The Internet, digital cameras on mobile phones and social networks have turned us all into potential creators and disseminators of content, both true and false . Bots on twitter, photos manipulated with Photoshop that are disseminated on Instagram, conspiracy theories … are the order of the day.
The powers that be no longer have as much capacity as before to control information , so they often try to lower the credibility of the news by spreading disinformation or fake news. In order to teach users to distinguish whether a news spread on social networks or traditional media is true or not, a group of researchers from the University of Cambridge created and launched an online video game called Bad News in February 2018 that completely turns it around to the omelette. This game allows users to launch hoaxes, manipulate photos and spread conspiracy theories, which helps to sharpen their critical sense in the face of so-called fake news. It is what psychologists know as the Inoculation Theory.
After launching the game, scientists from the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab (CDSMLab) carried out a study with 15,000 Bad News users that reveals that it is possible to instruct the public in the detection of propaganda content.
“Most research suggests that fake news spreads faster and with greater depth than real news , so trying to combat misinformation is like fighting a losing battle,” according to Sander van der Linden, director of the CDSMLab. The authors of the study, published in the journal Palgrave Communications , have found that playing Bad News, even for just 15 minutes, helps users develop a kind of mental antibodies against fake news .
The results revealed that after practicing on Bad News, players were 21% less likely to believe fake news than before playing. The study authors asked users to implement all the manipulative tactics and practices commonly used to lie, such as distorting reality, employing fabricated fallacies, throwing opinions to divide members of a group, or diverting attention from others do things they don’t really want . It was about getting the largest number of followers without losing credibility in the attempt, in order to preserve a large audience that later replicates those lies or half-truths.
The ultimate intention is for people to realize how the media, governments, companies and individuals work on the networks and thus learn to better detect the attempts of others to create disinformation . “The idea is that if you have seen the tactics used and you have used them yourself in the game, you will develop a capacity for resistance against the manipulation of false ideas”, concludes the director of Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab , Sander van der Linden.
