influence the last election are
now being used by U.S. citi-
zens. Using fake social media
accounts, these individuals
use a variety of manipulative
techniques to convey false and
potentially divisive messages.
Some of the ploys include
“declinism,” saying the country
and its institutions are going
downhill; scapegoating, blam-
ing all the wrongs on one lead-
er or political party; and the
“either/or” fallacy, presenting
only two possible options when
several may exist.
“When there is no truth,
people become confused and
disengage,” she said.
U.S. District Judge Bernard
Friedman found McQuade’s
book to be an “eye-opener.”
“I didn’t realize how much it
(disinformation)
existed and how
terrible it is, but
once I read the
book, I began to
notice it in many
contexts.”
ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
According to a study by Pew
Research Center, 50% of U.S.
adults get news from social
media “often” or “sometimes.”
In addition, 56% of those
surveyed use digital devices
to access news websites, apps
and search engines compared
to 9% who read print publica-
tions.
“Many individuals rely on
social media as a news source.
We need to take a step back
and inspect the information
with a more careful eye,” Bean
said. “In this day and age, peo-
ple’s posts will be duplicated,
information will be stolen and
information that we believe
comes from a reliable source
may not be so. We need to
investigate who the author is.”
Disinformation runs ram-
pant on social media because,
unlike legitimate news organi-
zations, anyone is free to post
or share information without
fact-checking content or vali-
dating sources. Consequently,
social media users are likely to
encounter more false stories
than authentic ones.
“When you check the
weather, do you use a blog or
do you go to a weather site
where the information is creat-
ed by weather professionals?”
asked Bean, making the point
that readers should use rep-
utable news outlets to obtain
legitimate news.
It is no coincidence that
social media users receive
messaging that aligns with
their established interests or
political affiliations. Bean
explains how technology com-
panies use the concept of “con-
firmation bias,” the tendency
to absorb information that
supports existing opinions, to
create algorithms that target
content to specific audiences.
“We must all strive to do a
continued on page 10
Judge
Bernard
Friedman
Barbara
McQuade