Techniques for Spotting Fake Information in 3 Minutes, Taught by a Licensed Psychologist

How many times did you check the news on your smartphone today?

Among those, have you ever stopped and wondered, "Is this true?"

I will be honest. As a healthcare professional, I also encounter information almost every day that makes me hesitate, wondering, "Should I share this?" Health information, politics, disasters... all of these involve matters of "life."

But please rest assured.

You do not need special talent to spot the truth in information. All you need is a 3-minute habit of saying, "Wait a second."

Today, I will share five steps used by fact-checkers around the world, in a format that anyone can follow.

Are you drowning in a sea of information?

You wake up in the morning and open your smartphone.

Dozens of notifications have piled up. Among them, a shocking headline jumps out at you.

"Something terrible happened at XX! Please share!"

It makes your heart skip a beat, doesn't it? It does for me, too.

However, if you reflexively press the share button here, you might become an "accomplice to misinformation."

Our brains are wired to see what we want to see. In psychology, this is called "confirmation bias," but in short, it means we "believe what we want to believe."

That is why what you need is to engage your thinking before your emotions.

Do you know about the world-standard "lateral reading"?

Actually, professional fact-checkers do not read articles "vertically."

They read them laterally.

This is called "lateral reading." Do you know the movie "Spotlight"? It is a true story about newspaper reporters exposing church corruption, and what they were doing was exactly this.

Do not take a single source of information at face value; verify it from multiple angles.

This technique is something you can use, too.

5 steps to reach primary information

So, what should you do specifically?

Let's look at them in order.

Step 1: Put down your smartphone (Stop & Question)

If you feel anger or surprise, take a deep breath first.

There is nothing more suspicious than the phrase "Please spread this!" If it is truly important information, it will spread even without you sharing it.

Ask yourself.

Is this a fact? Or is it someone's opinion?
Who is saying this?
Where is the evidence?

These three questions will protect you.

Step 2: Open a new tab (Lateral Reading)

This is where the real work begins.

Before reading the content of that page,open a new tab in your browser.

Then, type "(site name) reputation" into the search bar.

For example, for health information, search for "[Name] Clinic reputation" or "[Name] doctor reliability."

Have they spread misinformation in the past? Do they have expertise? Is there a conflict of interest (flow of money)?

Just by doing this, you can filter out 90% of suspicious information.

When I read research papers, I always check the author's background. There is nothing more dangerous than health advice given by a celebrity outside their field of expertise.

Step 3: Find the source (Trace to the Original)

According to...

When you see these words, it's an opportunity.

Always look for that "something." If it's a paper, look for the title of the paper; if it's statistics, look for the government announcement; if it's a video, look for the full version.

Information that has been clipped is like a "taste test" in cooking. You cannot know the true flavor without seeing the whole thing.

In my experience, when you trace the source of an article claiming "A doctor sounds the alarm!", it is often just a single doctor stating their personal opinion on a blog.

The trick to searching is to enclose characteristic phrases in quotation marks.

Searching for "○○ is dangerous" makes it easier to reach the original source.

Step 4: Verify the source of images (Verify Visuals)

The more shocking an image is, the more careful you should be.

This is because they are often recycled photos from past disasters or are AI-generated.

Google Image Search, have you ever used it?

Just right-click the image and select "Search image with Google." This will show you the context in which that image has been used in the past.

How to spot AI images? Count the number of fingers. If there are six or three, it is almost certainly AI.

Step 5: Cross-check (Cross-Check)

Finally, compare it with other sources of information.

Try searching for "○○ fact check".

Japan Fact-check Center, InFact, or Snopes for international news. These specialized organizations may have already verified it.

For medical information, I always check the websites of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare or academic societies. If you enter "site:go.jp" in the search box, you can narrow your search to government agency websites only.

Do not trust a single source of information. Verify with three sources.

This is a golden rule of journalism.

Why is this necessary now?

We are exposed to a flood of information every day.

Among that information, there is also content that can hurt your loved ones.

People who ruin their health with incorrect health practices.
People who are misled by rumors and attack others.
People who fall for scams and lose their assets.

But you have the power to stop it.

A 3-minute check can protect someone's life.

That is not an exaggeration; it is truly the case.

You can change. Starting today.

At first, it might feel like a hassle.

But once you get used to it, it's just like brushing your teeth. It will become a daily habit.

I also used to think that 'checking every little thing is a waste of time' at first. But now, I find not checking to be scarier.

Your one check can protect your family.
Protect your friends.
Protect society.

Isn't that something incredibly valuable?

Starting tomorrow is fine. No, starting today is fine.

The next time you see shocking information on your smartphone, before you press the share button,please put your phone down for a moment.

Then open a new tab and type in 'reputation'.

Just by doing that, you will become someone who can navigate the sea of information.

Finally

Doubting information is not the same as doubting people.

Rather, it is about valuing the truth.

You have the power to discern.
You have the power to think.
You have the power to protect.

I would be happy if this article becomes the trigger for you to 'wait a moment'.

Let's work together to build a healthy information society.

#FactCheck
#InformationLiteracy
#LateralReading
#MedicalInformation
#DigitalWellbeing