Riverdale Students Weigh in on Misinformation
23% of Americans have shared fake news (Pew Research). That’s a quarter of our country. It’s not just their fault, though; fabricated stories surround us all the time through unreliable news outlets and the internet. And in this election season, when a well-informed public is essential, misinformation presents a threat to our nation. Misinformation has existed throughout time, but a big part of what’s driving its rise right now is social media.
To get a better understanding of the situation, The Riverdale Review interviewed senior Vedaant Srivastava who is conducting an independent study on Politics in the Information Age along with computer science teacher Mr. Paul Fisher. He describes his topic as “focusing on the interplay of the evolving role of technology in politics and social media in particular…from both the computational side and the historical side of things.” Given the clear issues with misinformation now, he discussed what impact the digital world has had on the accuracy of news. Srivastava clarified that “what social media does is it takes these super fringe ideas and popularizes them; it’s a tool that people, and propagandists, can use very effectively to spread misinformation.” Not only do people intentionally use social media to spread false news, but Srivastava also warned that “right now with generative AI it even becomes the computers themselves creating the misinformation.”
The Riverdale Review asked Srivastava about possible solutions to mitigate the effects of misinformation. He responded that “ we’re going to have to see some sort of huge change from the social media companies themselves in terms of…what their algorithms prioritize. And part of that could come from the government as well.” He cautioned, however, that the problem could never be fully resolved, since misinformation will always be present in society.
While we wait for social media to change their algorithms, community members need to use their own reasoning skills to fight fake news. Srivastava recommends that “on the individual level, you can take steps to inculcate yourself or your community from fake news…being a critical thinker, doing your own research, [and] never just passively absorbing the news you see. It’s always a good idea to take a multitude of reliable sources rather than just blindly believing.”
The Riverdale community, too, must take steps toward combating misinformation. Srivastava warns that “the Riverdale student body would like to believe it’s a lot better informed than it is.” He amended that it’s about as informed as “the general population within, a relatively well-educated coastal city, but not beyond that.” When we discussed possible Riverdale solutions, he brought up the issue of institutional bias. “And I think there’s a large group of students out there who are primed to not trust stuff that comes out of classes or out of the school. And because of that, I’m a little skeptical as to how well the school will be able to stop election misinformation.” He said this, however, noting that Riverdale is taking steps to try to combat fake news in our community, such as the history department’s election workshops which focus on clarifying issues from abortion to election politics, and everything in between.
The Riverdale Review reached out to some community members for their views on misinformation. One anonymous senior said “I think I’m pretty well informed. I watch the debates. I read some stuff from news articles from varying political spectrums.” Another senior, Joana Ramos, said that “I think most people are putting a lot of effort into [informing themselves]. If you’re not voting, it’s [less important], but the people who I know who are going to vote are trying to put a lot of effort into being informed.” Regardless of how effective these efforts are, it’s clear that seniors are taking their civic duties seriously.
Misinformation is a huge issue in America as a whole, and even affects our Riverdale community. It’s important that social media companies and the government take real steps to change our system, as Srivasta pointed out. But just as our current seniors are doing right now, we individual citizens must take responsibility for how we internalize the information we see. We must all be careful to check our sources and make sure that the news we get is real and reliable. You can do this by checking multiple sources, making sure to read reliable newspapers and journals, and engaging in political discourse with other well-informed people. If we don’t take these steps—and if our country itself stays misinformed—we won’t be able to mitigate political polarization or improve our election ethics. To preserve our democracy, we have to ensure the members of our republic know the truth. Finding that truth shouldn’t be a unique achievement; let’s make it our civic responsibility.
