UW News

Center for an Informed Public


March 11, 2024

Q&A: How Instagram influencers profit from anti-vaccine misinformation

A person's hand holds a smartphone, with the Instagram analytics page open. There's a green plant in the background.

New research from the UW examines how three wellness Instagram influencers profited from anti-vaccine misinformation.


April 21, 2022

ArtSci Roundup: A Conversation with Brad Smith, UW Public Lectures: An Evening with Masha Gessen, and More

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! Katz Distinguished Lecture: Abderrahmane Sissako April 26, 7:00 PM | Kane Hall 210 What is the place of West Africa in the world and of the world in West Africa? These are the questions that the Oscar- and Palme d’Or-nominated filmmaker Adberrahmane Sissako…


October 1, 2021

Three UW teams awarded NSF Convergence Accelerator grants for misinformation, ocean projects

Three separate University of Washington research teams have been awarded $750,000 each by the National Science Foundation to advance studies in misinformation and the ocean economy.


June 14, 2021

Communication technology, study of collective behavior must be ‘crisis discipline,’ researchers argue

Our ability to confront global crises, from pandemics to climate change, depends on how we interact and share information. 

Social media and other forms of communication technology restructure these interactions in ways that have consequences. Unfortunately, we have little insight into whether these changes will bring about a healthy, sustainable and equitable world. As a result, researchers now say that the study of collective behavior must rise to a “crisis discipline,” just like medicine, conservation and climate science have done, according to a new paper published June 14 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


April 21, 2021

Q&A: It’s not just social media — misinformation can spread in scientific communication too

When people think of misinformation, they often focus on popular and social media. But in a paper published April 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, University of Washington faculty members Jevin West and Carl Bergstrom write that scientific communication — both scientific papers and news articles written about papers — also has the potential to spread misinformation.


March 2, 2021

UW Center for an Informed Public co-authors report on mis- and disinformation surrounding the 2020 U.S. election

The Election Integrity Partnership, a nonpartisan coalition of research institutions, including the University of Washington, that identified, tracked and responded to voting-related mis- and disinformation during the 2020 U.S. elections, released its final report, “The Long Fuse: Misinformation and the 2020 Elections” on Tuesday, March 2. The report is the culmination of months of collaboration among approximately 120 people working across four organizations: the UW Center for an Informed Public, Stanford Internet Observatory , Graphika and the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab.