Misinfo Weekly

In this episode, we talk about the surprise hit film, The Sound of Freedom. We look at expert takes on the film's presentation of child trafficking, and we also discuss some of the conspiracy theories surrounding the distribution of the movie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After some time has passed, we discuss just how much the Twitter platform has changed, and we look forward to how the spread of misinformation in 2024 on Twitter could be very different from what we have seen previously. We cover persons on the platform, moderation policies, and how users are likely to encounter misinformation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Misinformation and issues of content moderation go hand in hand. And there are some lessons to be learned from the current Twitter debacle. We go over some key changes in the platform, and we review some of the ways that Twitter may invite future misinformation. We also review some data about activity on other alt-tech platforms to get a sense of what Twitter and its CEO may represent to other com...

In this episode, we talk about some early trends and analyses of Twitter under Elon Musk, and we pay particular attention to trends in content moderation, users, and how Twitter stacks up to other platforms during election season. We also think about the cyclical aspects of some social media use. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this brief SNAP episode we discuss the role of mis/disinformation in the 2022 US Midterm elections. While many election deniers were not successful in their bids for election, that did not stop misinformation from playing a prominent role leading up to and on the day of the election in the US. We briefly discuss our different experiences voting at the polls in Arizona, the role of surrogates in...

We talk about the resurgence of an election conspiracy film leading up to the 2022 mid-term elections, and we also discuss the changing landscape of misinformation surrounding the election in Arizona and nationwide. Shawn introduces the term "disinfomentary," and we pitch the idea of "Smokey the Election Integrity Bear." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we discuss the impact of the alternative social media platform, Parler, on the January 6th, 2021 attack on the Capitol of the United States. We go through some of the results of our recent data analysis of the archived platform materials, as well as talk about some lessons learned for content moderation and de-platforming. We reference a report for which we both served as contribu...

Recorded before the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, this episode discusses the removal (or blocking?) of any mention of Kyle Rittenhouse on Facebook. Shawn takes Michael to task for confusing censorship with content moderation, and the conversation also explores the relationship between misinformation and recruitment for white supremacist organizations. Transcript can be found here. Hosted...

In this episode, we take a look at why a viral video from an Indiana school board meeting starring Dr. Dan Stock was so appealing to those opposing masking and vaccination. We discuss the method of argumentation as well as some of the evidence he presents, returning to the theme about the limited efficacy of factual information for combating mis-and dis- information. While Dr. Stock presents himse...

In this episode, we discuss COVID-19 vaccine misinformation with Dr. Margarette Shegog, a family medicine physician in Northern California. We walk through the types of interactions she has with her patients and how she approaches discussions of COVID-19 risk vs the risk of COVID-19 protection measures such as vaccines, masking, and social distancing. We also discuss the relationship between curre...

In this episode we discuss the common misinformation surrounding the vaccination of our pets with veterinarian Dr. Kelsey Bradley. We discuss how some of these concerns are similar to misinformation surrounding human vaccines including the dangers/toxicity of vaccine ingredients, vaccination frequency, role of "big pharma" in persuading veterinarians to recommend vaccinations, etc. Dr. Bradley wal...

In this episode we bring a historical perspective to COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. We discuss conspiracy theories, smallpox inoculations, Victorian misinformation, and their relationship to present-day COVID-19 vaccinations with Anna Muldoon. Anna is an author of a recent book on COVID-19 conspiracy theories and a researcher at ASU. We also discuss the history of vaccine development from inocul...

In the first episode of our vaccine misinformation miniseries, we lay out some of the key concepts and themes that come up when we study misinformation about vaccines. These themes continue throughout our subsequent interview series on vaccine hesitancy. Full transcript can be found at https://lib.asu.edu/data/learning Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We interview Logan Clarke from the Global Security Initiative at Arizona State University. In the conversation, Logan goes through some concepts from political psychology that can help make sense of how policy conversations around misinformation and technology platforms often seem to flounder in polarized conflict. The full episode transcript can be found at https://lib.asu.edu/data/learning Hoste...

In February 2021, a powerful winter storm disrupted the power grid in Texas. Thousands lost power and the state was thrown into a state of emergency. In this episode, we explore some of the misinformation that circulated during and after the power outage, the use of misinformation to frame blame and shape policy changes due to the failure, and discuss how misinformation about infrastructure can in...

Content on the internet is always changing in quiet and subtle ways. Without the ability to track how the internet has changed, it's difficult to get a read on trends in misinformation. In this episode, we interview Dr. Jessica Ogden about the web archiving, and we get her take on important methods and uses for web archives. We discuss how web archives are created by both memory institutions such...

We talk about the January 6 insurrection, the disappearance of Parler, as well as the responses of platforms to the misinformation that drove it. We talk through the consequences of kicking users off of platforms, as well as discuss the differences between archiving and fact-checking. Episode transcript can be found in the Episode Link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We flip things around, and instead of talking about tactics and techniques of misinformation (where we think about creators and senders of content), we talk through the different kinds of vulnerabilities we all face as consumers of that content. We think through individual, collective, and contextual factors that will help you consider your own orientation to the potentially destructive content yo...

We look at some of the disinformation swirling around the election outcome, and we look at some Twitter trends that indicate a real divide between emerging and conventional news sources for conservatives. We also discuss the viability of the "filter bubble" thesis, and evaluate some claims of mass migration to Parler. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Steve Corman, who directs the Center for Strategic Communication at Arizona State University. We go through some published journalism, as well as Facebook and Twitter data, to get to the bottom of the rumors surrounding the west coast wildfires of 2020. We try to answer the question, "does disinformation activity surrounding these fires resemble previous Russi...

It's probably foolish to make any predictions at all about the 2020 US election, but armed with our best mis/disinformation metaphors, we give it a try. We inventory all the misinfo narratives circulating before November 3, and we also talk about practical steps and things to look out for when thinking through how to best deal with inevitable arrival of incomplete information, disinformation, or m...

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Kristy Roschke, Managing Director of the News Co/Lab at the Walter Cronkite School for Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. As a media scholar and educator, she offers some perspective on the role of news in our everyday lives, and how dramatically our practices around making and reading news have changed. Transcript can be found in the e...

In this episode, we talk about how a former professor and science equity activist used a sockpuppet Twitter account to gain access and prestige when interacting with academics and professionals online. Key to her strategy was to invent and then impersonate a fictional Hopi scientist working at Arizona State University. Things got even stranger when she killed her fictional character and blamed it...

We discuss health disinformation via the context of two films that have a very specific purpose and were engineered to deceive the audience. The first one is called Plandemic and the second one is called America's Frontline Doctors. The first one, Plandemic, is much more of a documentary style. The second, America's Frontline Doctors, comes in the form of a live stream event with doctors in white...

What started as a strange Instagram account inviting ASU students to "COVID parties" and resistance to ASU COVID policies, ended up looking an awful lot like a networked disinformation operation. We talk about the strategy, medium, and consequences. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.