--- title: "Misinformation Roundup: Impact on Health, What Twitter Could Do Better, White House Plans, and More" id: "20786" type: "post" slug: "misinformation-and-disinformation-roundup-impact-on-health-what-twitter-could-do-better-white-house-plans-and-more" published_at: "2022-10-10T21:22:39+00:00" modified_at: "2022-10-12T12:20:47+00:00" url: "https://review.content-science.com/misinformation-and-disinformation-roundup-impact-on-health-what-twitter-could-do-better-white-house-plans-and-more/" markdown_url: "https://review.content-science.com/misinformation-and-disinformation-roundup-impact-on-health-what-twitter-could-do-better-white-house-plans-and-more.md" excerpt: "Since our recent infodemic, I’ve embraced fighting misinformation mayhem as a mission. And fortunately I’m not the only one. There are many promising developments. At the same time, we’re learning more about the consequences of misinformation and disinformation. The Content..." taxonomy_category: - "Article" taxonomy_subject: - "Misinformation + Disinformation" --- Since our recent [infodemic](https://review.content-science.com/disinformation-disease-and-discrimination/) **,** I’ve embraced [fighting misinformation](https://review.content-science.com/in-content-can-we-trust-revisiting-content-ethics-policy/) mayhem as a mission. And fortunately I’m not the only one. There are many promising developments. At the same time, we’re learning more about the consequences of misinformation and disinformation. The [Content Science](http://content-science.com) team and I have rounded up what’s happening to share with you so we can both celebrate progress and realize how much work lies ahead. ## Reach and Impact of Misinformation / Disinformation - [Infodemics and Misinformation Negatively Affect People’s Health Behaviours](https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/01-09-2022-infodemics-and-misinformation-negatively-affect-people-s-health-behaviours--new-who-review-finds) A new WHO review sheds more light on the health consequences of misinformation - [Science Misinformation: Journalism in the Age of Truth Decay](https://pulitzercenter.org/grants-fellowships/opportunities-journalists/science-misinformation) The Pulitzer Center is issuing grants for journalists to investigate how science misinformation happens and its impact - [TikTok’s Search Engine Repeatedly Delivers Misinformation to its Majority-Young User Base, Report Says](https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/18/business/tiktok-search-engine-misinformation/index.html) NewsGuard shows the relatively new social media platform is also a new place for misinformation to proliferate - [Pervasive Dark Patterns Are Fooling People into Signing Up for Services They Don’t Want](https://gizmodo.com/dark-patterns-ui-cancel-subscription-1849542166) The Federal Trade Commission has aggregated the techniques and the extent of use into a rather disturbing report ## Preventing Misinformation / Disinformation We’re seeing more results from research exploring techniques to stop it and more perspectives from a range of stakeholders. - [Twitter Could Take These Steps to Slow Viral Misinformation, Researchers Say](https://www.cnet.com/news/misinformation/twitter-could-take-these-steps-to-slow-viral-misinformation-researchers-say/) A multipronged approach seems to work best - [The Problem with Disinformation, Through the Lens of a Spanish-Language Fact-Checker](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/mic-check-miami/article266446216.html) Excellent perspective from the founder of [Factchequeado](http://factchequeado.com) ## Improving Online + Civic Literacy Fact checking sites like Politifact and Snopes are still going strong (thank goodness), and more organizations are working to help people recognize or sidestep misinformation. - [It Isn’t Misinformation If It’s Phrased As a Series of Completely Unhinged Rhetorical Questions](https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/it-isnt-misinformation-if-its-phrased-as-a-series-of-completely-unhinged-rhetorical-questions) A humorous take in McSweeney’s that draws attention to nutty questions as both a clue misinformation is happening and a technique for bad actors to circumvent rules - [The Youths Are Very Online. Who’s Teaching Them About Misinformation?](https://www.motherjones.com/media/2022/09/seema-yasmin-misinformation-disinformation-what-the-fact-tools-online/) Great feature in Mother Jones about Dr. Seema Yamin developing tools to protect youth…and the rest of us, too - [When Teens Find Misinformation, These Teachers Are Ready](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/08/technology/misinformation-students-media-literacy.html) The New York Times features educators who are stepping up efforts around media literacy as students reach voting age - [James Madison University Gives Students Purple Pocket Constitutions](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/james-madison-university_jmu-is-distributing-5000-purple-jmu-pocket-activity-6980516461710614529-VcTx/) My alma mater, specifically the Center for Civic Engagement, welcomed students back by giving them purple pocket constitutions (and the Democracy Matters podcast is worth checking out, too) ## Increasing Accountability for Platforms + Industries I’m never in favor of excessive regulation. But we can’t have the free-for-all we witnessed during the pandemic on social media and with crypto. So I’m glad to see more steps toward accountability for platforms and industries that have proven they can’t govern themselves effectively. - [White House Releases First Ever Comprehensive Framework for Responsible Development of Digital Assets](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/16/fact-sheet-white-house-releases-first-ever-comprehensive-framework-for-responsible-development-of-digital-assets/) An outline to rein in the crypto craze - [Social Media Execs Submit to Time Honored Public Lashing](https://gizmodo.com/social-media-execs-submit-to-time-honored-public-lashin-1849538750) While the execs might not listen, I’m glad this helps raise awareness of the issues So, cheers to the progress we’re making in understanding and fighting misinformation. I look forward to more. ## The Author Colleen Jones is the president of [Content Science](http://content-science.com) and a recognized expert on content, AI, and digital transformation, advising top organizations around the world such as Dell, Thompson Reuters, and The Home Depot. The author of the top-rated book The Content Advantage (third edition)*,*Colleen hosts conversations with senior leaders on the Content Powers AI podcast. A passionate entrepreneur, Colleen has led Content Science to conduct the world’s largest ongoing study of content operations and AI, develop the patented ContentWRX evaluation system, and architect the AI superagent ContentIQ. She served as head of content at Mailchimp during its transformation into a marketing platform and eventual $12 billion acquisition by Intuit. Colleen also led customer experience transformation at AT&T and the CDC. Sharing insights based on her experience and her firm’s research, she is a frequent contributor to business and technology publications and podcasts as well as a top LinkedIn Learning instructor. Follow Colleen on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenjones/) . ## What to Check Out Next - [Misinformation Roundup: Effects on Policy, New Research, + New Ways to Fight It](https://review.content-science.com/misinformation-roundup-effects-policy-new-research/) - [Credibility + Trust Fact Sheet](https://review.content-science.com/credibility-fact-sheet/) - [Are AI Agents Useless Failures or the Key to AI's Future?](https://review.content-science.com/are-ai-agents-failures-or-the-future/) **This article is about**[Misinformation + Disinformation](https://review.content-science.com/subject/misinformation/) Related Topics:- [Content Marketing](https://review.content-science.com/subject/content-marketing/) - [Content Strategy](https://review.content-science.com/subject/content-strategy/) ## Comments **COMMENT GUIDELINES**We invite you to share your perspective in a constructive way. To comment, please sign in or register. 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