Skip to content
The Learning Agency
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Our Openings
  • Our Work
    • Services
    • Case Studies
  • News & Insights
Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Our Openings
  • Our Work
    • Services
    • Case Studies
  • News & Insights
TLA_sis-concern_logo
The Learning Agency
TLA_sis-concern_logo
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Our Openings
  • Our Work
    • Services
    • Case Studies
  • News & Insights
Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Our Openings
  • Our Work
    • Services
    • Case Studies
  • News & Insights
Back to All News & Insights
Back to Archives
  • News & Press

New Research Identifies Strategies to Fight COVID Misinformation

June 7, 2021

PARIS – A new research paper, funded in part by the Reboot Foundation, outlines effective strategies for combating misinformation and disinformation campaigns, particularly around the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The strategies tested by researchers at the University of Cambridge and médialab Sciences Po in Paris are based on the concept of “psychological herd immunity” and establish promising avenues for fighting misinformation now and in the future. The researchers tested the effectiveness of two so-called “prebunking” methods for fighting disinformation. “Prebunking” educates people about disinformation techniques so that they’ll be better prepared to recognize them in the real world.

“COVID has shown us how dangerous misinformation and conspiracy theories can be,” said Helen Lee Bouygues, founder and president of the Reboot Foundation, which researches and promotes critical thinking. “This research recognizes that what we think and believe can have a serious impact on our health decisions–for good or ill–and looks at scalable ways to guard against a virus of misinformation in our society.” 

The paper, titled “Towards Psychological Herd Immunity,” could have significant implications for maximizing vaccine uptake and combatting future “infodemics,” as the World Health Organization (WHO) has dubbed the crisis of misinformation surrounding the virus. 

The first “prebunking” method tested was a game, Go Viral!, developed in cooperation with the UK Cabinet Office and with support from the WHO. In Go Viral! users play a character trying to spread disinformation on social media. Through the game, players are exposed to common disinformation techniques such as scapegoating and appealing to fallacious “experts.”  

The researchers found that exposure to the game helped improve people’s sensitivity to the manipulativeness of misinformation in the real world, and boosted their confidence in spotting misinformation. The effect persisted over time as well, lasting at least a week. 

The second method was more “passive,” exposing participants to infographics created by the United Nations that warned against COVID-19 misinformation. The graphics were also shown to be effective, albeit less so than the “active” game. Users were also more likely to share the game than the infographics.

“Our findings show that teaching people what are the dubious tactics that underlie misinformation campaigns online can help them to better detect it,” said one of the researchers, Manon Berriche, a PhD student at médialab Sciences Po. “These approaches could be put into use quickly by governments, schools and media literacy organizations to help combat vaccine hesitancy around COVID.”

“This research points to an important educational tool–one that is inexpensive, accessible, and highly scalable–in the ongoing fight against misinformation,” added Bouygues. “It is a promising early step in what unfortunately may be a long journey.”

###

The Reboot Foundation is devoted to elevating critical thinking. In a time of vast technological change, the foundation aims to promote richer, more reflective forms of thought in schools, homes, and businesses. Reboot funds efforts to integrate critical thinking into the daily lives of people, and it conducts surveys, opinion polls and original research. For more information please visit https://reboot-foundation.org/

Twitter Linkedin
Previous Post
Next Post

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More Insights

Vote For These Proposals In SXSW EDU’S 2024 PanelPicker

Community voting for SXSW EDU 2024 is now open until August 20 — during this window, everyone can vote on which proposals should make it onto the final program for next year.

Read More
Leveraging AI to Create Moonshots in Literacy

There’s been much ado about ChatGPT and its impact on academic writing. If this thing can write essays all on its own, will students ever write again?

Read More
Creating a Custom Chatbot To Give Evidence-Based Education Advice

The advancement of Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI chatbots like ChatGPT has generated significant interest, making headlines around the world.

Read More

Contact Us

General Inquiries

info@the-learning-agency.com

Media Inquiries

press@the-learning-agency.com

Facebook Twitter Linkedin Youtube

Mailing address

The Learning Agency

700 12th St N.W

Suite 700 PMB 93369

Washington, DC 20002

Stay up-to-date by signing up for our weekly newsletter

© Copyright 2023. The Learning Agency. All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy

Stay up-to-date by signing up for our weekly newsletter