Misinformation: how fact-checking journalism is evolving – and having a real impact on the world: “Fake news” loves a crisis. It’s clear now that false information has played a role in recent events around the world from divisive elections to the COVID pandemic to the conflict roiling Israel and Gaza. It is important to counter false …
How subtle forms of misinformation affect what we buy and how much we trust brands: Both direct and indirect misinformation influence brand trust. estherpoon/Shutterstock Misinformation isn’t just blurring political lines anymore. It’s quietly infiltrating our shopping trolleys in subtle ways, shaping our decisions about what we buy and who we trust, as my research shows. …
How folk remedies can fuel misinformation: Gino Gallucci/Shutterstock When the city of London faced the bubonic plague in 1665, many people desperately sought a way to protect themselves and their loved ones from getting sick. One widely adopted method consisted of mixing two small cloves of garlic in a pint of fresh milk. People believed …
Twitter blue ticks: 5 ways to spot misinformation without verified accounts: Pheelings media/Shutterstock After months of chaotic policies, backtracks on said policies and mass layoffs, Elon Musk has made good on his vow to fully replace Twitter’s “blue tick” verification with a paid subscription service. In place since 2009, Twitter gave blue ticks to accounts …
Misinformation: why it may not necessarily lead to bad behaviour: Lies are nothing new. durantelallera/Shutterstock “So far as the influence of the newspaper upon the mind and morals of the people is concerned, there can be no rational doubt that the telegraph has caused vast injury.” So said the The New York Times in 1858, …
Andrew Bridgen: how anti-vaccine misinformation hampers the conversation about genuine vaccine injuries: Rindang Art/Shutterstock MP Andrew Bridgen was suspended from the Conservative party on January 11 for persistent misinformation about COVID vaccines, including numerous false claims around their safety. The final straw appears to have been his comments comparing the vaccination programme to the Holocaust. …
Online events: how to strengthen volunteering, scale up mental health provision and counter misinformation: Shutterstock The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the most disruptive and damaging events in decades. But since December 2020, The Conversation has been playing a key role in a project that seeks to mitigate some of its harms: the International …
US politicians tweet far more misinformation than those in the UK and Germany – new research: Good ideas/Shutterstock Politicians from mainstream parties in the UK and Germany post far fewer links to untrustworthy websites on Twitter and this has remained constant since 2016, according to our new research. By contrast, US politicians posted a much …
Chile’s progressive new constitution rejected by voters after campaign marred by misinformation: Despite recently electing Chile’s most progressive president in the shape of former student protest leader Gabriel Boric, voters in the country have now rejected his most important reform. A plebiscite held on September 4 to replace the constitution imposed during the dictatorship of …
YouTube: how a team of scientists worked to inoculate a million users against misinformation: The amount of information online is overwhelming. Shyntartanya From the COVID-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine, misinformation is rife worldwide. Many tools have been designed to help people spot misinformation. The problem with most of them is how hard they …
Four ways you can design social media posts to combat health misinformation: GaudiLab/Shutterstock It’s no secret that online misinformation has been a big problem throughout the pandemic. Of course, health misinformation isn’t exclusive to COVID – it’s a challenge we faced well before the pandemic, exacerbated by the global shift into the digital age. But …
Elon Musk could roll back social media moderation – just as we’re learning how it can stop misinformation: The US$ 44 billion (£36 billion) purchase of Twitter by “free speech absolutist” Elon Musk has many people worried. The concern is the site will start moderating content less and spreading misinformation more, especially after his announcement …
How young Nigerians’ distrust of political leaders fuels COVID misinformation: Social media is popular among young Nigerians. Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images Ever since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global public health emergency in January 2020, there’s been a need for studies that help explain what people understand by public health messages. Research …
COVID misinformation is a health risk – tech companies need to remove harmful content not tweak their algorithms: file404/Shutterstock Many worldwide have now caught COVID. But during the pandemic many more are likely to have encountered something else that’s been spreading virally: misinformation. False information has plagued the COVID response, erroneously convincing people that the …
Climate change misinformation fools too many people – but there are ways to combat it: Hadrian/Shutterstock In recent decades, people in the UK have watched climate change shift from being an abstract threat discussed on the news to an increasingly common presence in everyday life. As the frequency and intensity of heatwaves, floods and other …
COVID vaccines for teenagers: what UK parents need to know amid a new wave of misinformation: Roman Chazov/Shutterstock The UK has approved giving one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to all children aged 12-15, with vaccines largely being given within the education system. Schools are helping coordinate the rollout, including the consent process. Under-16s …
South Africa in the news: Belief in misinformation can be curbed by fact-checking: Fact-checking reduces belief in misinformation and leaves a more enduring mental imprint than false claims according to a new study …: “South Africa” – BingNews JPMorgan launches mln fund for South African black-owned firms: Sharenet provides financial information and services for investors …
South Africa in the news: Variants, Misinformation, and ‘Brain Drain’ — The COVID-19 Vaccine Experience in Brazil, India, and Africa: As vaccination campaigns begin ramping up around the world, experts discuss how variants, misinformation, and “brain drain” are affecting pandemic-control efforts.: “South Africa” – BingNews Moment 16ft crocodile swings catfish through the air tearing it …