Mitigating Misinformation
Misinformation is a growing societal concern around the world, despite decades of debate over the roles of information media in mass democracies. How are activists, scientists, corporations, and other actors attempting to mitigate misinformation? For many, adding more technology has been the answer, while others have focused on media literacy or fact checking. At this stage, what responses seem to hold the most promise?
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Explore course modules, handouts, teaching tools and syllabi about dis- and misinformation.
Latest News on Mitigating Misinformation
Disinformation has been used in warfare and military strategy over time. But it is undeniably being intensified by the use of smart technologies and social media. This is because these communication technologies provide a relatively low-cost, low-barrier way to disseminate information basically anywhere. The million-dollar question then is: Can this technologically produced problem of scale […]
By Sze-Fung Lee and Benjamin C. M. Fung
On Friday afternoons this fall, top American news executives have dialed into a series of off-the-record Zoom meetings led by Harvard academics whose goal is to “help newsroom leaders fight misinformation and media manipulation.” Those are hot topics in the news industry right now, and so the program at Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, […]
By Ben Smith
A common way to tackle misinformation, especially health misinformation, is to ignore it. And this is a strategy often employed by authority figures — sidestep the misinformation, don’t give it airtime, and it might just go away. But the results of a new study suggest that this method of combating health misinformation is less effective […]
By Shraddha Chakraddhar
Twitter is introducing aliases for participants in its Birdwatch moderation tool so they don’t have to include their usernames in notes they leave on others’ tweets, the company announced in a blog post Monday. The social media platform launched the pilot of Birdwatch in January as a way to crowdsource fact-checking on tweets that might […]
By Kim Lyons
An FBI raid on Project Veritas leader James O’Keefe’s home in early November 2021 has sparked an unusual demonstration of support from the very establishment media that O’Keefe has spent his career targeting and trashing. The raid was conducted on the suspicion that O’Keefe and former Project Veritas staffers were implicated in the theft of […]
By Jane E Kirtley
Disinformation has been used in warfare and military strategy over time. But it is undeniably being intensified by the use of smart technologies and social media. This is because these communication technologies provide a relatively low-cost, low-barrier way to disseminate information basically anywhere. The million-dollar question then is: Can this technologically produced problem of scale […]
By Sze-Fung Lee and Benjamin C. M. FungOn Friday afternoons this fall, top American news executives have dialed into a series of off-the-record Zoom meetings led by Harvard academics whose goal is to “help newsroom leaders fight misinformation and media manipulation.” Those are hot topics in the news industry right now, and so the program at Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, […]
By Ben SmithA common way to tackle misinformation, especially health misinformation, is to ignore it. And this is a strategy often employed by authority figures — sidestep the misinformation, don’t give it airtime, and it might just go away. But the results of a new study suggest that this method of combating health misinformation is less effective […]
By Shraddha ChakraddharTwitter is introducing aliases for participants in its Birdwatch moderation tool so they don’t have to include their usernames in notes they leave on others’ tweets, the company announced in a blog post Monday. The social media platform launched the pilot of Birdwatch in January as a way to crowdsource fact-checking on tweets that might […]
By Kim LyonsAn FBI raid on Project Veritas leader James O’Keefe’s home in early November 2021 has sparked an unusual demonstration of support from the very establishment media that O’Keefe has spent his career targeting and trashing. The raid was conducted on the suspicion that O’Keefe and former Project Veritas staffers were implicated in the theft of […]
By Jane E Kirtley
December 8, 2021