UNESCO is warning that influencers on social media are in need of fact-checking training.
The report by the educational arm of the United Nations said influencers spend little time fact-checking the information they share, which can lead to the spread of disinformation or misinformation, highlighting a need for more stringent fact-checking in the online space, according to the Guardian.
The report said that 6 out of 10 influencers said they did not verify the accuracy of the information they share before they post it, while 4 in 10 cited the “popularity” of the information as being the key factor in whether it was shared or not, according to the report.
“The low prevalence of factchecking highlights their vulnerability to misinformation, which can have far-reaching consequences for public discourse and trust in media,” the report said.
“The prevalent lack of rigorous critical evaluation of information highlights an urgent need to enhance creators’ media information literacy skills,” according to UNESCO.
Influencers were less likely to use government websites or reports as information and more likely to use “personal experience” or their “own research” when sharing information online, the report noted.
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More than one-fourth of the influencers surveyed said they weren’t aware of the regulations covering their vocation, while at least half did not bother disclosing whether they were sponsored or not.
The survey involved 500 content creators from 45 countries and territories. Most influencers were under 35 and had up to 10,000 followers, while a quarter had “up to” 100,000 followers. The main sources of influence were Facebook and Instagram.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
