News Updates

Under increasing political pressure, multiple public and private institutions are revamping programs that study the spread of faulty information online, the Washington Post reports. But a series of articles in Issues argues for expanding research to better understand—and learn to navigate—today’s polluted information ecosystems. One key need, Claire Wardle writes, is to examine matters more broadly: “Researchers need to move away from our fixation on accuracy and zoom out to understand the characteristics of some of these online spaces that are powered by people’s need for connection, community, and affirmation.”

Adding iron to the world’s oceans to promote the growth of carbon-sopping algae and plankton might offer what proponents call “the best, most effective and most affordable way … to slow the march of global warming.” But no matter the promise, Jane C. S. Long and Dane Scott argue in Issues, any approach to geoengineering must follow institutional and policy constraints to prevent vested human interests—identified as fortune, fear, fame, and fanaticism—from causing harm. To help moderate the corrupting effects of these foibles, the authors offer “some guidance for transparency, institutional design, research management, public deliberation, and independent advisory functions.”

Chinese operatives are using artificial intelligence to create fake images to be spread on US social media, the tech giant Microsoft alleges, with the goal of sowing disinformation among the voting public by “denigrating US political figures and symbols.” This marks but the latest front of information battlegrounds that Braden R. Allenby describes in Issues. US adversaries are capitalizing on advanced communication technologies and a growing understanding of human behavior to spread what Allenby calls “weaponized narratives” faster and wider than ever. Not giving up hope, he proposes some short- and long-term strategies to counter the threats.