This commentary has been difficult to write mainly because I did not wish to personalise it. I dedicate it to fellow victims of malicious rumour.
Over this past month alone, I have received countless WhatsApp “forwards” bearing information that was, at best questionable, and at worst, malicious. Two of these messages prematurely announced the death of friends. Some revealed the clever use of snippets of truth or fact to attempt to give credibility to stories that were infested with lies and/or misinformation. Others were nakedly malicious in their content and intent.
Mindful that we live in a “Digital Age” where it’s becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish fact and fabrication, my default disposition when receiving these messages, is to draw on my training in journalism to determine as best as I can, whether they are based on information that is objectively verifiable or is proven as fact. Generally, this strategy has served me well. On those rare occasions when I’ve been unable to immediately verify a story, I would wait until pertinent facts emerge.
However, establishing whether the allegations in a story are true has often been more challenging. For many people, truth is based less on factual accuracy and more on what they believe, what they want to believe, and what they are encouraged to believe is true. Thus, an allegation of immorality against an individual is “true” based on the number of people who believe it to be so. And so it is that the reputation of many innocent people in our society is forever tarnished for life by malicious rumour.
So how does one survive malicious rumour?
This ought to be a rhetorical question for long-term survivors like me. Alas, I can’t say for sure how I have done it. Indeed, “survival” may not be the best word to describe it. It seems to be only appropriate if a malicious rumour does not result in the death of a victim, whether through a hate crime or suicide.
Surviving malicious rumour isn’t just about battling misinformation. It’s about maintaining one’s dignity, protecting one’s peace, and choosing to rise above the nastiness. However, given the ubiquitous presence of social media (Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp), this is easier said than done, partly because these platforms facilitate real-time interaction on a global scale. Moreover, they empower their users to become consumers and producers of malicious content. No longer does rumour linger in the shadows. Once it is released it can travel at lightning speed and mislead countless people. Consequently, one can spend a lifetime building a positive reputation only for it to be undermined in seconds.
In theory, social media should assist victims of malicious rumour to quickly debunk such rumours. But as is often the case, those who are fed a rumour are not often fed the truth when it is made available. That’s partly because of the way social media platforms are set up. While traditional news media have editors and fact-checkers to curb this practice, social media platforms lack consistent oversight Their primary motive is to maximize user engagement, and so, they use algorithms that prioritize posts that provoke anger, fear, and curiosity, regardless of the accuracy of posts. Consequently, anyone can post false information about another person and see it spread like wildfire, unchallenged and without verification. Furthermore, the anonymity that many social platforms give users reduces accountability, thus allowing users to spread rumors without fear of consequence.
Another major obstacle to curbing a malicious rumour is confirmation bias. People tend to believe and share information that aligns with their beliefs, regardless of its accuracy. Additionally, the sheer volume of information online makes it difficult to distinguish reliable sources from unreliable ones. The rise of deep fakes and AI content only makes the situation more complex. Anyone can be placed in an uncompromising position in an AI-generated video. Worryingly, most social media users don’t know how to verify information or identify biased content.
Many victims of vile rumour try to cope by: (1) seeking comfort in the knowledge that truth and innocence are squarely on our side and that we can continue to rely on the love and friendship of those who really matter; (2) remaining calm and avoiding reacting impulsively; (3) hoping that the rumour will ultimately fade into obscurity, (4) avoiding devoting excessive energy in something that cannot be completely changed and focusing instead on maintaining emotional well-being.
Fortunately for me, I have been able to rely on another technique: total reliance on my father’s admonitions to “never allow your enemies to break your morale.”
Addressing this issue requires a multi-faceted approach. Some social media companies have begun employing fact-checkers, flagging disputed content, and adjusting their algorithms to reduce the spread of misinformation. In serious cases, accounts responsible for repeated offenses are suspended or banned. Some Governments (notably in the European Union) have passed laws that that hold platforms accountable for harmful content.
Still, much more needs to be done especially to deal with malicious rumour that is spread via the unconventional, but no less harmful, “Yo-Dee/Mwen Tan” media. Standard libel and slander laws exist in many Caribbean countries, but victims need deep pockets to invoke them. If anything, some countries including Barbados, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago have made matter worse by passing laws that allow hearsay evidence in legal proceedings. The exceptions that these laws allow do little to shake my strong view that existence can do more harm than good.
Our politicians have a shared responsibility to promote the values of informed and factual public discourse and to resist the urge to use their own algorithms to push messages that provoke anger, fear, and unhealthy curiosity. In an age where everyone has the power to create and spread information, the responsibility to interact critically with all information falls on all of us. Only through collective awareness and action can we hope to mitigate the dangers of malicious rumour in this Digital Age.