Since early 2025, the scientific research and funding landscape has faced tremendous changes and challenges in the United States. In this News and Perspectives article, health communication scholar, former program official of the National Cancer Institute, and JMIR Correspondent Wen-Ying Sylvia Chou discusses the impact on—and future of—online misinformation research in this politicized context.
Key Takeaways:
– Threats to research on health communication, social media, and misinformation undermine scientific integrity, truth, and democracy.
– Despite challenges impeding scientific inquiry, continued research on online health misinformation is critically important.
– Current research priorities include uncovering and countering the tactics of major misinformation spreaders, scaling up mitigation interventions, and addressing root causes of misinformation spread.