BBC Guernsey Radio hosted Prof Harith Alani in a live interview to talk about the increasing shift of news readers from traditional TV broadcasting to social media platforms, a trend confirmed in a recent Ofcom report. Harith argued that getting news from social media is not inherently problematic if the information comes from trusted and reputable sources. However, the issue lies in social media platforms not taking adequate steps to help readers assess the trustworthiness and factuality of social media accounts, in spite of great advancements in such research and technology.  

Through multiple research grants, Alani and his team develop tools to track widespread misinformation and fact-checks, and have been experimenting with using automated methods for sending misinformation corrections on social media platforms. 

Harith also discusses the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the media, noting that while there are risks, such as the generation of harmful misinformation, AI is also a key tool in our technological efforts to counter these threats.