Resist Misinformation, Watch Birds and Remember Plagues

Resist Misinformation, Watch Birds and Remember Plagues

4 years ago
Anonymous $RGO3jP_V_c

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/resist-misinformation-watch-birds-and-remember-plagues/

This month I learned that senior editor Jen Schwartz is an evil genius at media manipulation. She produced our cover package about misinformation, including a story about her own role in an Election Day drill in which she demonstrated how easily bad actors can disrupt honest news coverage. It's funny and chilling and a little too real for comfort, and I'm more grateful than ever that she is working for the side of truth and reality rather than disinformation.

Misinformation is one of the hottest areas of research right now—unfortunately because there's just so much to study. With the pandemic, election season, trolls who weaponize confusion and the massive influence of social media platforms, conspiracy theories and quackery are spreading more quickly and widely than ever. We hope that understanding the science of misinformation will help us all tell sense from nonsense and find the best ways to resist and debunk dangerous myths.