Learn About Prebunking – The Vaccine Against Misinformation Fever

Prebunking equips people with ways to spot misinforming content and question it.

Prebunking is like a vaccine against misinformation, which equips people with ways to spot misinformation and question it.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma

Illustrations: Aroop Mishra

Mis/disinformation spreads way too quickly and widely than a fact-check and on most occasions fact-checkers are trying to catch up with the biases and preconceived notions.

Prebunking is like a vaccine against misinformation.

In certain cases, fact-checkers pre-empt what kind of misinformation might go viral, and they work towards providing information to people so that they can reduce the possibility of them believing misleading messages, which are circulated on social media.

Some typical types of misinformation gets shared repeatedly during major news events such as big health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic or a natural disaster or maybe a big political event.

How Does It Work?

Prebunks are written in a way that address people's concerns, fill the information vacuum, and compel people to question information presented to them. Fact-checkers and journalists that present prebunks as

• Ahead of elections, data stories talking about the past performance of a political party could help debunk misinformation spread by political leaders

• Regularly talking about bad sources of information that regularly spread m/disinformation makes people more aware

• Dispelling rumours and myths that keep coming back, especially in case of a health crisis

• Talking about ways that are used to manipulate people and create false narratives

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