Filene Fill-In Ep. 66: Managing Misinformation in the Midst of a Pandemic

Filene Research Institute

In a public health crisis, timely, reliable and trustworthy information is critical to safeguarding people’s health and well-being. Unfortunately, the widespread adoption of digital media and information technologies today has made it easier and faster to produce, disseminate, and be exposed to false or manipulated content, from simple misinformation to conspiracy theories to hate speech. Our research fellow for the center of excellence for emerging technology, Bill Maurer of UC-Irvine has professed through his work with us that credit unions have a great role to play in lessening consumer anxieties by reassuring their members, fighting to protect their communities, and making wise decisions about our future. Bill returns to another episode of our podcast with Taylor and I, in which we are most fortunate to be joined by Dr. Joan Donovan -- Director of the Technology and Social Change Research Project at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. In this episode, we discuss what credit unions can do to combat the spread of disinformation and misinformation, and sustain the level of trust they’ve built with their communities and their members. Plus, we discuss some common scams that we’re seeing and how to protect against them. We talk about some tangible ways credit unions can deal with the spread of misinformation if it is happening on their digital and social platforms. Find out why Joan says local and redundant information is so valuable right now. And stick around for recommended trusted sources of information from our experts -- BONUS: stay till the very very end for a special coronavirus song from Bill. It’s no lie. Resources: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200202-sitrep-13-ncov-v3.pdf https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/08/technology/coronavirus-misinformation-social-media.html https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30461-X/fulltext https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615184/the-coronavirus-is-the-first-true-social-media-infodemic/ https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615368/facebook-twitter-social-media-infodemic-misinformation/ https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-misinformation-spreads-on-facebook-watchdog-says-11587436159 https://www.cip.uw.edu/ https://filene.org/assets/images-layout/COVID-19-Financial-Scams-UCIrvine.pdf