I am often shocked at the amount of misinformation I encounter online. Many videos and articles promote blatant propaganda.
One way to tell propaganda from, say, an article that seeks to inform, is to work out if the content is nuanced or merely seeks to paint someone (or something) as a villain. That is one way. These victim / villain narratives never seek solutions. Its main goal is to enrage or instil fear.
That said, there are two very effective ways to safeguard against propaganda and misinformation.
Reading
Read widely. Read books. Read things that have stood the test of time. Spend more time reading than watching things on screen. Putting things on paper, aka writing, takes much more mental effort than sharing a bunch of opinions on a video. This probably depends on the source, but consider this: people that share valuable ideas on videos, frequently are writers first.
Many times, I’ve started writing about a particular topic only to realise that my initial view wasn’t nuanced enough. Or maybe even slightly wrong. This happens when you write. You learn to think clearly.
We are in some vague sense indoctrinated by popular media. Maybe it’s not even that vague. Maybe it’s not just popular media. When I avoid TV for long periods of time, I become aware of this—the slight brainwashing that goes along with TV. It becomes more apparent when I read more. It becomes more apparent when I accidentally watch a radicalised video that someone made.
A way to counter this indoctrination is by reading more.
Someone that has written a book on a particular topic has spent time polishing their ideas, making sure they understand different avenues of the subject matter. Books are just better. That is not to say that all books are better. And some books can also aim to propogandize. Focus on quality. Focus on timelessness.
Cultivate Emotional Awareness
There are many important reasons to cultivate emotional awareness. First, it’s easier to avoid destructive patterns. Second, it becomes really easy to spot when you are being manipulated by someone or something.
Videos and articles, particular if they are political in nature, aim to enrage or instil fear. Depending on the source of information, this might not always be the case. But more often than not, it is.
If we have emotional awareness, we can see when we are being manipulated. We can choose to disengage and focus on what matters—the solution, not the problem. There is something very important at the core of this: We only have so much time and energy per day. We should focus on our soul path—not the agendas of dubious entities.