News about Misinformation
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- TikTok mental health tips under fire: over half contain misinformation - Daily TimesThis link opens in a new windowJun 1, 2025LONDON – More than half of the 100 most popular mental health videos on TikTok contain misleading or false information, raising alarm among mental ...
- More than half of top 100 TikTok mental health videos contain misinformation: studyThis link opens in a new windowJun 1, 2025Some TikToks falsely claim trauma can be healed in an hour or mislabel normal emotions as mental illness.
- Poisonous online rhetoric leads to horrors like murder of Sarah Milgrim | OpinionThis link opens in a new windowJun 1, 2025Social media, antisemitism and online misinformation fuel hate and violence. It led to the Washington, D.C., murder of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron ...
- Robert Scoble - XThis link opens in a new windowJun 1, 2025As Robert Scoble, you're raising a critical point about the future role of AI in managing misinformation and spam on platforms like X, especially in ...
- Half of top mental health TikToks have misinformation: The Guardian | Al Mayadeen EnglishThis link opens in a new windowJun 1, 2025Many people seek mental health advice on social media, where influencers often spread misinformation, misusing therapy terms, pushing unproven "quick ...
Additional Resources
Army of Liars by
Unregulated technology threatens truth, democracy, and humanity itself... Following up on his groundbreaking book Digital is Destroying Everything, Army of Liars now unveils the sinister agenda of an army of liars, the digitally-driven bad actors seeking to destabilize the United States by eroding the very foundations of liberal democracy with a relentless barrage of fabricated narratives and poisonous, digitally promoted disinformation. Pulling no punches, Edwards identifies the culprits: social media platforms protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, audience targeting, real-time content recommendation, foreign state actors, and radical factions fueled by hate. Today's social media has been weaponized by enemies of the United States and hate and discord are now the currency of thousands of anonymous "content providers." Army of Liars unpacks how we got here, what exactly is wrong with digital enterprise, and how to go about fixing it so that humanity may survive even in an age of artificial intelligence and digital command and control. Should we implement an "engagement tax" on social media platforms and generative AI? These funds could be used to help fight off the worst types of disinformation and to help fund the efforts of content creators whose work has been scraped, stolen, and reconfigured by generative AI and large language models (LLMs). It's a safe bet the tech giants won't want to hear it. Army of Liars is designed to help humans not only survive in a digital age but to conquer digital and prosper in an age of truth in media.
ISBN: 9781538194157Publication Date: 2024-09-03
Faik by
Learn to navigate a world of deepfakes, phishing attacks, and other cybersecurity threats emanating from generative artificial intelligence In an era where artificial intelligence can create content indistinguishable from reality, how do we separate truth from fiction? In FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions, cybersecurity and deception expert Perry Carpenter unveils the hidden dangers of generative artificial intelligence, showing you how to use these technologies safely while protecting yourself and others from cyber scams and threats. This book provides a crucial understanding of the potential risks associated with generative AI, like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, offering effective strategies to avoid falling victim to their more sinister uses. This isn't just another book about technology - it's your survival guide to the digital jungle. Carpenter takes you on an insightful journey through the "Exploitation Zone," where rapid technological advancements outpace our ability to adapt, creating fertile ground for deception. Explore the mechanics behind deepfakes, disinformation, and other cognitive security threats. Discover how cybercriminals can leverage even the most trusted AI systems to create and spread synthetic media and use it for malicious purposes. At its core, FAIK is an empowering exposé in which Carpenter effectively weaves together engaging narratives and practical insights, all aimed to equip you with the knowledge to recognize and counter advanced tactics with practical media literacy skills and a deep understanding of social engineering. You will: Learn to think like a hacker to better defend against digital threats. Gain practical skills to identify and defend against AI-driven scams. Develop your toolkit to safely navigate the "Exploitation Zone." See how bad actors exploit fundamental aspects of generative AI to create weapons grade deceptions. Develop practical skills to identify and resist emotional manipulation in digital content. Most importantly, this is ultimately an optimistic book as it predicts a powerful and positive outcome as a period of cooperation, something now inconceivable, develops as it always does during crises and the future is enhanced by amazing new technologies and fabulous opportunities on the near horizon. Written by an expert, yet accessible to everyone, FAIK is an indispensable resource for anyone who uses technology and wants to stay secure in the evolving digital landscape. This book not only prepares you to face the onslaught of digital deceptions and AI-generated threats, but also teaches you to think like a hacker to better defend against them.
