Document details

Disentangling untruths online: Creators, spreaders and how to stop them

Paris: OECD (2022), 38 pp.

Contains bibliogr. pp. 30-38

Series: OECD Going Digital Toolkit Notes, 23

"While false rumours, inaccurate reporting, and conspiracy theories have existed for as long as there were people to create and spread them, the Internet has reshaped and amplified the ability to produce and perpetuate false and misleading content. Stopping the creators and spreaders of untruths online is essential to reducing political polarisation, building public trust in democratic institutions, improving public health, and more generally improving the well-being of people and society. This Going Digital Toolkit note discusses the importance of access to accurate information online and presents a novel typology of the different types of untruths that circulate on the Internet. It considers how untruths are spread online as well as the consequences, and it surveys the evidence base of false and misleading information online. It concludes by identifying approaches to fighting untruths online and mitigating their negative effects." (Summary)
Disentangling untruths online: Creators, spreaders and how to stop them, 4
Why is access to accurate information important? 6
Disentangling the different types of untruths online, 8
How are untruths spread online and what are the consequences? 10
Surveying the evidence base of untruths online, 13
Approaches to fighting untruths online and mitigating their negative effects, 17
Conclusion, 22
Annex. A selection of innovative approaches to fighting untruths online and mitigating their negative effects, 23