Memes have become so popular on social media that they are now considered another source of information. People take memes seriously and start sharing them on their timelines without any fact-checking. Sometimes users create and share memes on social media without any bad intention but that can lead to an undesirable situation.
But often users create memes based on real news or events but their intention is to spread fake news by giving it a twist or changing the context completely. For example, one user shared a meme that says “In India, people are getting killed for eating beef.” There was no such incident reported anywhere in India but this user wanted to spread hate against Muslims by writing this in that post. Sometimes pranksters want to see how far their joke will go before it gets debunked by people on social media. This is why it’s crucial that we understand how memes work so that we do not get deceived by them.
Examples of how memes have been used to spread fake news
One was the NFL kneeling controversy. A meme that started circulating on Facebook and Twitter in 2017 during the NFL kneeling controversy falsely claimed that President Donald Trump donated $1 million to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts when he didn’t. The image also featured a quote from Trump saying that he would only donate money if he received credit for it — something no one has ever heard him say.
Meghan Markle’s pregnancy announcement was also fake content. A viral photo that circulated on Facebook after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they were expecting their first child falsely claimed that Markle had already given birth to her baby boy — even though she hadn’t even announced her pregnancy yet!
Another example is a meme about climate change: “The ice caps are not melting…they are growing!” This is a common myth among climate deniers who believe there is no need to take action on global warming because nature will take care of itself. But in reality, scientists have been observing ice caps melting around the world since 2003 — long before Trump took office — and they expect it to continue accelerating over time unless we reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly within this century.
Memes for propaganda?
Memes have become an important tool in spreading political messages across the internet, especially when it comes to elections.
One example is the meme that appeared in 2016, which showed a photo of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with the caption “I’m not sick! I’m just resting.” The meme was meant to make fun of Clinton’s health and implied that she wasn’t fit for office. In reality, Clinton had pneumonia at the time — something confirmed by her doctor. But the meme had already spread misinformation and misled many voters into thinking that Clinton was hiding something from them.
In the run-up to the 2016 US presidential election, Donald Trump’s team even hired a team of meme creators known as “The Deplorables” to create viral content that would appeal to young voters and get them engaged in politics.
The root cause of this phenomenon is simple: people are sharing content that they find amusing or interesting. In a recent study by The Pew Research Center, about two-thirds (67%) of Americans get at least some of their news from social media, with 44% getting news from Facebook. In addition, more than half (56%) say they get news from search engines like Google or Bing, and 32% say they get news from Twitter.
In other words, most Americans are getting their news from unreliable sources – which means that when we post something as “true” on Facebook or Twitter, we’re spreading misinformation without realizing it.
Memes, Misinformation and all
Nonetheless, memes on social media have been rooted in misinformation and conspiracy theories over time, which are then spread by bots, trolls, and fake accounts. The problem of fake news has been around for years, but it has taken on new dimensions with the rise of social media. So media literacy is becoming essential for practicing better digital governance.
People use memes on social media because they want to express their feelings about something through images rather than words, which makes it easier for other people who have similar opinions to them. Memes are often made to make fun of current events. They are often created by average people but sometimes they can be created by companies or organizations with a specific agenda in mind. So it is our responsibility to check facts before sharing them and making a matter go viral over the internet.