ISBN: 9781394299898Publication Date: 2024-08-20
Information Disorder by
This book focuses on the recent rise of "infodemics" as forms of disinformation, misinformation and mal-information saturate contemporary media platforms, shaping public opinion to advance agendas. The internet in general and social media in particular have relativized, through their global, complex and instantaneous information flows, assumptions about truth and authority in fact-based content. This has created new opportunities for state actors to use information beyond traditional conceptions of propaganda to directly assault a public's conception of reality. Additionally, almost anyone has the capability to challenge evidential claims through narratives and imagery alone as there is a wide appetite online for alternative realities. This requires new approaches to media literacy in education, the creative arts and our acts of media consumption and dissemination. The volume covers the ways that social media platforms amplify and catalyze the messages of politicians and influencers, the ambivalence of algorithms that can both generate and detect problematic information, how fake news imitates the style of memes to gain widespread social traction and virality, and how artists have intentionally created "sicko AIs" in new media performances to highlight the ethical risks of increasingly "intelligent" technologies. Scholars and students from many backgrounds, as well as policy makers, journalists and the general reading public, will find a multidisciplinary approach to questions posed by information disorder research from the fields of communication, social psychology, human-computer interaction, journalism, media, semiotics and new media art.
ISBN: 9781000924886Publication Date: 2023-05-31
In Fraud We Trust by
Telling lies, and falling for them, is one of the things that makes us human. The vast majority of these falsehoods are harmless and perfectly legal. But when someone deceives another for material gain or profit, inflicting injury in the process, we give this kind of lie a special label: fraud. Most people are familiar with the concept and understand that fraud is prohibited by law. What many fail to appreciate, however, is that the law does not treat all frauds equally. If you defraud an individual, you might end up in prison. On the other hand, if you defraud millions of people--what Wes Henricksen calls "fraud on the public"--you might end up wealthy or powerful, or even get elected president. In a perverse sense, the bigger the fraud, the more likely it is protected by the First Amendment and therefore legal. As a result, many of the largest and most destructive fraud schemes are allowed, encouraged, and richly rewarded. Examples of fraud on the public are everywhere. The fossil fuel industry long used PR firms and lobbyists to spread disinformation about oil's role in climate change. Sugar companies misled the public about the dangers of high-fructose corn syrup, redirecting the public's attention to fat. Cigarette manufacturers famously lied about the risks of tobacco, and opioid makers lied about the effects of the drug. Social media influencers and fringe media outlets promoted false claims about the COVID-19 pandemic being a government hoax. Others claimed that vaccines were part of a sinister plot. Politicians on both sides of the aisle lie with such regularity that people have become deeply cynical about whether to believe anything they say. Henricksen shows that large-scale fraud is carried out for many reasons beyond financial profit, including political gain, the prevention of justice, and the falsification of history. In addition to exposing the depths of the problem, Henricksen gives readers a way forward. He proposes we call these massive deceit campaigns by their proper name; that we "de-weaponize" the First Amendment, which was never meant to shield swindlers; and that we enact new laws that protect the public from fraud. By revealing for the first time the root legal cause of the misinformation crisis and presenting novel solutions, In Fraud We Trust speaks to the present moment as it offers answers for the future.
ISBN: 9780700637461Publication Date: 2024-11-15
Market-Oriented Disinformation Research by
Market-Oriented Disinformation Research explores the spread of false or misleading information online through the lens of marketing theory and consumer research. It examines how the business models of digital platforms and advertising technology firms (AdTech) generate digital markets that incentivize the circulation of harmful content for profit. Rather than viewing disinformation and misinformation as accidental byproducts, the book proposes that they thrive in the current markets designed for digital advertising and influencer marketing. Readers will learn how the amplification of disinformation can be linked to social media's business model. Examples include how social media algorithms promote addictive content, how fake news sites use ad fraud to lure in advertising revenue, and how some content creators rely on clickbait, ragebait, bots, and conspiracy theories to boost their engagement metrics. The book is a must-read for scholars in journalism, media studies, and political communication, as well as policymakers interested in the democratic governance of social media platforms. In addition, it calls for digital marketing, advertising, and brand management professionals to take responsibility for their ad spending by advocating for greater oversight over AdTech intermediaries to prevent unethical actors from monetizing the harmful content that polarizes society and undermines democratic institutions. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International license.
