Clearing the Clutter: Navigating the Age of Information Pollution in South Sudan is a presentation by Emmanuel Bida Thomas Editor at 211 Check for journalists attending a training organised by the Union of Journalists of South Sudan and South Sudan Human Rights Defenders in June 2022

1. Information Pollution
Clearing the Clutter:
Navigating the Age of Information Pollution
Emmanuel Bida Thomas,
211 Check Project Coordinator
Defyhatenow
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The 211 Check platform aims at furthering public discourse and countering false information through fact-checking and information verification 1

2. Is This Real?
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3. What is ‘information pollution’?
Many kinds of low-quality, false
and misleading information
circulate online
This is called ‘information
pollution’
We need to figure out where
information is coming from and
whether it is real or truthful
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4. Information
Pollution
Online
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There are three main types:
Misinformation is when people share something they
think is true, but isn’t.
Disinformation is when people share false or
misleading information on purpose. The goal is to
influence and cause harm.
Malinformation is genuine information that is shared
to cause harm. This includes private or revealing
information that is spread to harm a person or
reputation.

5. Misinformation and Disinformation Types
Fabricated
Content:
Completely false
information;
Manipulated
Content: Genuine
information or
imagery that has
been distorted, e.g.
a sensational
headline or
populist ‘click
bait’;
Imposter Content:
Impersonation of
genuine sources,
e.g. using the
branding of an
established
agency;
Misleading
Content:
Misleading
information, e.g.
comment presented
as fact;
False Context:
Factually accurate
content combined
with false
contextual
information, e.g.
when the headline
of an article does
not reflect the
content;
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6. Misinformation and Disinformation Types
Satire and
Parody:
Humorous but
false stories
passed off as
true. There is no
intention to
harm but
readers may be
fooled; False
Connections:
When headlines,
visuals or
captions do not
support the
content;
Sponsored
Content:
Advertising or
PR disguised as
editorial content;
Propaganda:
Content used to
manage
attitudes, values
and knowledge;
Error: A mistake
made by
established news
agencies in their
reporting.
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7. Misinformation Example
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8. Disinformation Example
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9. Malinformation Example
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10. Hoax
A form of
disinformation
that intends to
trick people into
believing a false
story or event.
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11. Conspiracy Theory
A belief that a
secret, powerful
group of people is
causing major news
events, manipulating
politics and the
economy, or hiding
important
information about
the world.
A number of conspiracy theories
have long been postulated and
advanced by a variety of schools of
thoughts ever since the untimely
demise of Sudan’s Vice President
and President of the government of
Southern Sudan, Dr. John Garang,
on the 30 July 2005, in President
Museveni’s chopper in South Sudan.
These theories claim to have
successfully cracked the code that
held the mystery surrounding the
crash of the helicopter in which 13
people including Dr. John Garang
perished on board.
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Credit: PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd – South Sudan

