Navigating a Polluted Information Ecosystem
Fake news, misinformation, and disinformation have become bywords for the kinds of false and misleading information that’s rampant online. But these terms—and a focus on fact-checking problematic content more generally—provide little understanding of the ways people create and share information. The essays here identify ways to help people navigate today’s polluted information ecosystems.
Summer 2023
How to Clean Up Our Information Environments
I was delighted to read “Misunderstanding Misinformation” (Issues, Spring 2023), in which Claire Wardle advocates moving from “atoms” of misinformation to narratives and laments our current, siloed empirical analysis. I… Read More
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May 16, 2023
“The Complexity of Technology’s Consequences Is Going Up Exponentially, But Our Wisdom and Awareness Are Not.”
Tristan Harris is a technology ethicist and the cofounder of the Center for Humane Technology. He’ll be speaking at the Nobel Prize Summit 2023: Truth, Trust, and Hope at the National Academy… Read More
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May 15, 2023
How Science Gets Drawn Into Global Conspiracy Narratives
A few short years ago, mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) was the subject of fundamental research, but it is now known as the basis for COVID-19 vaccines. At the same time, the concept… Read More
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May 11, 2023
Rumors Have Rules
Around the time the US government was testing nuclear bombs on Bikini Atoll in the spring of 1954, residents of Bellingham, Washington, inspected their windshields and noticed holes, pits, and other damage.… Read More
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May 10, 2023
Viral Suppression
In November 2021, an investigative story in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) with the headline “Covid-19: Researcher blows the whistle on data integrity issues in Pfizer’s vaccine trial” received more… Read More
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May 09, 2023
In Finland, We Make Each Schoolchild a Scientist
Much of the conversation around misinformation and mistrust focuses on messengers and message systems. Some emphasize that policymakers and scientists must communicate more effectively, others that social media platforms must moderate content… Read More
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May 08, 2023
Misunderstanding Misinformation
In the fall of 2017, Collins Dictionary named fake news word of the year. It was hard to argue with the decision. Journalists were using the phrase to raise awareness of false… Read More
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April 21, 2023
Enhancing Trust in Science and Democracy in an Age of Misinformation
Thomas Jefferson once observed, “I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society, but the people themselves.” He cautioned that correcting “abuses of constitutional power” may not be… Read More