In recent years, and especially during the period when the Covid-19 pandemic has monopolized the interests of the planet, the question fake news and disinformation on social media it greatly engaged users both in Greece and in the rest of the world. But is this problem really striving now … to be forgotten?

The fact that technological giants recently happened in cutsthat affected their anti-fake news staff raised concerns that the credibility and reliability online content has ceased to be a priority for these companies.

It is noted that last month YouTubeowned by Google “implicitly” reduced the number of members of the expert commission which aims to address the problem of disinformation, according to sources with knowledge of the matter, cited in a recent New York Times article.

The same trend is being seen at Twitter, which also saw significant staff cuts after its acquisition by Elon Musk, while Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has now focused much of its attention on moving into the virtual world. from the Metaverse.

So should social media users worry about the future? Professor Charlie Beckett from the Department of Communications and Media at the London School of Economics told K about the future of information in social networks. Dimitris Alikakosjournalist and editor-in-chief of the page, Ellinika Hoaxes, explained to us what is the current situation in Greece with fake news.

Fake news and the “lessons” of the pandemic

Mr. Alikakos emphasizes that the topic of fake news was on everyone’s lips during the most difficult period of the pandemic. As he explains, the reason why this happened was due to the fact that there have been people taken to intensive care units or even to death due to misinformationwhich highlights how serious the consequences of spreading false or inaccurate news can be.

However, later this problem ceased to be in the foreground and led to a certain degree of obsolescence, he says.

However, for his part, Professor Charlie Beckett notes that users have become more aware of the serious consequences that fake news can have, especially in terms of health and financial problems.