Pausing before you share helps save lives
Pausing before you share helps save lives
Misinformation can prolong crises and cost lives. But there’s something we can do.
Everybody knows somebody who shares misleading, emotionally charged, or questionable posts. What if that person was you and you didn’t know it?
Right now, we are seeing a surge in misinformation online because of the escalating violence in Ukraine. This happens in moments of crisis, when people are searching for information to help them understand what is happening, or how to stay safe.
Studies show that by pausing before you share something online, you allow time to think about the information – where it comes from, whether it’s true, when it was written and why you are sharing it. This means you are less likely to spread misinformation.
By flooding timelines with this simple message, you can help people stop and think, and slow the spread of harmful misinformation.
According to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study, seeing this Pause message makes people significantly less likely to share misleading information.
Just as we saw with COVID-19, there is reliable information online about the crisis, but many sources are deliberately misleading, and others bend the truth just to get our attention. When misinformation spreads it becomes hard to contain – and every false share can have damaging consequences.
Pause before you like, post or comment to make sure what you share is accurate.
