In the heat of the 2024 election, news influencers seemed to be everywhere. Both Republicans and Democrats credentialed content creators to cover their conventions – and encouraged influencers to share their political messages. Influencers also interviewed the candidates and held fundraisers for them.
Pew/Knight Initiative
It’s not just your coworker or socially awkward uncle who is now prone to believe the earth is flat or in the existence of a deep state: A new survey from the nonprofit the News Literacy Project found that 81% of teens believe at least one conspiracy theory.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
An overwhelming majority of teens (94%) say that schools should be required to teach media literacy, a new study by NLP shows. A full 57% offer strong support, saying schools should “definitely” have such a requirement, and another 36% offer some support, saying schools should have a requirement in some cases.
News Literacy Project
The ascension of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, to the nation’s top health post has alarmed medical experts, who point to his history of trafficking in conspiracy theories as disqualifying to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Washington Post
There's a growing public debate over the need for fluoride in our drinking water, but experts say even the concerns that are based in science – aren't actually cause for concern.
CBS 2 News Iowa
Jonathan Ablard, professor in the Department of History and Latin American Studies coordinator at Ithaca College, gave his keynote presentation titled “Conspiracy Theories and Rumors in the History of Public Health” at the Social History of Health and Illness in Argentina and the Americas workshop via Zoom.
The Ithacan
Social media has its upsides. For example it allows users to share their experiences of health issues. One study showed that 80% of cancer patients use social media to engage peers. But it can also help spread health misinformation.
The Conversation
Elon Musk’s own artificial intelligence model Grok is calling the billionaire out for his spread of misinformation on X.
Independent
A June 2023 survey from YouGov, a British market research firm, found that American kids are more susceptible to misinformation than older adults, partly due to the fact that they spend more time online and, as a result, are exposed to more bunk.
MacLean’s
Regardless of one’s political leanings, it’s been evident for many recent years that science is fighting what feels like an uphill battle against disinformation, both in the U.S. and around the world.
Entomology Today
The disinformation inundating social media during Spain's catastrophic floods threatened the crucial work of emergency services and exploited fear, anger and grief, an AFP investigation has found.
Barron’s / Agence France-Presse
When President-elect Donald J. Trump was announced the winner of this year’s presidential contest on Wednesday, the vote tallies initially suggested a sharp drop-off of millions of Democratic votes compared with the results in 2020.
The New York Times
Artificial intelligence may erode public trust in democratic processes, leading experts said during the DemocracAI panel hosted by the Science, Technology and Society program on Democracy Day.
The Stanford Daily
We’re increasingly aware of how misinformation can influence elections. About 73% of Americans report seeing misleading election news, and about half struggle to discern what is true or false.
The Conversation
This presidential election, young Americans are navigating a chaotic world of information, often with limited tools to distinguish what’s credible, what’s questionable and what’s downright false.
The New York Times
With the 2024 election upon us, Americans express growing concern about election-related misinformation on social media, with 65% believing the problem has worsened since 2020, according to a Tech Policy Press/YouGov survey of 1,089 voters fielded from October 24-25, 2024.
TechPolicy.press
When Clara Andriola took her seat at the Washoe County, Nev., commission meeting room on July 9, she looked out at a sea of angry faces. The commission is Washoe’s main legislative body, and Andriola, a longtime local business executive, was appointed to fill a vacancy on the five-person board last year.
The New York Times
U.S. intelligence agencies confirmed Friday they believe Russia is behind a fake but viral video of a man claiming to be a recent Haitian immigrant saying he and a friend were voting – twice – in Georgia for Kamala Harris.
USA Today
X’s crowd-sourced fact-checking program, called Community Notes, isn’t addressing the flood of U.S. election misinformation on Elon Musk’s social media platform, according to a report published Wednesday by a group that tracks online speech.
The Associated Press
Across Pennsylvania, local and state officials are warning that efforts by Donald Trump and his supporters to call into question the integrity of the presidential election in the crucial swing state are ramping up—before a single ballot has been counted—even though previous claims have been proven false.
The Wall Street Journal
