Countering Misinformation in the Information Age

Meet Ben. He’s a marketing professional. He just shared an article he saw on Facebook saying mRNA vaccines are dangerous because they can cause changes to human genetic material.

Ben gets a message from his friend Sarah, a virologist. She points out false information in the article. Ben admits he’s been nervous about getting the vaccine. He just assumed the article to be true.

Ben and Sarah continue to have a thoughtful discussion. Sarah is understanding about Ben’s concerns about vaccine safety. Not feeling judged, Ben admits he didn’t fully read the article.

“You aren’t alone in having doubts about the vaccine – or in falling for misinformation,” Sarah says. “We’ve all had those moments, especially when things seem uncertain or scary.”

Sarah shares her own story about getting the vaccine with Ben. She was nervous about feeling sick afterwards, but she decided the benefits outweighed the risks for her.

Sarah also assures Ben that nobody is immune to misinformation. “There have been times when it has been difficult for me to figure out if a piece of information is legitimate.”

Because Sarah engaged Ben with empathy, he is now curious and wants to learn more. "How can I avoid falling for or sharing misinformation in the future?" he asks.

“Our brains are naturally susceptible to misinformation for many reasons. But knowing what makes us fall for misinformation can help,” Sarah says.

“For example, we tend to seek out information that reinforces our existing beliefs. And we are inclined to think that information we wish to believe originated from a credible source.”

“This is called confirmation bias. We lean on it and other strategies that minimize cognitive effort when there is an overload of information – as in a constantly evolving situation like the pandemic.”

“We simply cannot evaluate every piece of information we encounter in an unbiased manner. There isn’t time! So our brains try to simplify information processing by relying on rules of thumb.”

Ben realizes that this is exactly what he’s been doing unconsciously – consuming information that strengthens his pre-existing beliefs about the vaccines, without questioning his biases.

“Also, the more we encounter a piece of misinformation, the faster our brain responds to it and thus the more likely we are to rate it as true,” Sarah says. “This is the illusory truth effect.”

“Some of us may also be more susceptible to misinformation – perhaps because we tend to think less analytically. It can take a lot of cognitive effort to identify a statement as untrue versus assuming it to be true.”

“This reminds me of an article I read about rumors!” Ben says. “They reach more people and spread faster than the truth.”

“Rumors are often novel and trigger emotions. This makes them very sharable!" Sarah says.

Ben wants to know, how can he be sure to spot misinformation in the first place? Continue to learn how to make sure that content or information you are consuming is legitimate.

Spotting misinformation can start with asking yourself: Does the content seem sensational? Who wrote this? What have they published previously? Do they have an agenda?

A quick Google search can often answer these questions. If the URL of the article seems dubious or unfamiliar, check what other credible outlets have to say about the same issue.

It's also critical to know the difference between mis- and dis-information. Misinformation includes claims that are false but not deliberately designed to deceive.

Then there is disinformation, which may be spread deliberately for a political or other agenda or to persuade people to click on a link and generate ad revenue.

To avoid disinformation, try to talk to and follow a diverse set of people online. This can make it easier to spot disinformation shared by one specific group of people or organization.

Quiz yourself!

One of these examples counts as misinformation and the other as disinformation. Which do you think is which?

Answer 1: Example A is likely disinformation. An anti-masking group could be sharing false information about the health risks of masks with an intent to mislead or with an agenda.

Answer 2: Example B is likely misinformation. The idea that a hand dryer can kill the coronavirus could be a misinterpretation of the science of how viruses are affected by heat.

To identify misinformation, you can start by checking that multiple outlets are covering this topic and what trustworthy outlets or sources are saying about it. This is one way to fact-check.

Identifying trustworthy outlets or sources can be a challenge. When it comes to health and medicine, websites like CDC.gov or other government websites are the gold standard.

“I understand you are anxious about the vaccine,” Sarah tells Ben. ”It might help to learn more from scientific sources about how they work and how they are tested in clinical trials.”

"Hmm, I’ve only seen content that questions vaccine safety on social media – nothing about how the vaccine works," Ben says. "I guess this is why they call social media an echo chamber."

After talking with Sarah, Ben is convinced that he needs to do more to protect himself (and others) from misinformation. And now he has the tools to do so!

Ben decides to start a dialogue with his family when they share misinformation. Given that people tend to trust people within their social group, this can make a real difference.

Sarah has learned a lot, too. She tells her colleagues how receptive Ben was to what she had to say. They talk about the importance of empathy and dialogue in countering misinformation.

Sarah and her colleagues also discuss techniques like prebunking or forewarning people about misinformation and training them in advance on how to protect themselves.

They talk about how scientists and science communicators need to play a proactive role in filling in knowledge gaps that lead to the spread of misinformation.

As a virologist, Sarah also makes a commitment to share her work openly online and to make herself available as an expert to fact-checkers, journalists and friends with questions!