Headlines For Nov. 17, 2021

Online misinformation has resulted in worsening public health, a slower response to climate change and an undermining of democracy, according to a report from the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder that calls for sweeping reforms to address the threat.

Local sites in Virginia published tens of thousands of conservative-skewed articles, many of them misleading or wrong, in the past 11 months. Rightwing operatives in the US are using a huge network of fake local news sites to target crucial state elections, with the sites publishing tens of thousands of conservative-skewed articles on politically charged subjects, many of them misleading or wrong, over the past 11 months.

The spread of false and misleading information, whether intentional or not, is one of the most consequential issues in America and around the world. And this “information disorder” crisis exacerbates all other issues, from democracy to climate change, from health care to racial justice.

Misinformation related to the coronavirus has spread widely online, particularly on social media, eCommerce, and telehealth platforms.  Online actors have used coronavirus misinformation to sell hazardous treatments, fraudulent vaccination cards, and fake religious or medical exemptions.

Twitter users will soon see new warning labels on false and misleading tweets, redesigned to make them more effective and less confusing. The labels, which the company has been testing since July, are an update from those Twitter used for election misinformation before and after the 2020 presidential contest.

A criminal code provision that Greece’s parliament adopted on November 11, 2021, makes it a criminal offense to spread “fake news,” Human Rights Watch said today. The Greek government should immediately move to revoke the provision, which is incompatible with freedom of expression and media freedom.

The Surgeon General just released a toolkit to help people fight misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. It is geared specifically for people to talk about misinformation within their close circles of friends and family. Social media researcher Jenny Stromer-Galley, professor at the iSchool at Syracuse University, can offer insight on the proliferation of misinformation and how to stop it.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened his three-nation tour of Africa with an acknowledgement that the world’s democracies are facing challenges of misinformation, corruption, political violence, and voter intimidation.