The domino effect is described as one small action or event that triggers a chain reaction of various consequences linked to the event, causing a powerful force that can create large changes whether its positive or negative. We can see various examples of the domino effect in today’s day an age but especially when it comes to misinformation. Misinformation is defined as the intentional or unintentional spread of fake news. The rise of misinformation began when social media became a source of news. Today most people get their news from apps like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Social media is a pool of fake news, as we scroll throughout the day, we are bombarded with different post spreading misinformation whether its fake news about medical or political information it causes a domino effect of damage. However social media isn’t the only guilty party, even news channels spread fake news frequently.
Fox news and CNN are complete opposites when it comes to political views, but they do share one thing in common which is advocating for their political party. With that it is very important to share news that promotes your pollical view. So, it is very easy for these news channels to spread fake news for their own gain. However, Fox and CNN aren’t the only culprit’s news channels like ABC, MSNBC AND CBS have been very bias when it comes to politics and fail to show both sides. This is very concerning due to so many Americans absorbing this media that spreads unchecked information. This causes mass confusion and division among Americans. Though you can blame society for believing anything news says, that isn’t the root of the problem, its news cooperations that make billions through spreading misinformation.
For example, during the 2024 election debate hosted by ABC they stated Before the debate started, the hosts promised to have fact checkers but unfortunately they greatly failed. For example, during the debate Kamala stated, “and as of today there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world”. When this was said a lot of people believed she should have been stopped and ABC should have told her and the audience that this statement is false but, they didn’t because they wanted to promote democratic policies. This information is not only harmful to voters but also to the military who are actively in duty. The public intern didn’t feel the need to investigate this statement because they expected fact checks which they did throughout the night.
Information that is false spreads like cancer and affects anyone who comes in contact. Causing panic within society for example when covid vaccines were finally available for citizens mass hysteria spread all because one single person on social media claimed the vaccines would contain a microchip. Which was ultimately false, but that single piece of misinformation travelled from one vaccine to all vaccines like the Hepatitis B vaccine, and even the IPV vaccine known as polio drops. These vaccines were crafted over years to ultimately protect society from harsh diseases and now people who don’t vaccinate young children run the risk for deathly diseases to their children in which harm other children. Furthermore, misinformation is an invisible weapon that creates a toxic environment not only on the internet but real life also. Fake news can cause political violence and division among society. This problem will only get worse if people continue to be bias in their beliefs and disregard looking into information that’s shared. Ultimately every person is in the pursuit to find the truth but the action of spreading misinformation makes the search much harder.
