Marin Voice: In age of misinformation, tools can help determine truth

Crowds lured to Birmingham City Centre in the United Kingdom for a recent New Year’s fireworks show didn’t see the fireworks. They were never scheduled. It turns out that the online ads promoting the event were fake, for the second year in a row.

A widely viewed YouTube video confidently explained that humans use only 10% of their brains. The presentation seemed convincing, the visuals persuasive and the claim treated as settled science. As it turns out, it was just not true. Modern brain imaging shows that we use virtually all parts of our brain over the course of a day. Myths like that one persist not because they are true, but because they’re appealing.

These examples are harmless enough, but they’re symptoms of a much larger problem: It has become increasingly difficult to tell fact from fiction.

Today, anyone can instantly publish information on just about anything to a global audience. Some impersonate recognized authorities. Foreign actors have posed as reliable sources to disrupt society. Anonymous accounts can make bold claims with no accountability. Artificial intelligence can generate convincing images, videos and even “eyewitness” accounts of events that never happened. And social media platforms, optimized for engagement rather than accuracy, reward the sensational over the truth.

The result is more than confusion. It erodes our ability to discern fact from fiction. Applied to pop culture, this may seem trivial. Applied to democracy, it is destructive.

I believe a functioning democracy depends on citizens who can agree on basic facts — even if they disagree about what those facts mean or what should be done about them. When you can’t distinguish verified information from manufactured accounts, public debate falters. Decisions become emotional, trust collapses and manipulation becomes the norm. The flood of misinformation becomes exhausting, and engagement turns to apathy.

The uncomfortable truth is that no platform, government or technology appears ready to solve this for us. We have met the enemy, and it is us.

Fortunately, there are tools we can use to help us navigate the chaos. Independent fact-checking organizations such as Snopes, PolitiFact, FactCheck.org and Full Fact examine political and social claims. Media Bias/Fact Check helps readers assess the leanings of various news sources. The InVID verification plug-in can verify content on social networks. For images and videos, tools like TinEye and Google’s reverse image search can reveal whether a photo has appeared elsewhere.

As useful as these tools are, however, they are not enough. What’s also needed is widespread media literacy — the ability to evaluate sources, recognize persuasion techniques and understand how algorithms can dictate the type of information we receive. For decades, these skills were assumed rather than taught. For online communities where misinformation spreads faster than corrections, that assumption no longer holds. Teaching people how to think critically about information cannot be ignored. It is foundational to an informed citizenry in a digital age.

This makes a mindset of skepticism, especially with information shared on social media, more important than any single tool. In practical terms, this can be simple: Pause before sharing; check the sources of any claim and what they might gain; and look for confirmation from multiple independent sources. Be wary of content that triggers strong emotion — outrage and fear are often part of misinformation. Check whether an image or quote has been repurposed and notice whether a claim is supported by evidence — or asserted with confidence.

It’s tempting to think that misinformation only affects “the other side.” It doesn’t. We all have biases. We all gravitate to stories that flatter our existing views. We are all vulnerable to claims that feel right, even when they are wrong. If it feels too good to be true, it likely is.

While democracy has never required agreement on every issue, it does require arguing from the same set of facts. In an age where anyone can publish, discernment becomes a civic duty.

The best defense against misinformation is not a new law or technology. It’s a society that values truth enough to verify it. That starts with deciding not to take even the most convincing YouTube video at its word.

Chris Rauen, of Novato, is a former newspaper reporter and business writer.