Fact or fiction? A distorted reality

With a new Republican government in America, a new Labour government in the United Kingdom, protests in Germany, Georgia, Slovakia and Serbia, Russia’s against Ukraine, a ceasefire in Gaza, the end of the Al-Assad rule in Syria, the Taliban reducing women’s rights in Afghanistan and many more changes, it can’t be denied that our political climate is undergoing serious development. Knowledge is power; but with a rise of misinformation things quickly become unclear and incorrect. 

Politics is an ever-changing concept, but its few consistencies lie in the fact that history is doomed to repeat itself if forgotten, and that political power lies with the people. Maintaining objectivity, rather than unwavering loyalty, in politics is essential to create unbiased and informed decisions. Without this, misinformation can influence opinions towards a particular direction.

Over the recent summer in the UK, misinformation about the stabbing of 3 young girls in Southport incited violent riots resulting in vast disorder across the country. These right-wing riots confirmed that members of the British public can be both opinionated and politically active, despite their extreme and dangerous actions in this case being founded on false accusations, encouraged by convicted criminal and English Defense League (EDL) founder, Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon). 

While media coverage focused on the extreme and disappointing violence of the riots, an additional layer of knowledge the government held regarding the attacker, Axel Rudakubana, went unnoticed. Rudakubana first become known to authorities in 2019 and following this, he has since been assessed on multiple occasions by counter-terrorism police, who chose not to send him for specialist support.

Extremism is easily encouraged by misinformation and ignorance towards the truth. These riots proved how it can be used as an excuse to incite violence and direct blame. Forming your own opinion on a situation is important but you should be confident that it is your own and not the result of bias and influence from those trying to spread their opinion through you. In the case of the Southport attacks, instead of rioting and spreading disorder, the public could have addressed the inadequate actions of the counter-terrorism team.

Misinformation often comes in the form of omitted truth to present a biased presentation of a topic which is why it is necessary for individuals to remain objective

The truth can be difficult to find and easily altered to portray an image in favour of its controller. For example, US President Donald Trump, advocated for a TikTok ban, or a sale to an American company, in 2020. However, he recently signed an executive order to delay the ban, receiving credit for doing so. His contrasting opinions and temporary solutions hide what his true feelings are on the matter, illustrating how the truth is easily hidden. If you take the return of TikTok at face value you see an encouragement of free speech, however if you acknowledge the changes in the app following its return, it demonstrates a new level of political censorship. 

In the UK, a popular topic of media coverage is discussion around the lack of change by the new Labour government, creating a decline in their approval ratings. It is easier to fixate on this idea of government failure and follow the opinions the media portray, rather than to take a step back and consider how these media sources portray unrealistic expectations. For example, they often fail to acknowledge that the Labour government’s seven months in office isn’t enough time to enact the large change they demand following fourteen years of Conservative government. ​

Misinformation often comes in the form of omitted truth to present a biased presentation of a topic which is why it is necessary for individuals to remain objective rather than be quickly angered. Considering factors which may not be immediately presented is essential to prevent your opinion being formed and consolidated based on limited information.

Social media can be useful to guide you in the direction of where to look for political change, but its reliability is often limited by spreading both true and false information. For example, users on social Media platform X/Twitter can monetise their posts to gain financially, ultimately allowing questionable opinions to be spread in attempts to maximise financial opportunities. Naivety surrounding the significance of misinformation allows it to spread and create unnecessary discontent in society by providing opportunities for extremist views to emerge.

Actively participating in politics is necessary to guide change in the correct direction by educating yourself rather than complaining later that you were unaware it was happening. Both local and global change must be considered, because what is currently happening to others could also happen to you. The information is around you, you just have to look for it.

Published 17 February 2025