Episode 44--Misinformation, Disinformation, Bots, and Trolls

Send us Fan MailWhile it's always been the case that "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its boots on," it's exponentially more true since the rise of the internet, particularly social media. In this episode, April looks at how and why misinformation and disinformation (which are not the same thing, btw) travel so quickly around our media landscape and affect the way we view the world.Episode 44 Show Notes (I have so many sources I can't put descriptions on them because I would go over the character limit, but they're generally in the order they are found in the episode):https://theonion.com/planned-parenthood-opens-8-billion-abortionplex-1819572640/ https://www.freedomforum.org/misinformation-vs-disinformation/#:~:text=Misinformation%20is%20false%20information%20disseminated,intentional%2C%20whereas%20misinformation%20is%20unintentional.https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/north-carolina-man-sentenced-four-year-prison-term-armed-assault-northwest-washingtonhttps://campaignlegal.org/results-lawsuits-regarding-2020-electionshttps://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/alex-jones-sandy-hook-settlement-supreme-court-appeal-00607361https://shorensteincenter.org/research-initiative/the-hks-misinformation-review/https://news.mit.edu/2018/study-twitter-false-news-travels-faster-true-stories-0308https://som.yale.edu/story/2023/reimagining-social-media-news-sharing-research-finds-users-habits-key-safer-and-more#:~:text=One%20important%20aspect%20that%20contributes,professor%20of%20psychology%20and%20business.https://www.imperva.com/resources/resource-library/reports/2024-bad-bot-report/https://www.clrn.org/how-much-of-the-internet-is-ai-generated/https://theconversation.com/how-ai-bots-spread-misinformation-online-and-undermine-democratic-politics-234915https://www.heinz.cmu.edu/media/2018/October/troll-farms-and-fake-news-social-media-weaponization#:~:text=Russian%20%E2%80%9Ctroll%20farms%E2%80%9D%E2%80%94groups,%E2%80%94literally%E2%80%94divide%20and%20conquer.https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/