It’s one thing to get ‘likes’ on a video of a cute dog or a photo of your weekend adventures – but another to create content that fosters understanding of complex topics.
Katie Attwell, The University of Western Australia and Tauel Harper, The University of Western Australia
Contrary to the popular belief that social media creates rumours about COVID vaccine harms, new research suggests social media generally only aids the spread of these rumours.
Yes, worry about Twitter, but don’t worry whether there are hordes of spambots running rampant there.
gremlin/E+ via Getty Images
Elon Musk’s focus on the number of bots on Twitter, whether genuine or a distraction, does little to address the problems of misinformation and spam. A pair of social media experts explain why.
There’s a tension between facilitating free and fair debate on social media, and businesses’ bottom line. And it must be resolved with the public interest in mind.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is introduced to the US Congress by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on March 16, 2022 in Washington, DC.
J. Scott Applewhite-Pool/Getty Images
The reasons for the prominence of the Ukraine war in the West are many – and include the Ukrainian government’s strategic efforts to tailor presentations of the conflict for Western sensibilities.
Social media sites like Twitter have been a major source of both true and false information regarding COVID-19 vaccines.
MicroStockHub/iStock via Getty Images
Jungmi Jun, University of South Carolina and Ali Zain, University of South Carolina
A team analyzed more than 21 million tweets about COVID-19 vaccines and found that negative sentiments on social media were tied to lower-than-expected vaccination rates in many nations.
Elon Musk claims to champion free speech, but his plans for Twitter could stifle the free exchange of ideas.
Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/picture alliance via Getty Images
Elon Musk said he wants to make Twitter a platform for free speech. Here is what research shows about claims of political bias and excessive moderation.
Technology that can produce deepfakes is widely available.
(Shutterstock)
Online campaigns in Vietnam are falsely maligning Ukrainians and discrediting the legitimacy of international organizations. It’s all at odds with the aims of the Vietnamese government.
Daniel Angus, Queensland University of Technology; Axel Bruns, Queensland University of Technology, and Ehsan Dehghan, Queensland University of Technology
From voting info to risqué quips, this election, online political ads are more pervasive than ever before.
Twitter, more than other social media platforms, fosters real-time discussion about events as they unfold. That could change now that Musk has gained control of the company.
A pro-Ukrainian supporter waves the country’s flag outside the Russian embassy on Feb. 24, 2022 in Ottawa, the day Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
By linking different issues together, organisations show the importance of approaching information disorder as a complex problem requiring various responses.
The destroyed fuel station in Stoyanka, Ukraine. Putin has been laying the rhetorical groundwork for the invasion of Ukraine for years.
Anastasia Vlasova/Getty Images
Putin’s rationale for invading Ukraine wasn’t built over just a few months in 2021. Putin and high-level Russia government staff have been trash-talking Ukraine for more than a decade.
There is little evidence that Russia has coordinated cyber operations with conventional military operations in Ukraine.
Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP
In China, social media is being censored to reflect pro-Russian sentiment, making it impossible to gauge public opinion of Chinese people on the Russian invasion.