Rejecting science has a long history – the pandemic showed what happens when you ignore this

You’d be surprised how far back the roots of anti-vaccine arguments stretch.

Katrine K. Donois, PhD Candidate in Science Communication, Anglia Ruskin University • conversation
Feb. 23, 2023 ~7 min

Beyond Section 230: A pair of social media experts describes how to bring transparency and accountability to the industry

A key piece of federal law, Section 230, has been credited with fostering the internet and allowing misinformation and hate speech to flourish. Here’s how it could be reformed.

Jon Pfeiffer, Adjunct Professor of Law, Pepperdine University • conversation
Jan. 4, 2023 ~9 min


Twitter in 2022: 5 essential reads about the consequences of Elon Musk's takeover of the microblogging platform

The intersection of content management, misinformation, aggregated data about human behavior and crowdsourcing shows how fragile Twitter is and what would be lost with the platform’s demise.

Eric Smalley, Science + Technology Editor • conversation
Dec. 21, 2022 ~9 min

More likes up the chance people believe fake news

New research digs into how the social part of social media can affect what people think about fake news stories.

Shelly Leachman-UCSB • futurity
Dec. 1, 2022 ~7 min

Twitter lifted its ban on COVID misinformation – research shows this is a grave risk to public health

A wealth of research on social media shows that COVID-19 misinformation is damaging to public health.

Anjana Susarla, Professor of Information Systems, Michigan State University • conversation
Dec. 1, 2022 ~6 min

Understanding how news works can short-circuit the connection between social media use and vaccine hesitancy

Researchers identified a connection between low levels of media literacy and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in people who consume their news via social media.

Saifuddin Ahmed, Assistant Professor of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University • conversation
Nov. 3, 2022 ~5 min

Experts grade Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube on readiness to handle midterm election misinformation

Misinformation has bedeviled social media companies for years, and the problem is especially consequential during elections. Are the companies up to the job as the 2022 midterm elections approach?

Scott Shackelford, Professor of Business Law and Ethics, Indiana University • conversation
Oct. 17, 2022 ~16 min

How fake science websites hijack our trust in experts to misinform and confuse

Bogus science articles are attempting to take advantage of our trust in experts.

Isobelle Clarke, Leverhulme Trust Early Career Research Fellow, Lancaster University • conversation
Sept. 12, 2022 ~7 min


Deplatforming online extremists reduces their followers – but there's a price

Online extremists may lose followers when removed from mainstream social media, but their remaining supporters can become even more toxic.

Emiliano De Cristofaro, Professor, UCL • conversation
Aug. 26, 2022 ~8 min

Misinformation is a common thread between the COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS pandemics – with deadly consequences

The spread of misinformation in many pandemics, including the smallpox and 1918 influenza outbreaks, have undermined efforts to contain infections and prevent deaths.

Cristian Apetrei, Professor of Immunology, Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences • conversation
Aug. 24, 2022 ~9 min

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