Why we can’t fact-check our way out of misinformation

Misinformation became a major focus following the rise of social media, and especially after the election of Donald Trump to presidency in 2016, a surprise for many. The next eight years included a lot of upheaval, including a pandemic, as well as the re-election of Trump where this focus continued although the framework was both severely challenged, and now recently formally abandoned by social media companies. In this talk, Dr. Tufekci will examine this history, especially by probing the shortcomings of the initial frameworks. She’ll also argue that fact-checking or better communication cannot overcome the current difficulties, and make the case that trust, credibility and strong institutional transformations have to take center stage.