When many people first heard of the terror attacks in Paris on November 13, their first reaction was to check the Internet. Whether finding out in person or over text message, it took most people only a few seconds to switch over to Google to check what major news outlets were saying about the events that were unfolding. Even as the attacks were ongoing, the ability to switch between Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, and major news websites provided the illusion of a real-time connection to the events as they transpired.
One of the most amazing aspects of the age we live in is our ability to disseminate information at lightning speed to people and places all over the world, but there’s something both unnerving dangerous about being able to follow a constantly-evolving web snapshot of such a horrific and violent event as it happens. Twitter was flooded with updates from people in the area of the attacks informing their loved ones of their situation and providing safety tips for others. The hashtag #PorteOuverte (“open door”) spread quickly on Twitter as a means for Parisians to offer refuge to victims of the attacks. Videos of people fleeing the scenes of the attacks, statements from those affected, and images of dead and injured people were available even before police were able to neutralize the situation. One of the hostages taken inside the Bataclan, Benjamin Cazenoves, made Facebook updates describing the events in graphic detail as they unfolded in the concert hall, attracting international coverage of his posts.
Unsurprisingly, amid this rush of information, misinformation abounded, including wild guesswork on how the Paris police intended to respond to the hostage situation, erroneous claims about the nature and scope of the attacks, and misestimates of the number of casualties. Likewise, the following hours and days saw newsfeeds and timelines filled with posts about the attacks that didn’t quite hit the mark. Images of a darkened Eiffel Tower circulated widely, the claim being that the tower had been dimmed in mourning, despite the fact that the dimming of the tower lights at 1 AM has been a daily occurrence since 2013. A tweet made by Donald Trump almost a year ago, regarding the Charlie Hebdo shooting, gained similar traction and garnered outrage when French ambassador Gerard Araud mistook it for commentary on the Paris attacks. Several major European news outlets circulated a photoshopped image of Veerender Jubbal, an innocent Canadian Sikh man, naming him as a perpetrator of the attacks and consequently subjecting him to tremendous fallout and backlash from people who saw and believed the doctored photo.
While social media is undoubtedly a useful tool for the dissemination of information and ideas, its role in events of this nature can be just as harmful as it can be helpful. While social media, especially Twitter, has revolutionized the way we access information and how we live in the world, when this information is incorrect or out-dated it can be incendiary. In the thick of such a shocking series of events, with the media clamouring to be the first to piece the story together and individual people anxious to determine the extent of the damage, journalistic standards tend to fall by the wayside. Even in the aftermath, it’s all too easy to jump to conclusions and fall victim to emotional appeals designed to sensationalize the (justifiable) feelings of horror and outrage people experience after such a tragic event, rather than to seek out factual accounts.
Institutions of journalism are not just structures filled by writers and editors—they’re also institutions responsible for upholding ethical and moral standards that prevent the power of information from being used to incite hatred, advance political agendas, and mislead the public into harmful ways of thinking. And now that it’s so easy for anyone with a social media account to participate in the same discourse as these institutions, it’s more important than ever to be conscious of the reputability of your sources. With a situation as politically charged as this one, the aftermath of which has included horrific, unjustified, and senseless acts of violence against people of colour and Muslims across the Western world, we can’t afford to share information irresponsibly.
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