Mission to Mitigate: Spotlight on Brexit

We have presented you with information about misinformation and disinformation and now we wanted to give you a real case study.

The 2016 Brexit Referendum in the UK saw a campaign based on fabricated information to encourage voters to vote in favour of their cause. The Leave campaign had fought a great campaign through social media by being really active on platforms such as Twitter and making clear their case on why Britain is best out of the European Union. However, the information being posted and then spread around social media did contain fake facts which has been a topic of conversation ever since the British people voted in favour of leaving the European Union.

As a start to learning about Brexit and how a campaign won based on ‘lies’, here are three of the most talked about ‘lies’ debunked.

One piece of false information presented by the Leave campaign is that the UK sends £350

Million to the European Union every week. The Leave campaign claimed that this money would be better used by being put back into the NHS once Britain was independent of the European Union. This information was plastered onto a red bus where the picture circulated across all social media platforms and the evening news reaching a wide audience. Many have said that this information is what could have been a huge factor in the end result which saw Britain voting to leave the European Union as the NHS is an important piece of what makes Britain.

Another ‘lie’ that the Leave campaign played with was that migrants are stealing jobs from British citizens. Further to this, the campaign claimed that a Britain independent of the EU would have full control over its borders. The UK is known for openly taking in immigrants from countries all over Europe and allowing them a new way of life. There has always been a feeling across the poorer areas of Britain that jobs are being taking away from British citizens. In 2019 28 million Brits had a job in the British workforce compared to a small 3 million non-British workers. it is also the case that Britain did have control of its borders prior to Brexit. Workers coming to Britain from the EU could be asked to leave after 3 months if they didn’t meet the condition set, for example, if they were unable to financially support themselves or did not have a job. The Leave campaign used strong feelings against immigrants that had been felt for many years to entice votes when really the reality was greater than the feelings.

The Leave campaign claimed that the EU prevents the UK from making trade deals with countries outside of the EU. it has been said that the British Government would have little to no say over what countries the EU decided to trade with if it continued to stay in the union. Whilst influence was necessary, there was still a chance for the UK to help choose who to trade with. However, since leaving the EU, the UK’s trade relationship with the EU has already been through many challenges. It has been tough coming up with a trade agreement that both sides are happy with and that benefits all involved. But now the UK is completely free to trade with whoever they want to, and do not have to rely on other countries agreeing with their choice.

It is quite unbelievably scary to think that a campaign filled with lies and false information can fully influence a majority of a population to vote a certain way. Brexit has not been plain sailing like the Leave campaign suggested and to avoid other situations similar to Brexit we must work together to tackle misinformation and disinformation as it is a harm to all.