On January 8, Twitter permanently banned Trump from using the platform after he was found to incite the Capitol riots on January 6.. However, the ban has not stopped the circulation of misinformation and disinformation, and this has its effects on teens. 

Sophomore student Madeline Ward talks about how teens can get involved in false news and how it can affect not only their mental state but also their social understanding from real context.

“I noticed that when I was scrolling through my social media, twitter for example, I noticed a lot of conspiracies and speculation going around about how the news was fake and we shouldn’t believe what we were seeing on the TV like ABC or NBC. I read the comments and was actually surprised that people believed that the news was fake. Like how Biden didn’t win the election and how it was all some big scandal. I decided to for fun watch some videos of the people who believe that the Biden controversy was real. It was crazy how many teens thought that the controversy was real and it made me think about how simple words can affect a teens mind let alone their life,” said Ward. 

Ward says that she is glad to see that Trump has been banned from social media, citing the polarization of society as a result of his actions. 

“I am extremely relieved that Donald Trump is no longer allowed on social platforms. I think this should have happened a long time ago. I understand that he was president at the time and we wouldn’t be able to do that but the negativity he has influenced and caused due to his platforms on various social media apps is really upsetting. Even as a sophomore in high school seeing an individual with such power and promoting that much negativity is in a high position of power is unbelievable,” said Ward.  

Although there was a 73% drop in election misinformation after Trump was banned from the mainstream social media sites, some media platforms such as Youtube  are planning to lift Trump’s channel when the risk of violence decreases. On the other hand, Twitter isn’t planning to lift the ban on his account. 

Former president Trump seems to still have an active account with platforms such as Gab, which can still help him reach out to his base of supporters.

Trump is far from the only one spreading misinformation and disinformation.

Recently- elected Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, in one of her recent posts, writes about how Democrats are targeting the police to be shot and killed. A day before her post she also posted a picture that says, “Back The Blue,” and in her caption it’s mentioned, “Oppose the BLM/ ANTIFA Defund the Police Bill”, which is obvious that she is against the BLM. 

Teenagers are not the only ones susceptible to fake news, but being aware of media bias and using lateral reading, that is, and verifying information across different sources, instead of relying on news from your social media feed, can help to prevent being influenced by misinformation and disinformation.