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.
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Explore course modules, handouts, teaching tools and syllabi about dis- and misinformation.
Latest News on Credibility and Trust
For years, the anonymity service Tor has been the best way to stay private online and dodge web censorship. Much to the ire of governments and law enforcement agencies, Tor encrypts your web traffic and sends it through a chain of computers, making it very hard for people to track you online. Authoritarian governments see it as […]
By Matt Burgess
At a moment when education technology firms are stockpiling sensitive information on millions of school children, safeguards for student data have broken down. The software that many school districts use to track students’ progress can record extremely confidential information on children: “Intellectual disability.” “Emotional Disturbance.” “Homeless.” “Disruptive.” “Defiance.” “Perpetrator.” “Excessive Talking.” “Should attend tutoring.” Now […]
By Natasha Singer
The pressure on schools to keep students safe, especially to protect them physically and support their mental health, has never been greater. The mental health crisis, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and concerns about the increasing number of school shootings have led to questions about the role of technology in meeting these […]
By Elizabeth Laird, Hugh Grant-Chapman, Cody Venzke, Hannah Quay-de la Vallee
When US marshals shot and killed a 32-year-old Black man named Winston Boogie Smith Jr. in a parking garage in Minneapolis’s Uptown neighborhood on June 3, 2021, the city was already in a full-blown policing crisis. Around 300 officers had quit over the previous two years amid near-constant protests and public criticism in the wake […]
By Tate Ryan-Mosley and Sam Richards
This study examined secondary survey data (N = 3,015) that asked respondents about real and pro-Trump fake news headlines in late 2016 as well as their reliance on online news sources. Reliance on Facebook for news was a vector for exposure to pro-Trump fake news but not for believing it. Reliance on Fox News online […]
By Patrick C. Meirick, Amanda E. Franklyn
For years, the anonymity service Tor has been the best way to stay private online and dodge web censorship. Much to the ire of governments and law enforcement agencies, Tor encrypts your web traffic and sends it through a chain of computers, making it very hard for people to track you online. Authoritarian governments see it as […]
By Matt BurgessAt a moment when education technology firms are stockpiling sensitive information on millions of school children, safeguards for student data have broken down. The software that many school districts use to track students’ progress can record extremely confidential information on children: “Intellectual disability.” “Emotional Disturbance.” “Homeless.” “Disruptive.” “Defiance.” “Perpetrator.” “Excessive Talking.” “Should attend tutoring.” Now […]
By Natasha SingerThe pressure on schools to keep students safe, especially to protect them physically and support their mental health, has never been greater. The mental health crisis, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and concerns about the increasing number of school shootings have led to questions about the role of technology in meeting these […]
By Elizabeth Laird, Hugh Grant-Chapman, Cody Venzke, Hannah Quay-de la ValleeWhen US marshals shot and killed a 32-year-old Black man named Winston Boogie Smith Jr. in a parking garage in Minneapolis’s Uptown neighborhood on June 3, 2021, the city was already in a full-blown policing crisis. Around 300 officers had quit over the previous two years amid near-constant protests and public criticism in the wake […]
By Tate Ryan-Mosley and Sam RichardsThis study examined secondary survey data (N = 3,015) that asked respondents about real and pro-Trump fake news headlines in late 2016 as well as their reliance on online news sources. Reliance on Facebook for news was a vector for exposure to pro-Trump fake news but not for believing it. Reliance on Fox News online […]
By Patrick C. Meirick, Amanda E. Franklyn