Abstract
Misleading and false information distributed online, often conceptualized as misinformation and disinformation, are subjects of increasing contemporary concern. Mis/disinformation is increasingly regarded as a threat to public discourse, democratic decision making, society’s cohesion, and ultimately our abilities to identify and agree solutions to the myriads of global challenges we are facing. While false information has been a feature of human life since early history, there are good reasons to worry that the current strands of mis/disinformation have devastating contemporary consequences that are only increasing. High-profile examples of mis/disinformation over the past few years have included the idea that the 2020 US elections were stolen, that Hilary Clinton operated a global pedophile ring out of a pizzeria, dangerously misleading cures for Covid-19, that climate change is a hoax, and claims that Ukraine operates secret US-funded bioweapons labs close to the Russian border.
Turing affiliated authors
