Tackling the misinformation debate at Appalachian State

Misinformation poses a huge risk in society and has become all too common in public discourse in recent years. The misinformation about Haitian immigrants eating cats in Springfield, Ohio that former President Donald J. Trump spread at the debate shows how misinformation has infiltrated mainstream narratives.

In the digital age, misinformation spreads like wildfire that’s hard to control and it can come from different mediums like memes, articles or podcasts. While genuine misinformation leads to negative outcomes in society, so does government censorship of it. Letting the government censor misinformation would pose a great threat to the first amendment. What would they define as misinformation as and do some things labeled as misinformation have merit. This is an issue that is being brought up across college campuses including Appalachian State.

One of the best ways to combat misinformation on campus is to fact-check it and provide accurate information with the public. You can also civilly debate the spreader of misinformation, which is something that happens on campus frequently when people share their viewpoints in public, even if the viewpoints aren’t misinformation. People may be allowed to spread misinformation on campus but they can still receive public criticism. “You may be free to say what you want but it also doesn’t mean it comes without consequences,” said free speech officer Jeff Cathey.

The online social media app Yik Yak anonymously connects college students to a messaging board with people who go to the same college and is popular at Appalachian State. Students use it for a variety of reasons including spreading political messages, taking polls and posting localized memes. This app can be used to educate students on local, national and global political issues but it also has the potential to spread propaganda among students.

Local Appalachian State students use Yik Yak responsibly for the most part, with many using it to call out hate speech, including recently when a student anonymously posted to watch out for students spreading white supremamist messages in the expression tunnels. WPWW was spray painted in one of the tunnels, which means “White Power Worldwide.” People also use it to promote awareness about misinformation, including recently when a student posted a screenshot about JD Vance saying he’s ok with creating stories.

There seems to be a self governed atmosphere in Yak Yak with users generally not promoting misinformation. A user posted the most recent assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump was actually two men shooting at each other and not at Trump. This received 12 dislikes and a lot of rebuttals. This seems like the best solution to misinformation; let the people self-govern social media platforms instead of creating censorship laws.

Yik Yak can also promote narrow minded and emotionally driven viewpoints that leave out most of the key information related to the issue so they can promote a specific ideological narrative. A local Yik Yak user recently posted “Police Thugs committed a mass shooting in NYC and the mayor is praising them. Fuck this country.” This post received over 90 likes. This is completely protected by the first amendment but it shows the problem with social media and its ability to rile people up instead of having real discussions.

At Appalachian State misinformation is a debated issue. Speaking on if Anti-Vax protestors should be allowed on campus an App State student said, “I’m sure that would be protected, there would be a lot of people gathered there to say that it’s a stupid idea but it would most likely be protected.” When asked on how we should deal with misinformation they said “If it’s like spreading blatant misinformation I feel like it should just be ignored.”

Misinformation is a complex issue and Appalachian State doesn’t have a concrete answer for how to deal with it that doesn’t involve government solutions and interventions. Speaking on when misinformation doesn’t fall under the umbrella of free speech on campus, Appalachian State free speech officer Jamie Parson said, “I don’t think we get to make that determination, I think that’s a determination that’s gonna come out in the courts or some legislative action.”

Under the current misinformation laws conveying false information knowingly would result in a civil penalty of $1,000 or less. So if there was someone passing around flyers at App State that spread misinformation related to the Haitians in Springfield Ohio, they could receive a fine for it but only if they knew what they were spreading was false information. It would be hard to prove that they knew the information was fake though unless you were to get a confession. Spreading misinformation can also lead to criminal charges under this code if the information also shows disregard for human life.

One major problem with censoring misinformation is that some misinformation is widely believed by the general public and that can create freedom of speech issues. According to polling, most Americans believe in some form of JFK assassination conspiracy theories. JFK assassination conspiracies are considered misinformation and if we were to stop the spread of these conspiracy theories it would also be stopping the spread of a popular narrative, which would be draconian. In the polling of six students at App State all of them said they would be against the government regulation of misinformation. “I think it’s your own responsibility to do your own research to find out if something is true,” said App State student Gia Gerald.