Wedge Issues
Some disinformation is obviously political, such as that targeting opposing parties. But other disinformation campaigns attempt to take political advantage of other rifts in societies, such as those rooted in ethnicity, religion, social class, and other markers of identity. This literature explores case studies on those wedge issues, including climate change, U.S. race tensions, and the anti-vaccine movement.
Live Research Review
Latest News on Wedge Issues
The social media conversation over the climate crisis is being reshaped by an army of automated Twitter bots, with a new analysis finding that a quarter of all tweets about climate on an average day are produced by bots, the Guardian can reveal. The stunning levels of Twitter bot activity on topics related to global […]
By Oliver Milman
SHANGHAI — An outbreak of disinformation in China and elsewhere has hurt global efforts to combat the new coronavirus, said a specialist infectious disease lab located at the epicenter of the epidemic — and at the heart of a number of conspiracy theories. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the state-backed Wuhan Institute of Virology […]
By Reuters
NEW YORK (AP) — In Arizona, a burgeoning Asian American community fields xenophobic calls about a planned night market featuring Asian street foods. In New York, a dim sum restaurant owner worries he won’t make rent. In the San Francisco Bay Area, a local Asian American-owned restaurant chain is mulling temporarily shuttering one of its […]
By Alexandra Olson and Terry Tang
Russian Disinformation Takes on Coronavirus, Pointing a Finger at the United States | Foreign Policy
Wednesday marked the deadliest day yet in the battle with coronavirus, with 242 deaths reported in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak. As the virus has spread around the world, so to have conspiracy theories cropping up everywhere from India to Australia. But in Russia the misinformation has been particularly pointed. Russia’s spin doctors […]
By Amy Mackinnon
Attempts at Debunking “Fake News” about Epidemics Might Do More Harm Than Good | Scientific American
Was it a bioweapon from a virology institute? Had it been known before and already patented? Could homeopathic remedies help? All of these ideas about the headline-making novel coronavirus disease—now officially called COVID-19—are blatantly false. As with any recent outbreak, from Zika to Ebola, untruths and conspiracy theories spread as quickly as the pathogen itself. […]
By Gary Stix
The social media conversation over the climate crisis is being reshaped by an army of automated Twitter bots, with a new analysis finding that a quarter of all tweets about climate on an average day are produced by bots, the Guardian can reveal. The stunning levels of Twitter bot activity on topics related to global […]
By Oliver MilmanSHANGHAI — An outbreak of disinformation in China and elsewhere has hurt global efforts to combat the new coronavirus, said a specialist infectious disease lab located at the epicenter of the epidemic — and at the heart of a number of conspiracy theories. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the state-backed Wuhan Institute of Virology […]
By ReutersNEW YORK (AP) — In Arizona, a burgeoning Asian American community fields xenophobic calls about a planned night market featuring Asian street foods. In New York, a dim sum restaurant owner worries he won’t make rent. In the San Francisco Bay Area, a local Asian American-owned restaurant chain is mulling temporarily shuttering one of its […]
By Alexandra Olson and Terry Tang
Russian Disinformation Takes on Coronavirus, Pointing a Finger at the United States | Foreign Policy
Wednesday marked the deadliest day yet in the battle with coronavirus, with 242 deaths reported in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak. As the virus has spread around the world, so to have conspiracy theories cropping up everywhere from India to Australia. But in Russia the misinformation has been particularly pointed. Russia’s spin doctors […]
By Amy Mackinnon
Attempts at Debunking “Fake News” about Epidemics Might Do More Harm Than Good | Scientific American
Was it a bioweapon from a virology institute? Had it been known before and already patented? Could homeopathic remedies help? All of these ideas about the headline-making novel coronavirus disease—now officially called COVID-19—are blatantly false. As with any recent outbreak, from Zika to Ebola, untruths and conspiracy theories spread as quickly as the pathogen itself. […]
By Gary Stix
February 22, 2020