Seeing is believing – but what happens when what we see or hear isn’t the full truth?
At its core, a fact is something that corresponds to reality. If there’s a lion in the room or eggs in the fridge, we can objectively verify those truths. This is known as correspondence truth – a belief that aligns directly with observable reality.
On the other hand, some truths depend on what the majority believes. These are coherence truths, where something is accepted as true simply because it fits within a shared belief system.
Take the example of the Earth. For centuries, most people believed it was flat. This belief was coherent within the society of the time, but it did not correspond to reality. Once science provided evidence of the Earth’s spherical shape, the truth shifted from a coherence truth to a correspondence truth.
The danger of suppressing facts
In today’s world of disinformation, the availability of objective facts to a given audience is crucial. When access to facts is limited or obscured, false beliefs can persist and even thrive. Disinformation often works by mixing half-truths with pieces of information that appear factual but are incomplete or misleading. When these half-truths carry just enough reality, they become accepted as coherence truths by those exposed to them.
Had the scientific facts about the Earth’s shape been suppressed, the false belief in a flat Earth would likely still be widespread.
Media Literacy is our best defence
Teaching media literacy is essential in preventing the suppression and distortion of facts. It involves learning to critically evaluate sources, understand bias, and seek out independent and reputable information. This is especially important for young people aged 11 to 18, many of whom turn to social media as their primary news source.
A 2022 BBC Education survey revealed that nearly half of children aged 11 to 16 trust the news they receive on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram despite the prevalence of misinformation on these channels.
Understanding the information battlefield
Misinformation and disinformation are weapons in a growing digital war for attention and influence. According to a 2024 UK study, more than 94% of people have witnessed misinformation on social media.(1)
Disinformation campaigns often disguise themselves as legitimate news, using convincing graphics, AI-generated voices, and fabricated stories. Misinformation is delivered in short, catchy bursts designed to sow doubt and confusion. Alarmingly, nearly 50% of young people aged 11-16 accept these messages as truth.
Dr Kirsten Eddy, a leading expert on digital media habits, distinguishes between social natives (aged 18-24) and digital natives (aged 25-34), pointing out that those raised with social media have very different ways of consuming and trusting information compared to older generations.(2)
Pre-bunking
One effective method of combating misinformation is pre-bunking. Pre-bunking is educating people about common disinformation tactics before they encounter them. When individuals understand how false narratives are crafted and spread, they become less vulnerable to manipulation and are far less likely to share misleading content themselves.
The phrase “Doverjaj, no proverjaj” – trust, but verify – perfectly sums up the approach we need.
Why this matters
Disinformation doesn’t just confuse public opinion; it undermines trust in institutions, fuels division, and can even threaten democracy. The spread of falsehoods has real consequences from public health crises to political unrest.
The spark behind misinformation may come from malicious actors, but the fuel is a lack of critical thinking and media literacy. That’s why supporting education and awareness initiatives is so important.
Fighting misinformation
Organisations worldwide are dedicated to media literacy, fact-checking and counter-disinformation. Through their help and together we can help build a more informed public, able to spot falsehoods, demand facts and protect the future generation.
Final thought
In today’s world, misinformation is a challenge we all face. But by understanding the difference between belief and fact and by learning how to verify what we see and hear, we can protect ourselves, our communities, and the truth.
The next time you encounter a bold claim online, stop and ask: Is this real? Because the future depends on how well we learn to tell the difference.
1] https://www.turing.ac.uk/news/more-90-uk-population-have-encountered-misinformation-online
2]https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2022/young-audiences-news-media