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UrduMany future voters can start understanding and developing their civic identities in middle and high school. Cal State Fullerton educator William Toledo prepares future teachers to guide civil yet possibly controversial conversations about politics and other public concerns with their middle and high school students.
Tag: Misinformation
NCCN Hosts Patient Advocacy Summit on Improving Access to Accurate Health Information
NCCN hosts a Patient Advocacy Summit bringing together leading experts to promote strategies and best practices for improving cancer care, focused on practice and policy solutions for sharing accurate, evidence-based health information with patients and caregivers.
Most older adults don’t trust AI-generated health information — but many aren’t sure what to trust
A new poll shows 74% of older adults would not trust online health information if it were generated by artificial intelligence, and that 20% have little or no confidence they could spot health misinformation if they came across it on the internet.
Social media platforms aren’t doing enough to stop harmful AI bots, research finds
New research from the University of Notre Dame analyzed the AI bot policies and mechanisms of eight social media platforms: LinkedIn, Mastodon, Reddit, TikTok, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Meta platforms Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Then researchers attempted to launch bots to test bot policy enforcement processes.
Fake Hurricane Helene images go viral, experts discuss the problem and how to counteract
Thousands of well-meaning social media users have been sharing photos supposedly depicting the aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s destruction that have turned out to be fake images generated by artificial intelligence (AI). Communication media expert Cayce Myers and digital literacy expert Julia Feerrar discuss the problems these images cause and how to detect them.
University of Notre Dame Experts on 2024 U.S. Elections
The United States presidential and legislative elections on Nov. 5 will have long-lasting implications for the future of democracy, as well as domestic and foreign policies. Democracy has been on center stage this year as discussions have swirled around how…
New tools use AI ’fingerprints’ to detect altered photos, videos
As artificial intelligence networks become more skilled and easier to access, digitally manipulated “deepfake” photos and videos are increasingly difficult to detect. New research led by Binghamton University, State University of New York breaks down images using frequency domain analysis techniques and looks for anomalies that could indicate they are generated by AI.
False election information from AI chatbots — expert explains what to guard against and avoid
Anyone who uses artificial intelligence (AI)-driven chatbots or voice assistants for election information should know these tools might provide misleading or false information. Virginia Tech digital literacy expert Julia Feerrar makes recommendations for sorting AI-generated fiction from fact.
How Spreading Misinformation Is Like a Nuclear Reaction
In AIP Advances, researchers from Shandong Normal University develop a new type of rumor propagation model, taking inspiration from nuclear reactions. Their model can provide fresh insights on how online disinformation spreads and how to combat it.
New ACP paper discusses the ethics around academic discourse, scientific integrity, uncertainty, and disinformation in medicine
The COVID-19 pandemic brought many issues in health care to light including the issues of scientific integrity; decision making in the face of scarce or conflicting data; and rapidly-changing guidance that raised and resulted in dis- and misinformation.
Experts available: SCOTUS Decisions on 3 Social Media Cases
As the Supreme Court wraps up its term, there are a number of major decisions to come. Among them are decisions in the cases Moody v. NetChoice / NetChoice v. Paxton, and Murthy v. Missouri. These three cases have far-reaching implications for social media platforms,…
People who hold populist beliefs are more likely to believe misinformation about COVID – new report
Over a fifth of Americans and Poles surveyed believed that COVID-19 vaccines can change people’s DNA.
And more than half of Serbian people believed that natural immunity from COVID was better than being vaccinated.
These figures come from a new report which examines the effects of populism on misinformation and other aspects of crisis communication around the coronavirus pandemic.
Health information on TikTok: The good, the bad and the ugly
UChicago researchers analyzed health information on TikTok to identify trends in video quality — how much misinformation is out there, and does it come from specific sources?
MSU co-authored study: 10 insights to reduce vaccine hesitancy on social media
Young Anna Argyris, associate professor in the Michigan State University Department of Media and Information, is part of an international team studying the detrimental effects of vaccine misinformation on social media and interventions that can increase vaccine uptake behaviors.
Anti-vaccine conspiracies fuel divisive political discourse
Heightened use of social media during the coronavirus pandemic brought with it an unprecedented surge in the spread of misinformation.
Serious doubts raised over WhatsApp’s misinformation strategy – new report
Just 10% of people surveyed understood that the terms ‘Forwarded’ and ‘Forwarded many times’ in WhatsApp meant they were reading potential misinformation.
Combating Distrust Online: New GW Study Explains Why Current Messaging Efforts May Not Be Effective
New research led by the George Washington University finds that current mitigation efforts to combat distrust online may not be effective because organizations and governments tackling distrust are only targeting one topic and only one geographical scale.
