Kaichu Wu

Misleading online information

Department: Information Design

Fakeshima

Kaichu Wu was against nuclear power. When he realised that his fear was based on a misleading image, he began to wonder whether misleading information might be more dangerous than nuclear radiation. Especially considering that in a democracy, every individual has a certain right to determine the future. Furthermore, via the internet, misleading information can go viral and confirm biases. As an information designer, Kaichu set out to understand how to reduce the negative impact of misleading information. He found that we are very careless about our information consumption. When choosing what to eat, we check the nutrition facts first. And yet, we start reading an article with a sensationalist title or provocative images regardless of whether it ‘nourishes’ us. His design proposal Page Facts is a browsing tool revealing the ‘nutritional value’ of web pages to offer internet users clues about what they are about to consume.