Getting Wise to Fake News

Emerging resources are helping older Americans distinguish authentic news from misinformation on social media, reports the New York Times . For example, the Poynter Institute's MediaWise for Seniors program offers free online courses to help seniors recognize and combat false online content, and program manager Katy Byron said "there was a desperate need to educate this older age group, not only because of the election but because of the coronavirus." In the 2016 general election over 70 percent of people older than 65 cast ballots, versus about 46 percent of those 18 to 29. Harvard University's Nadia Brashier said seniors "have an outsized effect on our democracy," making them high-priority targets of misinformation campaigns. She dismisses the idea that older people's participation in misinformation is related to age-related cognitive decline, and noted that "outside the social media environment, we often see that older adults are more discerning than younger ones." Byron laments a lack of action by technology companies to police online content for misleading material. Preliminary research shows that digital literacy programs can improve people's ability to tell mainstream news from fake news. Poynter's Alex Mahadevan said by the time they complete the MediaWise for Seniors course, participants will "be using the techniques used by fact-checkers across the world" to make these distinctions.