Credibility and Trust
Policymakers, scientists, and journalists have worried for years about declining public trust in their institutions. Are new technologies like social media contributing to this decline, or are they convenient scapegoats for broader forces in society? We discuss research on how populist politics and other anti-elite, anti-institutional movements are intersecting with declining public trust and the rise of alternative epistemologies.
Live Research Review
Teaching & Learning
Explore course modules, handouts, teaching tools and syllabi about dis- and misinformation.
Latest News on Credibility and Trust
Over the past year, mobilizations around the world have sprung up against governmental efforts to contain the coronavirus through lockdowns, social distancing guidelines, mask mandates, and vaccines. Led in many cases by angry freelancers and the self-employed, amplified by entrepreneurs of speculative and totalizing prophecies, these movements are less what José Ortega y Gasset called […]
By William Callison and Quinn Slobodian
The Covid-19 pandemic has confirmed yet again the importance of clear, reliable, and accurate information for societies. Throughout the pandemic audiences have turned to trusted sources for scientific information about the disease and its spread. Yet even as demand for their work has soared, journalists have been laid off and furloughed around the world. News […]
By Anya Schiffrin
Singapore – A political leader uses social media to spread misinformation and hate. Followers are spurred to violence. People are killed. It is a toxic brew that has surfaced repeatedly across the world — in Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Brazil and now the United States. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube banned President Trump from […]
By Shashank Bengali
As a mob swarmed the Capitol building on Wednesday, images and videos of the event spread across social media in close to real time, many going viral on Twitter and Facebook before cable news networks covering the events could verify or report them. One video showed a group of rioters surrounding a pile of Associated […]
By Ian W. Karbal
The chaos at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday wasn’t typical. Nor was the coverage. Footage carried live by cable news and clips and photos shared across social media were jolting. One image showed a man who had broken into the building sitting in a chair, foot on desk, in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. A […]
By Danielle K. Kilgo
Over the past year, mobilizations around the world have sprung up against governmental efforts to contain the coronavirus through lockdowns, social distancing guidelines, mask mandates, and vaccines. Led in many cases by angry freelancers and the self-employed, amplified by entrepreneurs of speculative and totalizing prophecies, these movements are less what José Ortega y Gasset called […]
By William Callison and Quinn SlobodianThe Covid-19 pandemic has confirmed yet again the importance of clear, reliable, and accurate information for societies. Throughout the pandemic audiences have turned to trusted sources for scientific information about the disease and its spread. Yet even as demand for their work has soared, journalists have been laid off and furloughed around the world. News […]
By Anya SchiffrinSingapore – A political leader uses social media to spread misinformation and hate. Followers are spurred to violence. People are killed. It is a toxic brew that has surfaced repeatedly across the world — in Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Brazil and now the United States. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube banned President Trump from […]
By Shashank BengaliAs a mob swarmed the Capitol building on Wednesday, images and videos of the event spread across social media in close to real time, many going viral on Twitter and Facebook before cable news networks covering the events could verify or report them. One video showed a group of rioters surrounding a pile of Associated […]
By Ian W. KarbalThe chaos at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday wasn’t typical. Nor was the coverage. Footage carried live by cable news and clips and photos shared across social media were jolting. One image showed a man who had broken into the building sitting in a chair, foot on desk, in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. A […]
By Danielle K. Kilgo