The Role of Social Media Algorithms in Spreading Misinformation

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This chapter explores the role of Facebook and social media algorithms in spreading misinformation, discussing whether their actions are driven by maliciousness or a genuine attempt to do what they believe is best. The speakers highlight the challenges of addressing misinformation on these platforms and the potential tradeoffs involved in limiting the spread of certain information. They emphasize the power of social media in enabling false information to spread quickly, as well as the responsibility of the platforms in addressing potential harm.

The modern world inundates us with both information and misinformation. What are the forces that conspire to make misinformation so prevalent? Can we combat the flow of misinformation, perhaps by legal restrictions? Would that even be a good idea? How can individuals help distinguish between true and false claims as they come in? What are the biases that we are all subject to? I talk to political scientist Brendan Nyhan about how information and misinformation spread, and what we can do as individuals and as a society to increase the amount of truth we all believe.

Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/09/18/250-brendan-nyhan-on-navigating-the-information-ecosystem/

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Brendan Nyhan received his Ph.D. in political science from Duke University. He is currently James O. Freedman professor of government at Dartmouth College. Among his awards are an Emerging Scholar award from the American Political Science Association, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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