Bill Gates, an Arizona county official who fought off threats and defended election results, will take on a new role to preserve democracy from the nation's epicenter of election denialism.
Arizona Republic / AZCentral.com
The American Board of Internal Medicine revoked the certifications of Pierre Kory and Paul Marik, two physicians known for continuing to promote ivermectin, an anti-parasitic medication, as a treatment for covid long after the medical community found it to be ineffective. The two men co-founded the Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance, which experts say spread misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic.
The Washington Post
Climate misinformation may be more effective than we’d like to think because of a phenomenon called the illusory truth effect. In short, we are more likely to believe a lie if we encounter it repeatedly. Worse, the effect works immediately — a lie seems to be more true even after just one repetition.
Nieman Lab
Just like comedy fans replay their favorite routines every so often, I often find myself returning to a few journalistic pieces written about comedy to help me order my thoughts. One is Lindy West’s 2013 Jezebel piece she wrote in the wake of debating Jim Norton concerning comedy’s role in perpetuating rape culture on the canceled FX series “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.”
Salon
A new Gallup poll reveals that anti-science attitudes and the politicization of health care is potentially having a massive negative impact on public safety, as a mere 40% of adults now feel it is ‘important’ for parents to have their children vaccinated, down from 58% pre-pandemic.
The Hill
The animal health sector is just as vulnerable to threats posed by misinformation and disinformation. In October 2022, viral online content about the spread and treatment of lumpy skin disease stirred up conspiracy theories, undermining cattle vaccination efforts and suggesting that milk is not safe to drink.
World Organisation for Animal Health
Britain is facing its worst riots in 13 years, as a wave of violent anti-immigration protests sweep across the country. The uprisings began after the spread of misinformation online about a mass stabbing at a dance class in Southport that killed three young girls and left numerous others injured.
TIME Magazine
Distinguished author and researcher Sam Harris explores the nuances of influence and propaganda in the context of today's dizzying media landscape with social media researcher and author of 'Invisible Rulers,' Renee DiResta.
Podcast: Making Sense
A false name - attributed to the 17-year-old accused of killing three little girls as well as injuring eight other children and two adults - spread like wildfire across X, formerly known as Twitter.
BBC
Kamala Harris’ election campaign has accused Elon Musk of spreading ‘manipulated lies’ after the Tesla chief executive posted a doctored video featuring the vice-president on his X account.
The Guardian
Over the past decade, the number of Arizona schools whose kindergarteners are protected from an outbreak has dropped by half. Now, only one in three schools in the state has "herd immunity," or enough vaccinated children to stop the disease from spreading.
The Arizona Republic / AZCentral.com
From fabricated media reports to content misrepresented as coming from brands or government agencies, false claims have focused on supposed terrorist threats and security risks, Paris’ alleged lack of preparedness, and the presumed lack of popularity of the Games, seemingly aiming at undermining trust in the Games and the authorities organizing them.
NewsGuard
The Kremlin is turning to unwitting Americans and commercial public relations firms in Russia to spread disinformation about the U.S. presidential race, top intelligence officials said Monday, detailing the latest efforts by America’s adversaries to shape public opinion ahead of the 2024 election.
The Associated Press
The U.S. Senate last week advanced sweeping legislation aimed at protecting children and teens online, in an overwhelmingly bipartisan test vote that put it on track for passage as soon as this week. But the fate of the package remains uncertain in the House, where free speech concerns and a fierce lobbying effort by the technology industry are threatening to complicate its path to enactment.
The New York Times
AI chatbot Grok from platform X has been caught erroneously telling voters that the U.S. presidential ballot is finalized in eight states, when it has not, sowing doubt and confusion.
PC Magazine
As the world turned digital, people were quick to drop their Sunday papers and pick up their smartphones for news. Advertisers followed suit as digital platforms became more valuable real estate than print newspapers, leaving California news outlets desperate to find ways to stay profitable and relevant.
Los Angeles Times
Despite the economic and environmental benefits wind energy projects can bring to rural areas, such as millions in local revenue and the decommissioning of outmoded forms of energy production, more than 25 percent of proposals stall or are stopped by health, safety and financial #misinformation from opposition groups.
The Associated Press
Amid the craziest news cycle in recent memory, AI-generated deepfakes have yet to become the huge truth catastrophe that experts warned would be coming.
Axios
When audience members during an event at the Republican National Convention were asked on Monday to raise their hand if they thought these images were artificially generated, several participants were able to correctly guess which images were real, while some were left stumped.
CNN
Within minutes of President Joe Biden endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him on the Democratic Party’s ticket on Sunday, the internet crackled with lies, altered photos and other misleading claims about Harris.
CNN