Misinformation - Information Matters

Information plays an important role in helping people make informed decisions and advocate for themselves socially, economically, and politically. However, not everyone has fair or equitable access to information. Information science scholars term this information inequity—the individual and societal factors that limit an individual, group, or nation’s access to information. Addressing information inequities by identifying and rectifying their causes is essential to helping all people fully participate in our society and democratic system.

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November 14, 2024 Madelyn Sanfilippo

Governing Misinformation

This translation of the authors’ recent ARIST review, “Sociotechnical Governance of Misinformation,” highlights the urgency and importance of empirical research on misinformation governance to inform decision-making and policy-making in support of a healthier information environment.

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April 12, 2024 Frans van der Sluis

How Everyone Can Agree on What Counts as Quality Information

It’s tricky for people to agree on what counts as quality information. We see this every day with echo chambers on social media, where everyone has their own idea of what’s true or important. This suggests that information quality is a product of our own, individual minds—one that is best captured in “like,” “love,” “haha,” and “wow” buttons on social media. But our research suggests there’s a way to get people on the same page about information quality, and it involves making some changes to how we assess and share information online.

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March 29, 2024 Lubna Daraz

Unmasking Health Myths: Crafting Quality Standards Against Online Misinformation and Disinformation.

COVID-19 has become the catalyst of health MIDI (misinformation and disinformation) on the World Wide Web. It is difficult for people to know what to believe. If people act on wrong information, their health may get worse. We need to be ready when the next health emergency comes. We need to know how to find good health information.

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March 19, 2024 Nafiz Zaman Shuva

Misinformation, Disinformation, or Information Crafting?

As many countries, including Australia, Canada, and the U.S., regularly welcome immigrants with diverse backgrounds, it is essential to understand whether immigrants moving to a new country can make informed decisions by consulting formal information agencies such as the immigration ministry. What information sources do immigrants consult to gather information about their life in a new country? How helpful are they in making informed decisions about life in their host country? What information is shared with immigrants by formal information agencies such as the immigration consultants?

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September 12, 2023 Nicole A. Cooke

The Colors of Disinformation

If we think about phrases, cliches, or old adages in the English language, many of them are rooted in a color, or the lack thereof. Many of these phrases also speak to the phenomenon of disinformation, its spread, and its entrenchment in our daily lives. This short essay will introduce several such colorful phrases.

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April 5, 2023 Kate McDowell

Storytelling Dynamics and Misinformation: the Bad S-DIKW Framework

How do we know if a story is accurate or inaccurate, rational or exaggerated, correct or misleading, especially when an untrue story may be more gripping than the truth? Telling true stories, or truthful storytelling, requires a set of abilities for transforming data or information into story form, which can be related to various levels of the DIKW hierarchy.

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January 6, 2023 Benjamin D. Horne

Is Automated Content Moderation Going to Solve Our Misinformation Problems?

Will automated content moderation work? Researchers and software engineers have made great strides in building automated content moderation tools, but these tools are not good enough yet, and are prone to making mistakes.