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Humor that could hurt

Humor and satire can be used to spread false and deceptive information, and to criticize or ridicule a person or an opinion. Memes are one example of this.

Memes consist of humorous pictures, quotes, or clips. They are distributed via the internet and their inherent relatability can help create a sense of community. But memes can also be used to shift the discourse around a certain issue, to skew a debate, or to spread controversial opinions.

Hint!
People might want you to lose focus, or to divert your attention away from the facts. Fun or light-hearted content can be a cover for false or deceptive information.

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Glossary

  • Whataboutism: Shifting the focus in a discussion by bringing up a different topic that has received less attention, but is ultimately irrelevant to the current issue.
  • Strawman: Falsely accusing a person of having a certain opinion, and then arguing against that opinion instead of recognizing their real stance on the issue.
  • Personal attacks (ad hominem): Attacking, discrediting, or ridiculing, a person making an argument, instead of the argument itself. Personal attacks serve to silence, hinder, or deter people from joining the discussion.

Viral content has sometimes been boosted using bots. A bot (from the word ‘robot’) is a computer program that performs automated tasks, such as spreading information on social media. A bot can be used to reinforce a certain message by spamming forums and comments sections, liking and sharing posts on social media, or as part of a cyberattack.

  1. Profile picture: Bots often steal pictures from other accounts, or lack a profile picture completely. Do a reverse image search to determine the validity.
  2. Activity: Many bots are very active users. Watch out for accounts that make a suspiciously high amount of posts per day.
  3. Username: Most bots use randomized names.
  4. Account created: Accounts used by bots are often created directly before being used. Older accounts may be used occasionally, but with all the previous posts deleted. This creates a big gap between the creation date and the first post.
  5. Language: Automated translations are common among bot accounts. This leads to obvious grammatical errors and incoherent sentences.
  6. Account bio: Bots usually lack personal information in their account bio, or use falsified information.
  7. Interaction: Take a close look at which accounts are interacted with. Bots often work together to maximize the spread of a message, and usually only follow other bot accounts.