Fake news is deliberately spread to manipulate opinions and, thus, elections. Fact checks alone are powerless against their public effectiveness. However, in combination with other tools, resistance to false claims can be strengthened in the long term.
“You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time,” declared US President Abraham Lincoln more than 150 years ago. Even though he was already vividly aware of the influence of fake news on public opinion back then, he was confident enough to believe that the truth would prevail in the end – at least for most people. Can we still share this optimism in the age of manipulation-prone internet media and their global networking?
Despite prominent experiences to the contrary, resignation is clearly out of place. A large number of scientific studies have recently looked into the effects of fake news and developed effective antidotes. The results are cause for concern, but they also show that We are by no means defenseless against the seductive power of fake news. Perhaps just reading this article can help you react more consciously and resiliently in the future to campaigns that want to make you believe something you would never believe on your own.
Read the full article here (in German): https://www.focus.de/experts/profi-zeigt-zwei-methoden-wie-sie-sich-effektiv-gegen-fake-news-wappnen-koennen_id_260161530.html
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