Pioneering research links the increase of misinformation shared by US politicians to a changing public perception of honesty
Researchers have unravelled for the first time a fundamental shift in the way American politicians communicate on social media, which helps explain the proliferation of compelling misinformation.
Global Policymakers Call for Effective Infodemic Management to be a Substantive Article in the Pandemic Accord
Members of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body Bureau continue the discussion on infodemic management in light of circulation of misinformation through social media during public health emergencies.
Q&A: New book examines intersection between climate and information crises
Adrienne Russell, professor of communication at the University of Washington, examines in her new book how journalism, activism, corporations and Big Tech battle to influence the public about climate change.
Machine learning, blockchain technology could help counter spread of fake news
A proposed machine learning framework and expanded use of blockchain technology could help counter the spread of fake news by allowing content creators to focus on areas where the misinformation is likely to do the most public harm, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.
Rise of malicious bots: how automatons shake up Twitter with earthquake conspiracies
In light of the growing dominance of social media and the spread of misinformation, a new paper reveals how bots contribute to the dissemination of conspiracy theories surrounding earthquakes.
Misinformation and Trust in Science — Nobel Prize Summit May 24-26
The Nobel Prize Summit Truth, Trust and Hope will convene Nobel Prize laureates, business leaders, policymakers, journalists, educators, and youth from around the world for a conversation on how to stop misinformation from eroding public trust in science, scientists, and the institutions they serve.
Location intelligence shines a light on disinformation
Using disinformation to create political instability and battlefield confusion dates back millennia. However, today’s disinformation actors use social media to amplify disinformation that users knowingly or, more often, unknowingly perpetuate. Such disinformation spreads quickly, threatening public health and safety. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic and recent global elections have given the world a front-row seat to this form of modern warfare.
Teens who trust online information find it less stressful
Teens’ trust in the news they consume on social media – or lack of it – may be key to whether it supports or detracts from their well-being, according to Cornell-led psychology research.
Perceived Russia-Ukraine conflict linked to endorsement of false news about adversary
In a 2020 survey, Ukrainians who perceived a higher level of conflict between Ukraine and Russia were less inclined to endorse false, negative news about the European Union, but were more likely to endorse false, negative news about Russia.
YouTube’s credibility tags face “credibility conundrum” in fight against misinformation
While YouTube’s newly introduced tagging policy attempts to steer consumers to credible information sources on the social media platform by prioritizing credible sources in the search algorithm, individuals may still tend to rely on sources they trust for health information, like friends or even celebrities. The authors of a new commentary published in Annals of Internal Medicine refer to this as the “credibility conundrum.” What one person considers “credible,” another may not.
Penn Nursing Center Joins with 50 Leading National Organizations to Curb Infodemic of Health and Science Misinformation and Disinformation
The creation of The Coalition for Trust in Health & Science, was formally launched during the 2023 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The alliance, which includes Penn Nursing’s NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health, was formed to unite leading organizations from across the entire health ecosystem to advance trust and factual science-based decision-making.
Research finds public broadly favour taking action to stop spread of harmful misinformation online
The majority of people support robust action being taken to control the spread of harmful misinformation via social media, a new study reveals.
GW Study Links Offline Events to Spikes in Online Hate Speech
A new George Washington University study reveals that real world events are often followed by surges in several types of online hate speech on both fringe and mainstream social platforms.
IU experts available to comment on Midterm elections
Americans are set to determine who controls Congress as they head to the polls for the first time during President Joe Biden’s administration, shaping the future of his legislative success. Indiana University experts are available to discuss election security, political…
Rensselaer Researcher To Follow the Trail of Misinformation
On 9/11, lawmakers from both parties unified in their response. Just over 20 years later, Congress is distinctly partisan, clashing on everything from the January 6 insurrection to COVID to climate change. Why? Many blame widespread and widely believed misinformation and disinformation. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Boleslaw Szymanski, Claire and Roland Schmitt Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, is part of an interdisciplinary team of researchers examining the flow of (mis)information in social media.
New Study: 36% of YouTube Videos Contain Misleading Hay Fever Information
A new study in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology showed misleading content regarding hay fever on YouTube generated a higher amount of user interaction in terms of likes and comments than videos with useful content.
Poll Respondents Lack Confidence in False Beliefs
Most polls claiming to show that Americans believe in falsehoods should not be treated as a representation of the firmly held beliefs of respondents, according to a new study published in the journal American Political Science Review.
JMIR Aging | Using Twitter to Examine Stigma Against People With Dementia During COVID-19
JMIR Publications recently published “Using Twitter to Examine Stigma Against People With Dementia During COVID-19: Infodemiology Study” in JMIR Aging which reported that during the pandemic, there has been significant social media attention focused on the increased COVID-19 risks and impacts for people with dementia and their care partners.
