How can fake news be managed without government overreach? Under the draft bill, platforms continue to be responsible for the content on their services – not governments.
The amount of content available online makes policing misinformation extremely difficult. But there are steps we can all take to better ensure the credibility of what we see online.
It’s safe to say that Elon Musk has transformed Twitter.
Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The intersection of content management, misinformation, aggregated data about human behavior and crowdsourcing shows how fragile Twitter is and what would be lost with the platform’s demise.
The restraints on COVID-19 misinformation on Twitter are off.
AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
The spread of misinformation in many pandemics, including the smallpox and 1918 influenza outbreaks, have undermined efforts to contain infections and prevent deaths.
Anti-vaccine group moderators said Facebook provided an environment where they could safely offer support to others.
Talking about vaccines with trusted health care providers and with family can help wade through the sea of information – and misinformation.
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With COVID-19 shots finally available for infants and preschoolers, knowing how to combat misinformation on social media and elsewhere could be more important than ever.
Katie Attwell, The University of Western Australia and Tauel Harper, The University of Western Australia
Contrary to the popular belief that social media creates rumours about COVID vaccine harms, new research suggests social media generally only aids the spread of these rumours.
Some of the most persistent myths about COVID-19 vaccination have been false rumours that it can affect fertility in men or women. There has never been any evidence to support this misinformation.
Social media is popular among young Nigerians.
Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images
The study indicates that social media platforms are central to how young adults make sense of COVID-19 news and messages.
A person holds a copy of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms during the so-called freedom convoy protest on Parliament Hill.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The Canadian Constitution compels a proportionate weighing of all Charter rights against the threat of COVID-19, meaning that individual freedom is not absolute.
Tech giants such as Spotify like to claim they are platforms, not publishers, and aren’t editorially responsible for the content they host. But with COVID threatening lives, they have to do better.
Spotify will pull Neil Young’s music after the musician demanded the streaming service remove The Joe Rogan Experience from its platform, as an episode of the podcast promoted COVID misinformation.