12. Tactics
The most common mis/disinformation tactics are political astroturfing,
mass brigading, mass sharing, and fake accounts.
Political astroturfing refers to a centrally coordinated disinformation campaign in which the perpetrators pretend to be ordinary citizens acting
independently and sharing content in the form of a smear campaign designed to discredit or ridicule opponents and advance specific
manufactured narratives to the unsuspecting public, with these campaigns often dressed up to mimic genuine public opinion or grassroot support
for particular views.
Mass brigading, which is the opposite of astroturfing, has also become popular. For this tactic, a
group of users will band together against one or more users who are expressing a different opinion
with the aim of discrediting the latter’s stance.
Mass sharing is another technique of disseminating inaccurate information. When a piece of
information is widely circulated and trends, the likelihood of it being believed increases, and mass
sharing plays a significant role in increasing the information's reach.
The Use of Fake and Pseudonymous Social Media Accounts is another technique used in the spread of
disinformation. A number of those fuelling disinformation often create fake accounts impersonating prominent
personalities, politicians, celebrities, media personalities, corporations and media or news organisations.
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13. Drivers and Trends
Unfiltered nature of information shared on social media is a key
driver of disinformation particularly given the low digital literacy
skills among users who are unable to verify information they
receive and are often eager to share social media content, without
taking responsibility for the consequences of their actions.
The increased use of digital technologies, low media literacy
levels, the lucrative nature of mis/disinformation, the fractious
politics, conflict situations, and the closure of civic space that
makes offline speech dangerous fuel mis/disinformation.
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14. Mis/disinformation Instigators and Agents
There are various actors in the mis/disinformation chain, from the instigators and creators to the agents or key
disseminators. The primary motivation of the instigators and agents is political or financial gain, manipulating
and influencing public perception or tarnishing the image of their victims. The instigator may act on their own
or be sponsored to spread mis/disinformation.
Social Media ‘Gurus’/ Digital 'Influencers’: Bloggers and influencers, many of whom are paid,
are among the most well-known spreaders of disinformation. Influencers are typically individuals
with a large social media following who are hired to push content, hashtags and trending topics.
Political Actors: Political actors such as politicians from both ruling and
opposition parties, government critics and sympathizers alike have become
disinformation instigators
Foreign Actors: Foreign actors often use disinformation to disrupt societies or push agendas in
society, and Africa has not been spared. Foreign actors from Egypt have sought to influence and
control debate around dredging of the Naam River months ago.
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15. How to
Spot
Fake
News:
IMVAIN
This acronym (IMVAIN) is one way to remember
how to evaluate sources within the news.
I: Independent sources are better than self-
interested sources
M: Multiple sources are better than single
sources
V: Sources who Verify with evidence are
better than sources who assert
A/I: Authoritative/Informed sources are better
than uninformed sources
N: Named sources are better than unnamed
sources
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16. How to Spot Fake News
CONSIDER THE SOURCE:
Click away from the story to
investigate the site, its mission
and contact information.
READ BEYOND THE
HEADLINE:
Headlines can be outrageous in
an effort to get clicks. What is
the whole story?
CHECK THE AUTHOR:
Do a quick search on the author.
Are they credible? Are they real?
SUPPORTING SOURCES:
Click on those hyperlinks.
Determine if the information
given actually supports the story.
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17. How to Spot Fake News
CHECK THE DATE:
Reposting old news stories
doesn’t mean that they are
relevant to current events.
IS IT A JOKE?
If it is too outlandish, it might be
satire. Research the site and
author to be sure.
CHECK YOUR BIASES:
Consider if your own beliefs
could affect your judgement
ASK THE EXPERTS:
Ask an informed source or
contact a fact-checking site.
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18. What drives information pollution?
Information pollution has the potential to polarize public opinion, promote violence and hate speech, and
ultimately, undermine democracies and reduce trust in democratic processes. It is motivated by four distinct
factors.
Money Making. (e.g., tricking people into clicking on false sites to make money from advertising, promoting
fake Covid-19 tests or asking for donations to fake accounts).
Political gain, influence either foreign or domestic. (e.g., creating a smear campaign before a domestic election
or a foreign government interfering in another country’s election).
Social or psychological reasons, (some people try to push false or misleading content just to see if they can get
away with it).
Poor Journalism - in the rush to be the first to ‘break a story,’ a lot of mistaking can be made which, if not
corrected, if not corrected, can have potentially damaging consequences
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19. The dangers
of
information
pollution
Regardless the
motivation, publishing
inaccurate reports can
have catastrophic results.
So, what happens when
unfounded claims and
misinformation are
reported as fact?
Remember,
Disinformation is “false
information deliberately
and often covertly spread
(as by the planting of
rumors) in order to
influence public opinion
or obscure the truth”
Other countries like Russia use
disinformation campaigns on
social media to create discord
within the country and impact
elections. That's why --
especially if you are a voter --
it's important to understand how
to evaluate sources of
information you find.
Disinformation is not limited to
elections -- for example, Russia
tried to spread disinformation
about the COVID-19 virus.
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20. The dangers of information pollution
Reputations -- of writers and subjects -- can be damaged.
A single mistake, no matter how small, could result in anything from losing your audience' trust to
becoming the target of an internet backlash or even legal repercussions.
It can exploit and worsen existing ethnic, racial or religious divisions. This can lead to violence.
It has health consequences, for example, polio, measles and COVID-19 have been worsened by
distrust of vaccines.
It can lead to mistrust of facts and expertise, where nobody knows what is true
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21. Choosing Your News: Your Filter Bubble
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So what is a "filter bubble?" Eli Pariser wrote the book The Filter Bubble in 2012 and then did a
TED Talk ("Beware online 'filter bubbles'") on the concept, popularizing the term mainly in the
United States.
In the TED Talk, he notes the personalization Google, Facebook, and other online companies use to
control what information the viewer is exposed to.
Pariser defines it this way:
... your filter bubble is your own personal, unique universe of information that you live in online. And what's in
your filter bubble depends on who you are, and it depends on what you do. But the thing is that you don't decide
what gets in. And more importantly, you don't actually see what gets edited out.
What does this mean for you? You must actively seek out sources that are different than the way you
think, what you believe about current issues and even simply how you view the world. Break out of
your filter bubble!

22. Choosing Your News:
Vertical Reading vs. Lateral Reading
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Vertical reading:
“staying on the page,” examining the content
closely to determine if you think it’s reliable.
Lateral reading:
“leaving the page,” examining other sources
and analyzing what others have to say.

23. Examples of Vertical Reading
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Checking to see if the site “looks” professional
(looking for typos, ads, etc).
Reading the ‘About’ page.
Checking if the URL is a .com or a .org (anyone can
purchase a .org domain).
Reading a story closely to see if it is sounds realistic or
plausible.

24. Examples of Lateral Reading
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Using Wikipedia to learn about the reputation of a
source.
Checking to see if a story or claim has been reported
by multiple reliable sources.
Using the web to trace information, quotes, or images
back to the original source.