Rutgers Report Finds Increase in Anti-Hindu Disinformation
Members of the Network Contagion Lab at Rutgers University-New Brunswick (NC Lab), found evidence of a sharp rise and evolving patterns of hate speech directed toward the Hindu community across numerous social media platforms, according to a new report.
Mass shootings: Conservative, liberal #socialmedia users starting to agree — enough is enough, says @UNLV researcher
Schoolchildren huddled in Uvalde, Tex. classrooms as classmates and teachers are cut down by a rogue gunman. A peaceful weekend afternoon at a Buffalo, N.Y. grocery store interrupted by a white supremacist who sprays the aisles of elderly, predominantly African American weekend shoppers with an AR-15 style rifle. Only five months into the year, these attacks tallied as the 198th and 214th U.
Virtual News Briefings and Research Highlights, APS 2022 Convention
Journalists are invited to attend two virtual news briefing that will cover the latest research and discoveries from the field of psychological science. Topics will include the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education, tools to support ethnic and gender minorities, fake news and misinformation, romance and relationships, and more. Register: [email protected]
Aging and fake news: It’s not the story you think it is
A new study has found that older adults are no more likely to fall for fake news than younger adults, with age-related susceptibility to deceptive news evident only among those categorized as the “oldest old.”
Rural Bangladeshis turn to faith, family for fact-checking
On top of the COVID-19 pandemic, people worldwide have dealt with an infodemic – a flood of ever-evolving information and misinformation about the virus, causing confusion and mistrust. New Cornell research finds that in remote parts of Bangladesh with little internet access, people have relied on local experts, spiritual views and their sense of social justice to evaluate new coronavirus information.
Conflicting Health Information Compromises Patients’ Attention and Health Decisions
The 24-hour news cycle and social media bombardment often resulting in conflicting messages about health issues might be making it harder than ever for people to make critical decisions, according to a Rutgers-led study.
Political ads during the 2020 presidential election cycle collected personal information and spread misleading information
University of Washington researchers looked at almost 56,000 political ads from almost 750 news sites between September 2020 and January 2021. Political ads used multiple tactics that concerned the researchers, including posing as a poll to collect people’s personal information or having headlines that might affect web surfers’ views of candidates.
American University Experts Available to Discuss Misinformation’s Impacts
What: As misinformation continues to spread and proliferate online impacting our daily lives, the topics and issues affected range from vaccines, COVID, conspiracy theories, and the 2020 election. American University scholars are available to share their insights on a broad…
As COVID-19 and Online Misinformation Spread, Children and Teens Were Poisoned with Hand Sanitizer and Alcoholic Drinks
During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, as false health information spread on social media, the number of children and teens poisoned with hand sanitizer or alcoholic beverages surged in Iran. These poisonings resulted in hundreds of hospitalizations and 22 deaths. Misinformation circulating on social media included the false suggestion that consuming alcohol (methanol) or hand sanitizer (ethanol or isopropyl alcohol) protected against COVID-19 infection (it does not). A major alcohol poisoning outbreak sickened nearly 6,000 Iranian adults, of whom 800 died. It was not known, however, to what extent children and adolescents were affected. For the study in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, investigators compared pediatric hospitalizations for ethanol and methanol poisoning during the early COVID-19 pandemic in Iran with the same period the previous year. They also looked at types of exposure and how those were linked to the children’s ages and clinical outcomes.
Misinformation on Twitter adversely affects adults’ health decisions
UK and US adult smokers who were considering using e-cigarettes were deterred when exposed to tweets falsely implying the devices are more harmful than conventional cigarettes, finds new research.
Study: Privilege and Politics Impact Disparity in Vaccine Rates
Experts available to discuss how inequities have contributed to uneven COVID-19 vaccine uptake. COLLEGE PARK, MD. – July 30, 2021 – Structural inequalities in the United States are posing “a serious threat to progress” in the push to get people…
FSMB: Spreading COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation May Put Medical License at Risk
The Federation of State Medical Boards’ Board of Directors released statement in response to a dramatic increase in the dissemination of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and disinformation by physicians and other health care professionals on social media platforms, online and in the media.
Facebook News Consumers Less Likely To Be Vaccinated, Survey Finds
People who rely exclusively on Facebook for news and information about the coronavirus are less likely than the average American to have been vaccinated, according to a new survey.
UAlbany Librarian Offers Insight on America’s Growing Fake News Problem
ALBANY, N.Y. (June 3, 2021) – While most of us believe we can sniff out fake news, a new study has found that as many as three in four Americans are overestimating their ability – and the worse they are…
Conservatives more susceptible to believing falsehoods
Conservatives are less able to distinguish political truths from falsehoods than liberals, mainly because of a glut of right-leaning misinformation, a new national study conducted over six months shows.