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Responding to Disinformation:
Don't.

Beware What You Share Myth Versus Fact (1)_edited.jpg

Sample message to a friend who has amplified disinformation to debunk it:

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How's it going?  I saw your post about __________.  It's crazy how that kind of disinformation spreads!  I wanted to let you know, though, that the way social media is set up, reposting or commenting on disinformation, even critically, spreads that disinformation further. 

 

It's so hard not to respond, I know!  But you might want to think about deleting your response/repost and instead posting the truth about that issue without repeating the lie.  You can also report the disinfo to the platform as well as to Junkipedia via ReportDisinfo.org--they'll track it and come up with ways to counteract it.

Don't respond to disinformation - your response will do more harm than good.

Any engagement or repetition, even to "debunk," will simply amplify the disinfo. 

 

What you can do instead:  It's fine to post proactively truthful information in a way that doesn't engage with disinformation-laden posts, and you can take action against disinformation by reporting the disinfo to the platform; reporting it to Junkipedia via ReportDisinfo.org; or, if the disinformation is inadvertently shared by a friend, asking that friend in a private message to remove the disinformation and why (see the sample messages below for ways you can reach out to a like-minded friend).

Sample message to a friend who has inadvertently shared disinformation:

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Hey, I saw your post about ____________.  I wanted to let you know that it's not true,  and this is why: ______________.

 

 I know you wouldn't want to share disinformation inadvertently, so I thought I would let you know.

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