Sydney, 27 May 2017
Have you ever wondered why hoaxes are easily spread out among religious communities? The Farkhunda case in Afghanistan has been the evidence of how dangerous and how easy the hoaxes spread out in the form of religious sentiments.
While in Indonesia, the ease of access to internet has been abused to spread the hoaxes in the form of religious sentiments. Closed-minded people only favour the news that confirm their delusion. Thus, the hoaxes are perceived as facts.
Why are they easily persuaded by false news? They are not allowed to and they are not used to critically question anything about their belief. Thus anything that comes and aligns with their belief is automatically considered as a truth. It is a confirmation bias. It amplifies and provokes them easily. It is so dangerous that hoaxes become enough justifications to kill people and to make destruction.
