Faculty Research & Scholarly Work
Exploring the Spread of Misinformation in War and Conflict
With over half of adults worldwide now consuming news via social media platforms, inaccurate information can reach thousands of people within minutes, affecting everything from public health to elections to our understanding of current events. In his new book, “Seeing Is Disbelieving: Why People Believe Misinformation in War, and When They Know Better,” Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology (CMIST) assistant professor Daniel Silverman extends the study of factual misinformation, conspiracy theories and fake news into a new, high- stakes domain: conflict zones. The impact of misinformation depends on the extent to which it is believed, and one of the key questions Silverman tackles is what factors contribute to people believing the lies they encounter in war zones. Ever since noticing that debates about U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan were characterized not just by variation in policy recommendations, but also by disagreements over what was happening, Silverman has had a sustained interest in perceptions of wartime violence.
Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Carnegie Mellon University 30
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