Misinformation happens when false information is shared out of ignorance, or by error. Disinformation happens when false information is shared on purpose, for a reason. The difference is intent.
Union of Concerned Scientists
Arizona remained the epicenter for post-Election Day misinformation this week as vote counting in that state continued. Many of the misleading claims circulating two days after the election focused on printing problems that prevented vote counters from reading some ballots.
Associated Press
Technology ethicist Tristan Harris succinctly tells 60 Minutes host Bill Whitaker about the feedback flaw that rewards and fuels misinformation and extreme views on social media – and what we can do to address it.
CBS News/60 Minutes
All major social media platforms have outlined plans to tackle misinformation around the midterm election and its immediate aftermath, but questions will remain about their effectiveness and the ability of these platforms to adequately implement these measures.
Forbes
With an increasing stream of contradictory information coming at us on a daily basis, it can be hard to determine what misinformation is and whether it’s actually dangerous.
Harvard University
As many heard last week, the world's richest man, Elon Musk, has completed his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, according to a filing with the U.S. Government. What users expect from ‘free speech absolutist.’
BBC/British Broadcasting Corporation
A new Arizona Republic report shows that misinformation and in some cases outright deception have been hallmarks for gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and her campaign the past 17 months.
Arizona Republic/AZCentral.com
Despite a rash of unsubstantiated claims lobbed against his company, the CEO of Dominion Voting Systems, John Poulos, has remained largely silent. That changed last Sunday night on 60 Minutes.
CBS News
There was controversy this month involving Kanye West. I won’t reiterate it. I believe Kanye is ill, and I’ll return to ignoring him soon after this post. This post is about Adidas, Gap, CAA, and his other corporate partners. It is about the moral obligation we have to draw a line.
Scott Galloway/No Mercy No Malice
Media researcher Alice Marwick presents the major findings from her recently published report, Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online.
Databite
Zach Stern: What prompted you to start Project DATA?
Young Mie Kim: For almost my entire career, I have been studying passionate publics—people, like those who care about the abortion issue because of their religious values, who care about political issues because of particular values, identities, or interests…
Brown Political Review
Over the past several years, disinformation, or the intentional deployment of false information for malicious ends, has emerged as a critical threat to public discourse and national unity. Events like Operation Jade Helm demonstrate just how quickly something ordinary can morph — online, and in people’s minds — into something extraordinary.
Military Times
COVID-19 vastly accelerated vaccine skepticism, such that even routine childhood immunizations, including shots that had largely eliminated measles, are now being questioned. Watch a recent demonstration that reveals how viral spread actually happens.
Aspen Ideas Health
Anyone who has ever been on a job hunt knows that it is often difficult to find out what a new position might pay. That is about to change.
Los Angeles Times
The dire state of local journalism in the US has been well documented in recent years, as the closure of hundreds of local newspapers has created American “news deserts” where people struggle for information on local politics and happenings. It also created an opening. The Guardian
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TikTok, the flagship app of the Chinese company Bytedance, recently surpassed Google and Facebook as the most popular site on the internet in 2021, and is expected to reach more than 1.8 billion users by the end of 2022.
Your Undivided Attention
Election officials in Arizona’s largest county won’t soon forger #SharpieGate — the social media uproar that emerged after the 2020 election based on the false claim that Sharpie pens provided at the polls would ruin ballots before they were counted. The state now faces a repeat of the same false theories heading to next week’s primary election. Associated Press
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Migrants undertaking the perilous journey to the U.S. are overwhelmingly dependent on Facebook and WhatsApp, yet the platforms’ owner, Meta, has done little to stop dangerous misinformation targeting them, according to a new survey of migrants headed to the U.S. Tech Transparency Project
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We hear a lot of talk these days about how truth is threatened in the age of misinformation. I understand that misinformation is a terrible problem, and that it has downstream effects on science, trust, institutions, our society and just about everything else that we care about. Deseret News
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The thread is convoluted, but it boils down to this: Online trolls fed by professional “misinformationists” insist the Buffalo grocery store shooting was a false flag operation orchestrated by U.S. federal agents, who trained the shooter and arranged the attack as a means of rekindling public calls for gun control. Crazy, right? On many levels. Fortune
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