SO THEY’RE SHUTTING DOWN THE CDC? 50 U.S. medical, science organizations launch group to fight health misinformation. “Alarmed by the increasing spread of medical misinformation, 50 U.S. medical and science organizations have announced the formation of a new group that aims to debunk fake health news. Called the Coalition for Trust in Health & Science, the group brings together reputable associations representing American academics, researchers, scientists, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, drug and insurance companies, consumer advocates, public health professionals and even medical ethicists.”
Color me skeptical. You want to restore trust in health and science? Show yourselves trustworthy. This seems to have more to do with messaging, and probably censorship.
Related: Researchers: Misinformation’s Prevalence and Impact Wildly Overstated. Follow the science!
The first set of misconceptions concerns the prevalence and circulation of misinformation. First, scientists focus on social media because it is methodologically convenient, but misinformation is not just a social media problem. Second, the internet is not rife with misinformation or news, but with memes and entertaining content. Third, falsehoods do not spread faster than the truth; how we define (mis)information influences our results and their practical implications. The second set of misconceptions concerns the impact and the reception of misinformation. Fourth, people do not believe everything they see on the internet: the sheer volume of engagement should not be conflated with belief. Fifth, people are more likely to be uninformed than misinformed; surveys overestimate misperceptions and say little about the causal influence of misinformation. Sixth, the influence of misinformation on people’s behavior is overblown as misinformation often “preaches to the choir.” To appropriately understand and fight misinformation, future research needs to address these challenges.
Contrary to the opinion of the ruling class and the media — but I repeat myself — contrary opinions or uncomfortable facts are not “misinformation.”