Study reveals the key reason why fake news spreads on social media
USC researchers may have found the biggest influencer in the spread of fake news: social platforms’ structure of rewarding users for habitually sharing information. The…
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People ‘fly to quality’ news on social sites when faced with uncertainty
By Laurel Thomas @ University of Michigan News Image credit: NewsWhip When information becomes a matter of life or death or is key to navigating…
Study shows vulnerable populations with less education more likely to believe, share misinformation
As the COVID-19 pandemic threatens public health around the world, misinformation regarding its treatment, causes and cures has abounded. A University of Kansas study has…
US Social Media Firms Scramble to Fight Fake News
by Michelle Quinn SAN FRANCISCO — As Notre Dame Cathedral burned, a posting on Facebook circulated – a grainy video of what appeared to be…
A cognitive scientist explains why humans are so susceptible to fake news and misinformation
By JULIAN MATTHEWS – Nieman Lab How fake news gets into our minds, and what you can do to resist it Although the term itself is…
Don’t be fooled by fake images and videos online
Nope, not a real news report from Hurricane Irma. Snopes Hany Farid, Dartmouth College One month before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, an “Access Hollywood”…
How mainstream media helps weaponize far-right conspiracy theories
Are there invisible forces at work in the world? Grzegorz Zdziarski/Shutterstock.com Heather Woods, Kansas State University and Leslie Hahner, Baylor University Once an anti-Semitic rumor…
How local journalism can upend the ‘fake news’ narrative
Local journalists are often the only journalists that most people will ever meet. teka12/Shutterstock.com Damian Radcliffe, University of Oregon “For the first time media is…
Facebook hired a conservative lobbying firm with an ‘in-house fake news shop’ to combat PR crisis
The conservative lobbying firm that Facebook hired in the midst of an October 2017 public relations crisis about Russian disinformation included what one former employee…
Unlike in 2016, there was no spike in misinformation this election cycle
Social media misinformation rose significantly before the 2016 presidential election. Georgejmclittle/shutterstock.com Paul Resnick, University of Michigan A newsy photo of a public figure shows up…