Unpopular Science - 240811

Regular readers of Unpopular Science know that we’re obsessed with misinformation. More precisely, we’re obsessed with worries about misinformation. We think normal people are fooled no more often than the experts, and those who want to “protect” people from “misinformation” are dangerous censors.

This week we go through a rundown of recent examples and counter-arguments, plus additional links we think should be more well-known.

It’s called the “Third Person Effect”: People tend to think other people are affected by misinformation. In fact, a review published in Nature concludes that, to the vast majority of people, online “misinformation” isn’t really an issue.

“in our review of behavioural science research on online misinformation, we document a pattern of low exposure to false and inflammatory content that is concentrated among a narrow fringe with strong motivations to seek out such information.”
via @BrendanNyhan

So who’s spreading misinformation about misinformation, and why?