X, formerly Twitter, while always bot-ridden, has become even more toxic over the past period. Most notably after Elon Musk bought the social media platform, and it’s necessary that when reading a post one keeps that in mind. Nonetheless, while it has become freer, it has also allowed for a barrage of spam-like posts to surge on the surface. Many profiles, either with real names or posting anonymously, have been promoting negative, racist, or hateful remarks.

Many take certain remarks or comments out of context, fixating on irrelevant topics, or purposefully igniting heated arguments that take conservationists into a spiral of discrimination, effectively triggering conflicts between people of different nations.

While the importance of social media lies in its freedom and having up-to-date information across the globe in minutes, organized disinformation completely destroys its purpose. This can affect users’ perception of some information, which can lead to a complete change in their views, mostly in ways they would not normally think. This is a new form of manufacturing consent not driven by governments but by anyone with some cash and malintent. It is a form of control where if you own the emotions of the people, you own their minds, ideologies, and actions.

Noam Chomsky defined manufacturing consent as mobilizing public opinion regarding an issue in order to get the consent of two main targets: the intellectual policy-making class and the majority of the population who do not pay attention to intricacies. Moreover, many profiles are just copying other trendy posts for the clicks and the revenue they could generate, making X an inviting platform for hostile environments, especially since people usually gravitate towards negative posts.

If a post becomes trendy, it will reach large masses regardless of its factuality. George Orwell exemplified the use of control and manipulating information in order to control people. This is now easily done by creating trendy posts. One can only imagine how readers of all ages can perceive such farcical posts and become emotionally invested in them. This is even more prevalent when videos or photos are released with misleading information and guided headlines that can be compared with Cold War propaganda.

It is even more unfortunate that some news outlets fall victim to these posts because they have not done their due diligence and fact-checked their posts. Recently, an official made a slip of the tongue that went viral, igniting hatred between the two countries. Whether his ‘slip of the tongue’ was purposeful or not, we cannot assume what anyone thinks without vital evidence, especially when they have no reason to utter hateful remarks.

It is important that when reading posts, people keep in mind that some information may be taken out of context. And it is even more important not to overhype news because it is news that should be known, and its purpose is to spread information and not cause a disturbance.