At Harvard Kennedy’s Shorenstein Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, we track misinformation online. Social media is tooled to distribute financial scams, miracle-promising products and fear-mongering conspiracies alongside medical advice, school closures, news and family updates. It’s no surprise that damaging guff overwhelms valid recommendations and crucial health information. Correcting the record is impossible.

The pandemic lays bare how tech companies’ reluctance to act recursively worsens our world. In times of uncertainty, the vicious cycle is more potent than ever. Scientific debates that are typically confined to a small community of experts become fodder for mountebanks of all kinds.

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