Essay prompt draft 3

With the commercialisation of the internet, the freedom of information on the internet has led to an overwhelming catalogue of information online, from personal opinion to academic papers. However, little regulations in cyberspace has resulted in an increasing spread of misinformation and disinformation, some with motives to humour, and others with malicious intent. Regardless of the intent, many people often get fooled by the false content online created by satirical websites. This problem is further exacerbated when the disinformation presented is something which the public wants to believe. Action needs to be taken such that one can accurately judge the content online. Therefore, google should implement an online content rating system to caution users of the websites that they are visiting, so that they can be warned of what others had to say about that particular website.

Satirical websites result in many misleading articles and social media posts, fooling many into believing these information are true and factual when in fact they were completely made up. Very often such websites indicate in fine print or do not indicate at all that they post satirical articles, contributing to the deception. One example of how such “news” has fooled many would be the article by National Report on how a 15 year old who “swatted” another gamer, was convicted of domestic terrorism and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. Upon the release of the article, it was widely circulated by many online news websites and social media, all of which believed the articles authenticity. According to Barker from The Daily Dot, the article was shared 200, 000 times on Facebook, and received many comments applauding the decision of the judge. Barkers’ opinion was that the article was more than convincing to deceive the average reader, and would have fooled everyone except for the fact that National Report was the only paper which covered the trial, and this ultimately led to the hoax being unveiled. Scams like these are common. According to Wikipedia, media outlets have reported National Report’s satire as fact 13 times since the creation of the National Report website in 2013. Such satirical news are hard for the readers and even media outlets to guard against, given the authentic appearance of the articles.

The current solution put forward by the Singapore government to tackle this problem is the regulation of news websites. News websites, satirical or not, have perceived reliability due to the term “news” being used, and thus clamping down on websites that claim to be news but are instead downright misleading is a good approach. In this approach, the government takes the role of deciding if the news reported is newsworthy, and if necessary, takes action to remove misleading websites. This is however a limited approach which takes time to implement and identify errant websites, and is only applicable to Singaporean news websites.

A better solution would be for Google to implement an online content rating system which relies on public feedback to better warn users of the content that they are exposed to. After an online user has visited a website or read some news on social media, they can choose to write a user review on their web browser which would then pick the majority review response and display it for other users who are visiting the website or reading the news. This method relies on user feedback and thus a vast number of websites can be moderated. This is especially useful since websites with heavy traffic will receive more feedback from a wider range of people, enhancing the credibility. Examples of tags that websites could have by the Google browser could take the form of: “this website is known for satirical content”, or “this website has been flagged for extreme views”.  Had National Report been flagged as a satirical website, many people would have not been fooled so easily by the article and such a spectacle could have been avoided easily.

While the internet has stayed relatively free from regulations since its inception, implementation of an internet content rating system by web browsers are long overdue. In the implementation of such a system, care has to be made that user’s privacies are not unnecessarily intruded upon, or websites becoming able to be manipulated and abused to show false ratings. In the end, the onus is on the user to verify if the content they are viewing come from reliable sources. According to Montgomery, the publisher of National Report, it is the readers fault for being deceived by satirical news and spreading misinformation over social media as genuine news, since they themselves did not cross reference the authenticity of the news before spreading it. There is only so much measures taken by the government and organisations such as Google can do to prevent the spreading of false information. Ultimately, some discretion is needed before one shares “news” over social media.

Barker, I. (2014, September 04). No, a teen wasn’t just sentenced to 25 years in prison for swatting. The Daily Dot. Retrieved from http://www.dailydot.com/esports/15-year-old-swatting-prison-sentence-hoax/

National Report. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Report

Peace, Chiu. (2013, May 28). 10 online news sites must follow traditional media regulations: MDA. [Supplemental material]. Yahoo Newsroom. Retrieved from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/10-online-news-sites-must-follow-traditional-media-regulations--mda-103906167.html

Essay Prompt Draft 2

Because in Singapore politics, the vocal minority are able to express their views over social media, resulting in dissidents spreading hate and deceiving readers, the ministry of education (MOE) should start educating teenagers to be well discerning of false information.

A worrying trend has begun, whereby people content with a particular system do little to air their content, while discontent people take it upon themselves to criticize the system openly, making sure their voices are heard by many. This has led to the terms “silent majority” and “vocal minority” being coined.