25. 05/08/2023 2:30 carra The 211 Check platform aims at furthering public discourse and countering false information through fact-checking and information verification 25
News organisations
Private groups and individuals
Academic/Research institutions
Government
Reference sources
Types of sources

26. News organizations
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Exist to provide information about current affairs.
Print publications (newspapers, magazines)
Broadcast news (TV, radio)
Online media (websites, news blogs, news videos, live news streaming)

27. Reference Sources
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Designed to help you find specific types of information quickly.
Encyclopedias
Dictionaries
Maps and atlases
Almanacs; a book or table listing astronomical or other events for the year.

28. Government
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Provide public information, research and statistics.
Departments
Agencies
Ministries

29. Academic/Research Institutions
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Provide independent research.
Universities
Academic journals
Think tanks (purpose of research is often to advocate for certain issues or
influence government policy)

30. Private Groups and Individuals
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Businesses
Professional associations
Non-profit organizations
Community groups
Lobby groups (exist to influence public opinion and government policy)
Social movements/social advocacy groups

31. What is advocacy?
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Advocacy is an activity by an individual or group that
aims to influence public opinion and decisions
within political, economic, and social institutions.
It can include many activities that a person or
organization undertakes including media campaigns,
public speaking and publishing research.

32. Advocacy and Sources
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Lobby groups advocate by communicating with government officials with the goal of trying
influence government decisions or legislations (e.g., South Sudan Business Federation).
Social movements is a type of group action intended to carry out or reverse social change (e.g.,
Women’s March).
Think tanks conduct research to influence decisions related to political and societal issues.
Community groups and non-profit organizations sometimes advocate for their causes (e.g.,
Defyhatenow campaigns for digital rights and hate speech mitigation).

33. Check the Claim
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Fact vs. Opinion
A fact is
something that is
known or proven
to be true.
An opinion is a
view or judgment
formed about
something, not
necessarily based
on facts or
evidence.
Fact: The average
student at the
University of Juba
pays more than
SSP 25,000 in
2023.
Opinion: College
and university
should be free in
South Sudan.

34. Check the Claim
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Factual Claims vs. Value Claims
A factual claim can be proven, true or false, by verifiable information.
Factual claims are not necessarily true, but they attempt to convince you that something is true.
Examples:
Smoking causes cancer (true claim)
The Earth is flat (false claim)
Value claims are based on judgments or opinions. They cannot be proven or disproven.
They try to prove that something is good or bad, right or wrong, or the best option.
Examples:
Animal Crossing is the most relaxing game
Eating meat is unhealthy

35. What is not fact-checkable?
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Opinions
Claims about the future
Example
The weather is fine today.
Juba will reach a maximum temperature of 27°C tomorrow.
Facebook is an idealistic and optimistic company

36. Fact-checkable or not? Why?
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A total of 4-million South Sudanese will be fully vaccinated against
Covid-19 by the end of 2023.
Covid-19 is caused by a strain of the coronavirus.
The unity government is doing the best it can in the implementation of
the revitalized agreement on the resolution of conflict in South Sudan.

37. What can typically be fact-checked?
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38. Deciding what to fact-check
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First ask yourself, what will the overall impact be if the statement or claim is not fact-checked? Also:
Will it put people’s lives at risk?
Will it have an impact on important decisions the public have to make?
How prominent is the person or organisation who shared the information?
Does the claim spread unnecessary fear?
Is it fact-checkable?
Is the false information widely spread or might your fact-checking report amplify it?

39. Methodology and ethics of fact-checking
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Fact-checking is not rocket science. It is scrupulous analysis driven
by one basic question: “How do we know that?”
At the same time, fact-checking is not spell-checking.
There is not a dictionary-style guidebook with all the facts, nor a
simple software that will examine documents and flag anytime
something has been misstated as fact.

40. Methodology and ethics of fact-checking
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Generally speaking, fact-checking is composed of three phases:
Finding fact-checkable claims by scouring through legislative records, media
outlets and social media. This process includes determining which major
public claims (a) can be fact-checked and (b) ought to be fact-checked.
Finding the facts by looking for the best available evidence regarding the
claim at hand.
Correcting the record by evaluating the claim in light of the evidence, usually
on a scale of truthfulness.

41. What YOU can do to stop the spread of misinformation and disinformation
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No, I'm not asking you to join the Army. But I hope you will do your part to stop the spread of
fake news, disinformation, and other misinformation. Here are some ideas:
Don't forward/repost a story without reading it first.
If you use your skills for identifying disinformation or misinformation, you can simply choose
not to forward the story, repost, etc.
Share the information you learn about fake news and misinformation and how to spot it with
others.
This is obvious: Don't create or spread misinformation and disinformation!

42. Questions?
Just ASK!
As always, if you have any questions about this presentation or
whether a story is or is not fake news and/or misinformation or
disinformation, please ask! I am very willing to help!
Emmanuel Bida Thomas
bida@defyhatenow.org
+211924380378
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