#FilterTheNoise was born out of two events.
First, the 2016 Brexit vote. With a French mother and British father, having benefited greatly from European integration, I watched with disbelief as the UK drifted away from mainland Europe. I set out to understand why, discovered a confused world of information, political manipulation, dark actors, powerful targeted ads and voter psychology.
When Covid-19 came around, affecting the very fabric of society, it was obvious how unequipped we were with dealing with the incessant of information on the web. We struggled to see what constituted a valid source, failed to distinguish between fact and opinion, misunderstood the nature of scientific knowledge. Misinformation and conspiracies grew, inflated by the emotions of our human nature, bots and an ad-driven model of the web.
In the intertwined world of media and politics, these both events laid bare our inability to rewire our critical thinking. This had direct consequences for society, citizens unable to filter the information thrown at them and take the best course of action.
➡️ A few years ago, I started creating learning resources for students and teachers on the topic of what is called media literacy, providing the basics on how to search, assess and source information online, but also covering important topics such as online bullying or net neutrality. These acted as the basis from which #FilterTheNoise was born.
