Disinformation on social media causes discrimination against immigrants: Academic

Disinformation on social media causes discrimination against immigrants, an academic said on Monday, calling for dialogue to resolve the issue.

Speaking to Anadolu, Prof. Nezih Orhon, head of the Cinema and Television Department of Anadolu University's Faculty of Communication Sciences, said: "Immigrants are always seen as a burden. This way of description begins to turn into hostility, evil, and hatred. Prejudices and negative emotions are fed, and a society living with anxiety and fear is formed."

Pointing out that dialogue should be sought instead of partisan discussions regarding immigrants, Orhon continued: "People think that they are under economic, cultural, and social threats due to the existence of certain groups or people. They see immigrants as a security threat, thinking that their neighborhoods and cultures are being taken away from them. After a while, threats produce fatigue, anxiety, and fear. Unfortunately, this fear and anxiety is contagious."

Noting that dialogue with immigrants cannot be established due to marginalization and polarization in society, Orhon said: "We see polarization in the form of 'me against you,' 'us against them.' We constantly try to distance ourselves and alienate even at points where we can perhaps achieve partnerships and mutual harmony. Unfortunately, we eventually come to a point where we produce discrimination and stigma."

Stating that technology is now used to produce disinformation, Orhon said there needs to be awareness about bot accounts purposefully set up to stoke hostility.

Orhon also pointed out that immigrants who are constantly shown in a bad light and labelled with negative adjectives move further away from society, and underlined that such stigmatization causes greater discrimination and ruptures in society.

IMAGES AND VIDEOS

Mentioning that images shared on social media should be handled carefully, Orhon said that images and videos mobilize the masses the most.

Stating that the concept of human mobility and migration, which is the subject of disinformation, should be understood, Orhon said: "We see all the migrating people as the same. We reduce situations to scores, like watching a football match. However, issues related to people are not a matter of scores or numbers. Instead of these numbers, what we should primarily think about are their faces and voices. Sometimes even the angle of a camera can change your perspective on the subject and the way you perceive it."

Orhon stated that disinformation means false content created to deliberately cause harm, adding that sometimes a person spreads it and is not aware that the information is false and misleading.

The academic also underlined that malinformation, which refers to the sharing of accurate information with the aim of causing harm, is the "most dangerous" of these concepts.

"We are talking about content that is knowingly produced, constructed, or transformed incorrectly. By producing such content or videos, it is intended to harm a person. This could be to harm a leader, local administrator, non-governmental organization, or a social group such as immigrants," he concluded.