A lack of regulation results in a free for all online landscape, where almost anything can be put up leaving the reader to be well discerning of whatever they are reading. However, it is often difficult to cross reference information presented online, resulting in people often believing what they read or watch at face value. The spread of the most ridiculous articles on social media proves that many are often unable to easily discern from false information.

The lack of regulations online as well as a significant number of the public being unable to be well discerning of what they are reading results in the rise of purposefully spread disinformation originating from individuals or groups with vested interests. A well written argument based on false information complemented with professional charts can easily sway many, stirring up their emotions and convincing them to act. This is worrying especially since our political leaders are democratically elected and such disinformation can sway the minds of many impressionable voters resulting in politicians becoming dismissed. One clear example would be the Roy Ngerng saga. Ngerng made baseless accusations against the prime minister accusing him of misappropriation of money in an article. This article was shared by many among social media, which garnered him many supporters. Due to the high profile involvement in this case, Ngerng was taken to court and found guilty of defaming the prime minister.

However, this is not all. The nature of the online landscape combined with the vocal minority and silent majority mean that a small number of loud individuals can dominate the online scene, giving the ordinary folk a mistaken impression of the actual reality. Such behaviour is apparent on online forums, news website comments, and all over social media. Online, there are scores of people insulting the government on everything from government policies to politician’s salaries. If one solely looked at the online landscape, they would come to the conclusion that Singaporeans are very unhappy with their government. However popularity surveys and election polls show a much different reality.

The current solution put forward by the Singapore government is the regulation of news websites. News websites have additional perceived reliability due to the term “news” being used, and thus clamping down on websites that claim to be news but are indeed satire or actually merely personal opinion is a right step forward. In this approach, the government takes the role of deciding if the news reported is newsworthy, and if necessary, take action to remove misleading websites. This is however a reactive approach which does not tackle the root problem, since disinformation and hatred can still be spread in the forms of social media such as facebook posts and tweets which are practically impossible to regulate.

An active solution would be to educate the masses to equip them with skills to be able to evaluate arguments and spot people who are trying to deceive others. Once people are able to appropriately discern for themselves what is true and what may be trying to mislead, disinformation would not get much attention as it does today, and such information be immediately frowned upon. It is only because so many believe false information that these articles and posts are able to gain such popularity. One way to equip the public with critical thinking skills would be to introduce critical thinking classes in secondary school by the Ministry of Education. Critical thinking helps people think and accurately choose from themselves what to believe, through the consideration of a wide array of sources. By incorporating such lessons in secondary school, the public as a whole whom have all been through secondary school would have acquired such skills in the eventual future.

The problem of misleading information of the internet in the form of misleading arguments as well as overcrowding of negativity towards the government should ultimately be solved at its roots, by teaching individuals how to discern what information they come across. However, using this solution may not be so straightforward. In reality, there might be reasons for why even the government might not want to correct the problem with education. By equipping the masses with such skills, it would become harder to run the government as citizens will become more critical towards their actions, and hold them to a higher standard. In the latest World Press Freedom Index, Singapore ranked a measly 153 out of 180, and thus giving citizens critical thinking skills might perhaps not in reality help the government agenda.

1.Minlee. (2014, November 7). Blogger Roy Ngerng found guilty of defaming PM Lee. Asiaone news. Retrieved from http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/blogger-roy-ngerng-found-guilty-defaming-pm-lee

2.Peace, Chiu. (2013, May 28). 10 online news sites must follow traditional media regulations: MDA. Yahoo newsroom. Retrieved from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/10-online-news-sites-must-follow-traditional-media-regulations--mda-103906167.html

3.2015 World Press Freedom Index. (2015). Retrieved from https://index.rsf.org/#!/

An Influential Event

On 28 May 2013 just past 10pm, two military policemen had rushed over to alert us about a traffic accident that had just occurred in the nearby vicinity. I was a combat medic on duty that night, and together with two other medics we immediately rushed to the scene of the accident.

The scene of the accident was a complete mess. There were car parts littered all over the road and sidewalk, an overturned motorcycle and two victims lying motionless on the ground. We would later find out that they were victims of an intoxicated hit and run accident. I attended to the male victim while my other two medic friends attended to the female victim. Given the nature of the injuries, treatment and immediate evacuation was extremely crucial. I did some quick treatment and then activated one of the military ambulances which was on standby, to take the more seriously injured female victim to hospital. Soon after the female victim was evacuated, a civil defence ambulance arrived with paramedics to evacuate the injured man.

