Understanding Misinformation

Misinformation has dominated public and academic debates for the past decade, with institutional distrust and science scepticism commonly attributed as root causes. Most responses focus on identifying and removing misinformation through content moderation and public education, treating it as a betrayal of truth that can be redressed by applying objective standards of accuracy and scientific validity and also by algorithmic flagging. This Element challenges this 'norm-directed approach' as insufficient. The authors argue that misinformation is a symptom, not the disease: social trends like distrust emerge not from misinformation itself, but from unequal social arrangements where science is not perceived as trustworthy or beneficial. They propose a complementary framework: a situational approach that recognizes facts are based on trust and reflect inherent social relationships. Although the situational approach is slower and smaller-scale but addresses root causes by examining the history and composition of information environment. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.