Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored University Of Bristol

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 5, 2025, 4:40 PM

why misinformation must not be ignored university of bristol

Ullrich K H Ecker*, Li Qian Tay, Jon Roozenbeek, Sander Van Der Linden, John Cook, Naomi Oreskes, Stephan Lewandowsky Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review T1 - Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s) Ecker, Ullrich; Tay, Li Qian; Roozenbeek, Jon; van der Linden, Sander; Cook, John; Oreskes, Naomi; Lewandowsky, Stephan

Fake News and Politicization, Mis- and Disinformation, Mis- and Disinformation Sign-up to our newsletter to be informed about latest developments: our Unpacking Current Developments in the Information Space Insight Series, our newsletter, news from our network, events and publications. 2025 - Observatory on Information & Democracy This map represents a statistical summary of the thematic content of the report. The network graph represents relations between the words in the report, placing them closer to each other the more they are related. The bigger the node, the more present the word is, signalling its role in defining what the report or chapter is about.

The colors represent words that are closely related to each other and can be interpreted as a topic. American Psychologist, Vol 80(6), Sep 2025, 867-878; doi:10.1037/amp0001448 Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting that misinformation can be safely ignored. Here, we rebut the two main claims, namely that misinformation is not of substantive concern (a) due to its low incidence and (b) because it has no causal influence on notable political or behavioral... Through a critical review of the current literature, we demonstrate that (a) the prevalence of misinformation is nonnegligible if reasonably inclusive definitions are applied and that (b) misinformation has causal impacts on important beliefs...

Both scholars and policymakers should therefore continue to take misinformation seriously. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved) Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored! In this new article in American Psychologist we respond to critics in detail and clarify two key points for the field; (1) The prevalence of misinformation in society is substantial when properly defined. (2) Misinformation can causally impact attitudes and behaviors. https://lnkd.in/eTTEX8Fd With the amazing Ullrich Ecker Jon Roozenbeek Oreskes Naomi Li Qian Tay Stephan Lewandowsky American Psychological Association

Visiting Professor, King's College London Department of War Studies and Director of Studies, Cambridge Security Initiative. Sander van der Linden Congratulations. I'm really pleased to see this published. I've been dismayed to see the increasing attitude that "everyone should just calm down" about mis/disinformation because it's statistically not a huge part of the information environment by some measurements. Just a few years ago mis/disinformation was a 5 alarm fire (rightly so), but now the "let's not overhype this" view has cooled our collective responses to a threat that remains as urgent as... I'm glad that you and your research team remain committed to pressing the case that misinformation must not be ignored.

Cheers. While I find your works very insightful, I do think it would be helpful to put a caveat that claims on ignoring misinformation are not global. The threat perception of misinformation is high in several countries. Several civic actors in South and Southeast Asia, for example, would not think of ignoring it. In my exchanges with them, they usually debate how and to what extent misinformation can be countered depending on threat perception. Founder of KRITIKOS | Empowering human thinking | Critical thinking and beyond [thinking skills trainer and assessor ◇ critical thinking author ◇ Poetry in 🏫]

Venue: The Wardrobe Theatre, 25 West St, Bristol BS2 0DF Bristol Skeptics Society is delighted to present another instalment of Skeptics in the P̶u̶b̶… Theatre! Skeptics in the Pub is a monthly lecture series, hosting academics from the world of science and skepticism, to share their unique research and insights. The goal is for every talk to delight and inspire, and help us understand our complex world a little better. In May we will be welcoming Simon Clark to our stage talking about the surprising psychology of misinformation. This engaging and informative talk explores the growing prevalence of misinformation in today’s world, and the psychological mechanisms that make us vulnerable to it, both as individuals and as a society.

Drawing on a range of compelling psychological studies, Simon Clark offers insights into how misinformation spreads and why it resonates, as well as some practical strategies for recognising and resisting misleading information in everyday... Simon Clark is a Cognitive Psychologist and member of the Technology, Democracy & Cognition (TeDCog) research lab at the University of Bristol’s School of Psychological Science, led by internationally-renowned misinformation expert Professor Stephan Lewandowsky. As well as a masters degree (from the University of Surrey) in Psychology, he holds a degree in Business (from the University of Bath) and started his career in marketing and PR in the... Ullrich K. H. Ecker, Li Qian Tay, Jon Roozenbeek, Sander van der Linden, John Cook, Naomi Oreskes, Stephan Lewandowsky

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review T1 - Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored N2 - Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting that misinformation can be safely ignored. Here, we rebut the two main claims, namely that misinformation is not of substantive concern (a) due to its low incidence and (b) because it has no causal influence on notable political or behavioral...

Through a critical review of the current literature, we demonstrate that (a) the prevalence of misinformation is nonnegligible if reasonably inclusive definitions are applied and that (b) misinformation has causal impacts on important beliefs... Both scholars and policymakers should therefore continue to take misinformation seriously. Public Significance Statement This article refutes claims that misinformation is an insignificant issue. Through a critical literature review, we demonstrate that misinformation represents a nontrivial part of the information environment and can causally and adversely influence people's beliefs, decisions, and behaviors. We clarify through our discussion why misinformation continues to be a significant problem that should not be ignored by communicators and policymakers. Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem.

We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting that misinformation can be safely ignored. Here, we rebut the two main claims, namely that misinformation is not of substantive concern (a) due to its low incidence and (b) because it has no causal influence on notable political or behavioral... Through a critical review of the current literature, we demonstrate that (a) the prevalence of misinformation is nonnegligible if reasonably inclusive definitions are applied and that (b) misinformation has causal impacts on important beliefs... Both scholars and policymakers should therefore continue to take misinformation seriously. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored University Of Bristol

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