GSAN: Meta’s algorithms | Beware junk science | ‘Barbie’ rumors

Top reads

A roundup of the latest topics in news literacy and misinformation.

• “Facebook opened its doors to researchers. What they found paints a complicated picture of social media and echo chambers.” (Brandy Zadrozny, NBC News).
• “Doctors who put lives at risk with covid misinformation rarely punished” (Lena H. Sun, Lauren Weber and Hayden Godfrey, The Washington Post).
• “How Fake Science Sells Wellness” (Rina Raphael, The New York Times).
• “Why Elizabeth Warren and Lindsey Graham want a new US agency to police Big Tech” (Ben Werschkul, Yahoo Finance).
• “As social network Threads grows, voting rights groups worry about misinformation” (Dara Kerr, NPR).
• “Residents are at a loss after newspaper that bound community together shuts in declining coal county” (Leah Willingham, The Associated Press).
• “How a new two-minute quiz measures misinformation susceptibility” (Sophie Culpepper, Nieman Lab).
• “Election disinformation campaigns targeted voters of color in 2020. Experts expect 2024 to be worse” (Christine Fernando, The Associated Press).

Featured video

Social media posts about cute animals or nature may seem harmless, but accounts looking to build large followings often pass off fakes and spread bogus claims to boost engagement. Check out this NLP TikTok video for more tips on spotting “engagement bait.”

Check out fact-checking organizations
Looking for help in deciding if something online is legit? There are several reputable fact-checking sites — such as AFP Fact Check, Reuters Fact Check, Poynter’s PolitiFact and International Fact-Checking Network, NLP’s RumorGuard and more — that can help you determine how to know what to trust.

Share this NewsLit tip:

NBA star LeBron James, President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama did not wear pink to celebrate the Barbie movie. (The images were AI-generated.) AMC theaters are not disrupting screenings of Sound of Freedom. Check out more of the latest debunked rumors on NLP’s RumorGuard!

Thanks for reading!

Your weekly issue of Get Smart About News is created by Susan Minichiello (@susanmini), Dan Evon (@danieljevon), Peter Adams (@PeterD_Adams), Hannah Covington (@HannahCov) and Pamela Brunskill (@PamelaBrunskill). It is edited by Mary Kane (@marykkane) and Lourdes Venard (@lourdesvenard).

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