Both victims eventually recovered fully, while the drunk driver involved was arrested.

This incident has taught me that as medical personnel, it is extremely important to keep our skills current so that when we have to use these skills, we can apply them proficiently and calmly to achieve the best possible clinical outcome for the injured.

Problem Solution Essay Draft 1

 Because in Singapore politics, the vocal minority are able to express their views over social media, resulting in dissidents spreading hate and deceiving readers, the ministry of education (MOE) should start educating teenagers to be well discerning of false information.

A worrying trend has begun, whereby people content with a particular system do little to air their content, while discontent people take it upon themselves to criticize the system openly, making sure their voices are heard by many. This has led to the terms “silent majority” and “vocal minority” being coined.

A lack of regulation results in a free for all online landscape, where almost anything can be put up leaving the reader to be well discerning of whatever they are reading. However, it is often difficult to cross reference information presented online, resulting in people often believing what they read or watch at face value. The spread of the most ridiculous articles on social media proves that many are often unable to easily discern from false information.

The lack of regulations online as well as a significant number of the public being unable to be well discerning of what they are reading results in the rise of purposefully spread disinformation originating from individuals or groups with vested interests. A well written argument based on false information complemented with professional charts can easily sway many, stirring up their emotions and convincing them to act. This is worrying especially since our political leaders are democratically elected and such disinformation can sway the minds of many impressionable voters resulting in politicians becoming dismissed. One clear example would be the Roy Ngerng saga (1). Ngerng made baseless accusations against the prime minister accusing him of misappropriation of money in an article. This article was shared by many among social media, which garnered him many supporters. Due to the high profile involvement in this case, Ngerng was taken to court and found guilty of defaming the prime minister.

However, this is not all. The nature of the online landscape combined with the vocal minority and silent majority mean that a small number of loud individuals can dominate the online scene, giving the ordinary folk a mistaken impression of the actual reality. Such behaviour is apparent on online forums, news website comments, and all over social media. Online, there are scores of people insulting the government on everything from government policies to politician’s salaries. If one solely looked at the online landscape, they would come to the conclusion that Singaporeans are very unhappy with their government. However popularity surveys and election polls show a much different reality.

The current solution put forward by the Singapore government is the regulation of news websites. News websites have additional perceived reliability due to the term “news” being used, and thus clamping down on websites that claim to be news but are indeed satire or actually merely personal opinion is a right step forward. The government takes the role of deciding if the news reported is newsworthy, and if necessary, take action to remove misleading websites. This is however a reactive approach which does not tackle the root problem, since disinformation and hatred can still be spread in the forms of social media such as facebook posts and tweets which are practically impossible to regulate.

An active solution would be to educate the masses to equip them with skills to be able to evaluate arguments and spot people who are trying to deceive others. Once people are able to appropriately discern for themselves what is true and what may be trying to mislead, disinformation would not get much attention as it does today, and such information be immediately frowned upon. It is only because so many believe false information that these articles and posts are able to gain such popularity. One way to equip the public with critical thinking skills would be to introduce critical thinking classes in secondary school by the Ministry of Education. Critical thinking helps people think and accurately choose from themselves what to believe, through the consideration of a wide array of sources. By incorporating such lessons in secondary school, the public as a whole whom have all been through secondary school would have acquired such skills in the eventual future.

The problem of misleading information of the internet in the form of misleading arguments as well as overcrowding of negativity towards the government should ultimately be solved at its roots, by teaching individuals how to discern what information they come across. However, there might be reasons for why even the government might not want to correct the problem with education. By equipping the masses with such skills, it would become harder to run the government as citizens will become more critical towards their actions, and hold them to a higher standard. In the latest World Press Freedom Index, Singapore ranked a measly 153 (3), and thus giving citizens critical thinking skills might perhaps not in reality help the government agenda.

1. http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/blogger-roy-ngerng-found-guilty-defaming-pm-lee

2. https://sg.news.yahoo.com/10-online-news-sites-must-follow-traditional-media-regulations--mda-103906167.html

3. http://www.straitstimes.com/news/world/more-world-stories/story/lastest-world-press-freedom-index-shows-drastic-decline-singapor