The spread of inaccuracies on social media – including political “fake news,” and misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines – has led to a plethora of problems in areas as disparate as politics and public health. To combat the spread of false and misleading information, MIT Sloan School Professor David Rand and his colleagues have been […]
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Many Republican lawmakers have criticized governors’ emergency restrictions since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Now that most legislatures are back in session, a new type of pushback is taking root: misinformation. In their own comments or by inviting skeptics to testify at legislative hearings, some GOP state lawmakers are using their platform to promote […]
It seems the hope of a promising vaccine on the horizon has sparked fear and suspicion in some people’s minds and has caused the spread of vaccine misinformation. The number of people joining such groups and sharing conspiracy theories with those around them is rising at an alarming rate. A poll published by YouGov showed […]
Facebook said Thursday it will start removing false claims about COVID-19 vaccines, in its latest move to counter a tide of coronavirus-related online misinformation. In the coming weeks, the social network will begin taking down any Facebook or Instagram posts with false information about the vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts. The […]
Ahead of the election, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube promised to clamp down on election misinformation, including unsubstantiated charges of fraud and premature declarations of victory by candidates. And they mostly did just that — though not without a few hiccups. But overall their measures still didn’t really address the problems exposed by the 2020 U.S. […]
A single voting machine jammed for just minutes Tuesday morning at a precinct in Joe Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania — but misleading posts on Facebook and Twitter claimed multiple machines there were down for hours. Pennsylvania emerged as a hot spot for online misinformation on Election Day. Facebook and Twitter scrambled to take down […]
CHICAGO (AP) — Long before Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced her as his running mate, Kamala Harris was the target of widespread online misinformation. Social media posts included racist claims that she was ineligible to serve in the White House or that she was lying about her Black and Indian heritage. Her mother is […]
SEATTLE (AP) — Emergency responders in the Pacific Northwest are fighting misinformation along with raging wildfires as people spread unsubstantiated social media posts blaming coordinated groups of arsonists from both the far left and far right for setting the blazes. The FBI said Friday that it’s investigated several claims and found them to be untrue, […]
Facebook has deleted a post by President Donald Trump for violating its policy against spreading misinformation about the coronavirus. The post in question featured a link to a Fox News video in which Trump says children are “virtually immune” to the virus. Facebook said Wednesday that the “video includes false claims that a group of […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on testimony before a congressional committee by the CEOs of Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google (all times local): 6:30 p.m. Democratic chairman of a House antitrust panel says Facebook is making money off dangerous lies that could have deadly consequences. Rep. David Cicilline lodged the accusation at the tech company’s […]