So we are in the era of online disinformation; really, this is absolutely amazing. Considering we live in an age where the average person has access to more information than kings and queens had in the past. 

I log onto my social media accounts to read the news, my newsfeed is set up with leading media organisations from around the globe. I like to think I read from a variety of news sources to gain an overall view, I certainly do not log onto sketchy sites that are ultra right or left wing. I am aware certain news sites are centre, or centre left or right with some organisations pushing either further left or right on the spectrum.

So how have we descended into the lowering of collective intelligence? How has the internet provided the means for fuelling conspiracies and blatent mistruths? The question I ask is who should control the flow of information? Currently, content on the internet is mostly uncontrolled, with the exception of arms dealing, pedophilia and other illegal activities, the internet is mostly unregulated.

Yes, there is the dark web, but for the best part, most of us have no idea how to connect to the dark web. Murders, mass killings and other crimes are uploaded before being taken down. There have been a number of instances where mass shootings have been live streamed, there are war crimes and sexual assaults shared online. Whilst these cannot be grouped into misinformation, the very nature of these uploads are extremely disturbing.

I can go online and follow neo-nazi, white supremacist or radical Islam sites with ease. I can find bomb-making sites, how to create illicit drugs or how to steal motor vehicles. Then we have certain organisations dedicated to creating misinformation to the state funded Wuamo, North Korean Bureau 121, and Iranian cyber warfare unit.

We have the flat earth society, Elvis is alive, Area 51 and fake moon landing groups. If I hear another person with absolutely no scientific background cite the Van Allen belts, no stars viewed in the photographs on the lunar surface or the crinkle on the US flag on the surface, I might just send Buzz around to smack them in the mouth.

I have set up my newsfeed with news outlets from around the world with Reuters, the BBC, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, The Bangkok Post, The Straits Times, Al Jezerra, Nikkei Asia, Bloomberg Asia, The Jakarta Post, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Times. I try to read news from different locations and differing points of view.

So how did all this online disinformation form? There are times news outlets report news and they also provide commentary, the editorials are interesting and allows readers to form opinions. There are columnists that pursue a specific agenda, I get that, you read their article or blog and then review it for inconsistencies. At university, we did a unit on applying critical thinking to news media.