TRAINING on how to spot misinformation online is set to be rolled out by SNP branches with concern false social media posts will “ramp up” as Scotland gets closer to independence.
The move follows a session on the issue at last week’s virtual National Assembly, which was held to discuss the tactics and strategy for indyref2.
Alex Kerr, SNP NEC member for Glasgow and former European election candidate, said he organised the discussion after seeing the impact of false claims about the recent US presidential race – with the attack on the Capitol building an “extreme example of how far this can go”.
He said: “Just under half of Republicans believe there was electoral fraud during the presidential election. When you get to that point it is not a healthy place to be.
“There is concern about misinformation being spread about the SNP and within the Yes movement more generally – or certainly the seeds of it.
“There was real frustration and anger about it from the members who were there at the National Assembly.”
Kerr said it was also likely to be even more of an issue in the run-up to the Holyrood elections this year, with increased campaigning activity expected to take place online due to Covid restrictions.
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He said much of the misinformation came from social media and examples could be found in the Yes movement and from Unionist sources.
“There are some people on social media who believe quite seriously that Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t want independence, doesn’t believe in independence,” he said.
“One of the members [in the discussion] also raised concerns about anti-vaccine and Covid denial within certain Facebook groups and the like.
“At a time when people’s trust in traditional institutions is at an all-time low, what happens is people tend to turn elsewhere for their information.
“There is a concern about vulnerable people being taken advantage of.”
In recent years there has been increasing concern about the role social media platforms can play in spreading inaccurate information during political campaigns.
Last week, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the site is looking at reducing political content.
“People don’t want politics and fighting to take over their experience on the platform,” he said.
“We’re going to focus even more on being a force for bringing people closer together.”
Kerr said there were multiple sources of misinformation and different actors involved in spreading it, pointing to the example of Brexit campaigning fuelled by “so-called dark money”.
He said another major issue was the lack of regulation of social media sites, with Donald Trump only banned from Twitter once he was on his way out of the White House.
“Social media is not necessarily a natural thing for human beings,” Kerr said.
“It requires learning a skillset almost, because it has gone from posting pictures of your breakfast and your pals to some kind of big giant political forum – which is positive, but also requires a bit of canniness to navigate now.”
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Kerr said the discussion at the National Assembly had been positive and a key aspect would be taking people out of “silos” and having a forum to enable open discussion of issues.
“One of the things we spoke about is how Twitter itself is almost like a small village,” he said.
“It tends to be highly politically charged people that are on it or people who are involved to some extent.
“Due to the social media algorithms you can find yourself drawn into these silos and before you know it, it becomes a positive feedback loop – you continue to hear more of the silo you put yourself in and assume that is reflective of the general population.”
He said training would be taken forward within the SNP Glasgow regional structure and is hoped to also be made available in other areas.
“I have been in discussions with folk who are keen to see more action on it,” he said.
“All the participants wanted training at the new regional structures, through branches and the like.
“[Spotting misinformation] is not easy thing to do, certainly if you don’t live your life on the internet.”
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