Misinformation and Society

YOTAM OPHIR, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Communication at the University at Buffalo, and a Distinguished Fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on media effects, misinformation, conspiracy theories and extremism. Ophir has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers in leading journals, including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, American Journal of Public Health, and Journal of Communication. He is the co-author of the book Democracy amid Crises: Polarization, Pandemic, Protests, & Persuasion. He has been featured in numerous outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, NPR, The BBC, and more. In 2024, Ophir was selected as one of Ten Scientists to Watch by Science News magazine.

• Preface xiAcknowledgments xviPart One The Problem 1Introduction: What Is Truth Anyway? 3Welcome to the Post- Truth Era? 5Grave Consequences 10The Arguments and Structure of the Book 11Chapter 1 An Old Problem in a New Environment 14Change #1: A New Information Environment 16From Talking to Writing 17From the Big Six to the Great Democratizing Internet 19Everybody’s a Content Creator: Web 2.0 and the Birth of Social Media 21Change #2: A New Political Environment 23A Constant Rain of Consequential Falsehoods 24Misinformation from Within 27Not Caring When He’s Wrong 28A Lot of People Are Saying 30Conspiracy Theories at the White House 31Moving Forward 32Chapter 2 The Many Faces of Misinformation 34The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of Propaganda 35The Problem with Fake News 39Rumors 41Conspiracy Theories 42Some Conspiracies Are Real 43Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories 45The Business of Conspiracy Theories 48Weaponized Conspiracy Theories 50Conspiracy Theories Become Mainstream Again 52Old Wine in a New Bottle 53Part Two Believing 63Chapter 3 The Psychology and Cognitions Behind Misbeliefs 65Making Sense of Information 66The Elusive Meaning of Evidence 68Fluency and Familiarity 69Mental Models 69Source Credibility 71How Do We Assess Credibility? 72We Don’t Always Remember Who the Source Even Was 74The Most Trusted Source: Ourselves 75The Format Effect 76The Power of Images 80A Long History of Image Manipulation 82Graphs, Numbers, and Maps 83From Images to Audiovisual Manipulations 84Here Comes AI 85What Is So Different About AI? 87When AI Fails 88Chapter 4 Knowledge Versus Beliefs 90On Being Ignorant 91Knowledge about What? 92The Deficit Model 94Moving Away from the Deficit Model 95Selectivity as a Defense Mechanism 96Motivated Reasoning and Cognitive Dissonance 98Strategies to Solve a Dissonant Feeling 99Torn Between Two Goals 101Selective Exposure 102A Person with a Conviction is Hard to Change 104Part Three Spreading 107Chapter 5 The Spread of Misinformation 109Misinformation Often Goes Viral 110Misinformation Shared by Friends and Family Matters 111Why Does Misinformation Prevail Online 112Not a Level Playing Field 113So, What Do Algorithms Do? 115Why and What We Share with Other People 116Social Currency 117Triggers 118Emotions 119Utility 120Narratives 120Sharing Misinformation 121The Science of Virality 121Chapter 6 Misinformation from Elites 123Misinformation from the Government 123Misinformation from the Mass Media 125A Brief Primer on Media Effects 128The First Era of Perceived Media Effects 129The Second Era of Perceived Media Effects 130The Third Era of Perceived Media Effects 131Do Journalists Spread Biased Misinformation on Purpose? 132If Not Driven by Bias, Why Do Journalists Spread Misinformation? 133Sometimes Journalists Do Lie 134The Case of Fox News 135The 21st Century: New Technologies, New Exaggerated Expectations 138Hope of Deliverance: The Early Days of the Web 140Misinformation from Entertainment Media 141Cultivation Effects 143Stereotypes 144Misinformation from Industries and Corporations 144The Systematic Denial of Climate Science 146Chapter 7 Misinformation from Nonelites 148The Instagramable Life 149Some Nonelites Lie Significantly More Than Others 151Misbelieving Together 152Stop the Steal 156Who Is a Human Anyway? Trolls, Bots, and Sock Puppets 157Foreign Interference 158Part Four In Context 161Chapter 8 Misinformation and Politics 163Simple Minds, Gordian Knots 164What Do Citizens Know (or not) About Politics? 165The Power of Social Identity 166The Great Political Realignment 167Political Polarization or Political Sorting? 168Affective Polarization 170The Dangers of Group Identification 171The Age of Mega- Identities 173The New Rattlers and Eagles 175Selective Exposure Revisited 177Epilogue: Political Polarization, Intolerance, and Misinformation 179Chapter 9 Misinformation and Science 181Communicating Science Effectively 183Because It Works? 184Because Scientists are Smart and Competent? 185Because Science Relies on Methods of Observation? 186Science as a Collective Effort 189The Failures of News Media When Communicating Science 191Communicating Science is Hard and May Come at a Cost 194The Rise of Alternative Medicine 195Ineffective Treatments Can Still Be Unsafe 197When Anti-Vaccine Sentiment Intersects with Politics 203Chapter 10 The Politicization of Science 204Attacks from the Left 209The Science Wars 210Science Enters the Culture War 211What Should Be Considered a Part of the Culture Wars? 213Science and Culture Wars 215Part Five Intervening 223Chapter 11 Who Should Fight Misinformation? 225Market Facilitators, Editors, and Organizers 226Transparency and Data Sharing 229Experts, Advocates, and Club Coordinators 232What Can Journalists Do to Restore Trust? 234Governmental Regulation and Legislation 236The Problem with Self- Regulation 239What Now? 243Reconsidering Anti- Trust Procedures 245Are Interventions Even Useful? 246Alternatives to Content Moderation 248Hope for Education 249Chapter 12 Uphill Battles, or Why Corrections Fail 252Mental Models 253Fluency and Familiarity 255Belief Echoes 256Some Solutions Are Better Than Others 258Emotional Causal Narratives 258Considering Values, Worldview, Morality, and Faith 258Inoculation 261Restoring Trust in Liberal Democratic Institutions 262Conclusion 265References 275Index 325