One of the pillars of democracy is freedom of speech. It is also our great common European value and pillar of the academic environment. In the modern world, words (information) spread rapidly. One reason is freedom of speech. The second is the widespread digitisation of both the media and end users. It is, among others, the misunderstood freedom of speech and digitisation that have become a tool of undemocratic forces that serve to spread disinformation. In this way, they affect the understanding of the situation and, as a result, enforce the expected attitudes of society and citizens. Countering disinformation is an important social mission. Repeated disinformation deepens fear in the public and perpetuates false beliefs, which often can lead to catastrophic social consequences.
The course enables the user to get a quick reply about the credibility of information. We believe that a quick response will reduce the spread of disinformation. Even if the user forwards the information, it will probably be mentioned that this is "fake news". Up to now, the portals which promote disinformation have benefited from the fact that the messages published by them were difficult to verify. This is because disinformation is often hidden among real news and facts. In this situation, the detection of fake news requires many hours of fact-checkers' work. During this time, disinformation gains millions of followers.
- Teacher
Juha Tuominen