Prof. Sissel McCarthy shared her views on the danger of disinformation and tips for recognizing it with members of the International Women’s Forum during a Zoom talk last month titled “Protecting People, Politics and Business from Disinformation.”
McCarthy called disinformation an existential threat to our democracy and agreed with the World Economic Forum’s survey naming it the top global risk for 2025. “Disinformation is not just a nuisance—it is a tool and an effective and deliberate one to manipulate the public,” said McCarthy. “It’s also not just a theoretical threat or hype—this is our reality. And it has created an unprecedented crisis of truth that is eroding our ability as Americans to agree on a common set of facts.”
The consequences of disinformation are far-reaching and have led to polarization in the US, cynicism about all information and a loss of trust in institutions that are essential to democracy, McCarthy said.
While some lawmakers and regulators are making efforts to contain disinformation, McCarthy said that we cannot count on them to solve this problem. “Gridlock in Washington is the norm, and this inertia is holding up legislation even when there is agreement on how much of a threat disinformation poses to our country,” she said. “I also have no expectation or even hope that tech companies are going to police this type of content—in fact, they’ve told us they won’t. So that leaves the independent press and informed citizens to take up the fight.”
McCarthy says that’s what she is trying to do at Hunter College in her News Literacy in a Digital Age course. She helps students become more critical consumers of news by teaching them how to find fact-based information online and spot disinformation. “These skills are what I call core competencies for the 21st century. They should be part of every person’s education so they can navigate our information ecosystem effectively and responsibly,” said McCarthy.
She shared what’s known as the SIFT method, a step-by-step strategy developed by Mike Caufield to determine whether information is credible.
The first step is Stop: Before diving into an article or post, take a moment to consider your emotional reaction to the information. A lot of information is posted on the internet to generate outrage, so before you share it on social media, take a breath.
Then Investigate the source: Learn about who is behind that information. Are they credible and what is their potential bias?
If you’re still not sure, go to step 3: Find better coverage: Look for other sources covering the same information. Do they corroborate the claims or offer a different perspective?
And to be really sure, Trace claims to the original context: If the information includes quotes, data or media, try to find the original source. Is the information presented accurately and in context?
McCarthy says these steps don’t take long to learn and that by using the SIFT strategy, people can avoid being misled by disinformation online.