ISBN: 9781032828541Publication Date: 2025-03-25
Media and Propaganda in an Age of Disinformation by
A critical and timely collection that argues for the centrality of propaganda in discussions about the contemporary media landscape and its informational ecosystems. This book explores how "propaganda," a foundational concept within media and communication studies, has recently been replaced by alternative terms (disinformation, misinformation, and fake news) that fail to capture the continuities and disruptions of ongoing strategic attempts to (mis)guide public opinion. Edited by Nelson Ribeiro and Barbie Zelizer, the collection highlights how these concepts must be understood as part of a long legacy of propaganda and not just as new phenomena that have emerged in the context of the digital media environment. Chapters explore the strategies and effects of propaganda through a variety of globally diverse case studies, featuring both democracies and autocratic regimes, and highlight how only by understanding propagandistic forms and strategies can we fully begin to understand how public opinion is being molded today by those who resort to deception and falsehood to gain or keep hold of power. An important resource for students and scholars of media and communication studies and those who are studying and/or researching media and propaganda, media and power, disinformation, fake news, and political communication. The Open Access version of this book, available at http: //www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license
ISBN: 9781032756011Publication Date: 2025-02-19
Find additional books at the link below:
- Defining "Fake News": A typology of scholarly definitions
Article by Tandoc, Lim, & Ling
Publication Date: 2018-02-07 - Global Misinformation & Disinformation Special Issue Introduction
Article by Josephine Lukito
Publication Date: 2024-10 - Science and Sanity: A social epistemology of misinformation, disinformation, and the limits of knowledge
Article by Laurence J. Kirmayer
Publication Date: 2024-10 - Disinformation and Misinformation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and the Metaverse
Article by Nir Kshetri
Publication Date: 2024-12 - Probing the paradox: are governments fighting or fueling disinformation?
Article by Marius Dragomir
Publication Date: 2025-03 - Promoting Mis/Disinformation Literacy Among Adults: A Scoping Review of Interventions and Recommendations
Article by Boler, Gharib, Kweon, Trigiani, & Perry
Publication Date: 2025-02
Find additional articles at the link below:
The Real World Danger of Online Myths (10/2024)
Media and Democracy: Finding Facts in the Mess of Misinformation (8/2024)
How to Fight (and Win) an Information War (06/2024)
How Deepfakes Undermine Truth and Threaten Democracy (07/2019)
How You Can Help Transform the Internet into a Place of Trust (04/2019)
How We Can Protect Truth in the Age of Misinformation (09/2018)
Find additional Ted Talks at the link below:
- After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News
Documentary from HBO.
Runtime: 1hr 34 min - Digital Disconnect: Fake News, Privacy and Democracy
A 2-part documentary from the Media Education Foundation.
Total Runtime: 1hr 40min - Fighting Misinformation: Digital Media Literacy
An 8 episode series from The Great Courses.
Total Runtime: 3hr 34min - Post Truth Times: We The Media: Navigating Information in a Post-Truth Media Landscape
Documentary by Hector Carre.
Runtime: 1hr 42min
How to Spot Fake News - The Visual Capitalist
Read the content from the infographic on the Visual Capitalist's website.
- First Draft News Training
Explore a free library of training content provided by First Draft’s highly experienced team. These online courses, toolkits and resources are designed to help both journalists and the public build expertise and stay one step ahead of misinformation. - Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers
Open Access book with practice activities from Mike Caulfield. - Fake news, Lies, and Propaganda: The Class
Lesson plans, slides, and assignments from a Fake News course at University of Michigan Libraries. - Journalism, Fake News & Disinformation: handbook for journalism education and training
This course adopts a heuristic pedagogical model, meaning that users are encouraged to bring their own experiences to the process. The lessons are not intended to be prescriptive; rather they can and should be adapted to suit particular national, cultural, institutional, and industry contexts of teaching and learning. - OER Commons
You can search OER Commons for "fake news," "misinformation," or "disinformation" to find open access lesson plans, syllabi, activities, and more.
- Bad News
From fake news to chaos! How bad are you? Get as many followers as you can. - Break the Fake
Use your skills to determine if the media posts are true or false. - Detect Fakes
Determine whether the video or audio clips are real or fakes. - Fake It To Make It
Become a creator of fake news and see what it takes to make up stories for money. - Fakeout
Practice judging social media posts. - Informable
This app from the News Literacy Project tests your ability to identify hidden ads, faulty evidence, and "fake news" - Jeopardy Labs
Browse the list of almost 2000 pre-made Misinformation Jeopardy games, or create your own! - Loki's Loop Escape Rooms
Test your Media Literacy skills in these online escape rooms! These are team based for online or in-person. Designed by University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public. - Which Face is Real?
Try to determine which image is real and which was computer generated.