LESSON 3
Be a Critical Thinker
What you will learn in this lesson
- Understanding Perspective
- Getting to Know Types of Information
- Learning How to Differentiate Fact vs. False Information
Angela found the internet to be a very interesting place. There are so many information about so many things!
But, since Angela is new to the digital world, she might not be aware that the information she reads online is necessarily the truth.
Please help Angela understand the types of information and ways to differentiate them.
Do you know what perspective means?
Perspective is your point of view.
It is important to know your viewpoint (opinion) and what influences it.
So how can your perspective be influenced and by whom?
Click on the question marks to find out more
All these can shape your perspective on life, and your actions.
Who do you think influences your perspective the most?
Why do you think so?
Share your thoughts in the Padlet below!
Types of Information Online
The great thing about the internet is that you can get information about almost anything you can think of.
You can connect with so many people in so many different ways online - people you know and who share your interests.
However, the internet has so much information. It is sometimes difficult to identify what you can trust.
What is real?
What is reliable?
What is true?
There are different types of information
Let's discuss fact and opinion first!
Fact
A fact is something that is true and can be proven or supported by one or more evidence.
Opinion
An opinion is someone’s perspective of something that is not necessarily true or false.
As for false information, you need to know where it comes from.
False information are information designed to be viral because they are meant to deceive & mislead people.
False information are usually found in clickbait articles, edited photos/articles or fake news.
You may have been receiving false information from these sources:
News
News are produced by professional media organizations that are objectively reported.
However, some irresponsible people might turn news into fake/false news for their own personal gains.
Product information and advertisements.
You might see pop-up advertisements on a website, in the middle of an article or video you are watching. Be careful as sometimes a whole piece of text may just be an advertisement.
Personal posts
People can share their judgement, thoughts, memes, satire, sarcasm through personal posts.
Other people should not take it as a fact unless stated and proven.
In summary
Fact
Fact is information that can be proven true.
Opinion
Opinion can be in form of personal post, gifs/memes/satire/sarcasm.
False Information
False information are usually meant to mislead and deceive people.
Let's see if you can differentiate between facts, opinion and false information.
But, what is news?
Instead of professionally generated content, people have started to consider social media/newsfeed, private messaging, podcast or even something heard from family members or friends as news.
Before we go any further, let's test your knowledge of fake news!
If a piece of information is not a professionally generated content, you need to be mindful that it could just be people's opinion and not a fact.
Nowadays, it is essential for you as a good digital citizen to stay well-informed about current events, not just journalists and news organisations.
Verification
Angela loves fruits. One day, she went to a supermarket and bought some fresh fruits home.
Edited with Canva
She posted a picture of her eating durian and jackfruit on Facebook. A few minutes later, she received a message from her friend saying she needs to go to the hospital, along with a shared post.
"Weird", thought Angela. "I am eating a durian after jackfruit and I'm feeling alright. Let me do a verification."
After doing some verification, Angela discovered that the information is false and had even caused a scare in Taiwan! It was rated false by Taiwan FactCheck Center.
Angela then proceeded to tell her friend and even reported the forwarded message. Now, at least her friend and maybe a few other people wouldn't be scared for nothing anymore.
What is verification?
Verification means checking information so you can determine if it is fact, false information, an opinion or a rumour.
Verification helps you from being misled by untrue information and prevents you from sharing and spreading false news to other people.
False information often harms people, scares them or defames them.
Verification helps you to identify reliable information from a mass amount of information.
That is why it is very important to seek out trust-worthy information sources such as the WHO or the Ministry of Health in Malaysia.
From the examples you have seen before, it is clear that you can easily come across false news and stories as you surf the internet.
As a good digital citizen, it is your responsibility to identify and report false news if necessary. You must make sure that you do not become a person that spreads false news!
How do you do that? By verifying the news you consume yourself!
Try to identify whether the following information is fact or false!
Below are two news articles.
Read carefully and identify whether these news articles are fact or false information.
Article 1
Article 2
The Verification Checklist
Steps to take before sharing news with other people
Edited on Canva
What do you do if you come across false information?
What are the effects of your actions?
Below are 4 steps you can take and its effects.
Below are 4 steps you can take and its effects.
Ignore
What happens if you choose to ignore?
The implication is that the information can/will still be viewed by you and other people.
Share/Like
What happens if you choose to share/like?
The implication is that information has a higher chance to get more views and likes/shares.
Block
What happens if you choose to block the owner of the post or the post itself?
The implication is that the post/person will not be viewable and you cannot be viewed by the person you blocked. Meanwhile other people will still be able to see the post/person.
Report
What happens if you choose to report?
The implication is that the post/person will be subject to evaluation by Facebook.
Reporting false news on Facebook is easy.
1. Look at a post
2. Click option on the top right corner of the post - either an arrow or the 3 dots
3. Choose the option 'Find Support or Report Post'. Click 'False News'
The other thing to look at when viewing information is whether a post is organic or an Ad from a business. Organic means the post has been posted for free and not a paid advertisement.
When a post has 'sponsored’ at the top that means whomever posted it has paid to do so and it also means the post has passed through additional review to ensure it isn’t false information.
This is also the same for Instagram.
To report a false post, you can do so by clicking the three dots on the top right.
Double check the facts when you are not sure, especially if it is forwarded messages.
This is because not knowing the source is a good signal to make the effort to verify information.
For Whatsapp, as you can see on the picture, the message indicates whether the message has been forwarded.
Before you finish,
In the space below, can you help Angela to be sure she do not share false news?
What advice will you give to Angela?
