This article was originally posted on National Academies by Sara Freud.
Students, researchers, organizations, and companies are developing innovative ways to counter disinformation on social media, either by reducing its reach or by working to help users become more discerning consumers of information.
A number of these new approaches were explored at a National Academies workshop earlier this month. Prior to the event, the workshop planning committee put out a call for solutions from academia, industry, journalism, civil society, policy, and government. More than 100 ideas and initiatives were submitted, and the committee selected 14 for presentation and discussion at the workshop.
“This is intended to be a very collaborative experiment and a generative workshop,” said committee co-chair Saul Perlmutter in welcoming participants. “The goal is to get many ideas and approaches on the table — ideally ones that might be new to some.”
Participants and audience members also submitted ideas, reactions, and resources for posting on a virtual whiteboard. The workshop and its products are meant to catalyze further development of solutions to disinformation. “Ideally the notes on the whiteboard and the subsequent workshop report will be useful to others who might be intrigued enough by an idea to develop it further, or suggest a new collaboration, or a new research area,” Perlmutter said.
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