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30 Source Checking With Facebook and Twitter stories are shared with hundreds thousands and even millions of people almost instantly with the click of a button. Jordan notes that such rapid sharing of informa- tion opens the door for inaccurate and downright false information to be easily shared with others intentional or not. Sometimes people will just scan head- lines and assume something is true without doing any critical checking of the source she says. Failure to check sources is nothing new its an age-old problem. Jordan says that even with traditional print media news outlets have always been under intense pressure to fill pages and get news out quickly. And when that happens even they can miss a fact Jordan explains.Thats to be expected. But the big challenge is trying to correct misinformation. In the old days of print you wrote a letter to the editor or picked up the phone and a correction would be posted. Thats not the case anymore. With the Internet and all online sources it becomes next to impossible to cor- rect as stories are shared and posted on multiple sites or blogs or on social media she says. The Rise of Self-Interests Owen Roberts teaches agricultural communications at the University of Guelph. Hes also an active journalist most notably as the agri-food columnist for the Guelph Mercury. He can attest to how quickly false information is spread through social media and how hard it can be to correct and contain. In the past people would go to a jour- nalist and ask is this true he says. Now everyone on social media has a voice which isnt a bad thing. Thats democracy and Im in favour of that. What Im not in favour of is people using it for their own self-interests but thats what is happening. Social media is rife with not only misinformation but disinformation content that is intentionally false or misleading usually generated by people or groups with a specific agenda Roberts points out. American TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz who has come under fire for his promotion of pseudoscience including calling Dow AgroSciences Enlist Duo a toxic pesticide that endangers our children has 3.8 million Twitter followers. Popular author and activist Vani Hari known as The Food Babe has more than 90000 followers. In August she and a variety of other members of the anti-GMO crowd shared a story on Twitter written by Nature regarding an educational out- reach program at the University of Florida. The ensuing response from activists serves as an example of how quickly misinformation can spread. travel costs buy a tray of subs for the students and pay fees for facility rental. The Talking Biotech outreach program enjoys financial support from several corporate entities Folta notes. He receives financial help from numerous sources but such funding does not go toward his research or influence the content of his presentations. One thing dictates what he teaches science. He wont even accept an honorarium for speaking and simply asks a dona- tion be made to the Talking Biotech program. Still once the Nature story went online the genie couldnt be put back in the bottle. Despite noting that Folta did not personally receive any money from Monsanto and that none of it went to Those days are over where people would say We wont dignify that with a response. That doesnt work anymore. You cant pretend it will go away because it wont. Owen Roberts fund his research the story quickly went viral among the anti-GMO com- munity which has gone on to attack Folta and the Talking Biotech program. A barrage of personal attacks have come Foltas way through Twitter with radical activists and associated organi- zations branding him a liar and evil. Folta has responded by tweeting exten- sively and writing on his blog about the Talking Biotech program and encouraging anyone interested in the topic to contact him. Hes also taken the time to expose the tactics used by radical activists on social media to advance their agenda not only has he experienced extensive defamation and harassment on Twitter hes also seen attempts by his critics to access his personal Gmail and Yahoo accounts. For the past 12 years science commu- nication has run parallel to my research and teaching. Every year I provide a talk to our graduate students about how On the Attack The program Talking Biotech is run by Horticultural Sciences Department chair Kevin Folta. As part of the edu- cational outreach effort Folta travels around the United States speaking with students and others about the science of biotechnology. As reported by Nature in its story titled GM-crop opponents expand probe into ties between scientists and industry the program has received financial support from Monsanto which has helped cover the costs. Ive done the workshop at several universities during the past year and there is a lot of interest from industry in funding the program Folta wrote on his blog. After all helping people understand science is a good thing. Unfortunately it is expensive. No funds go to me or any person- nel they go 100 per cent to defray