The online information environment

1 The online information environment Understanding how the internet shapes people's engagement with scientific information The online information environment : Understanding how the internet shapes people's engagement with scientific information Issued: January 2022 DES7656. ISBN: 978-1-78252-567-7. The Royal Society The text of this work is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. The license is available at: Images are not covered by this license. This report and other project outputs can be viewed at: Cover image AI generated image using Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) iStock / Dorin Ionescu. CONTENTS. Contents Foreword 4. Executive summary 6. Recommendations 9. Chapter one: Why do we need trustworthy information ? 28. Evidence of impact 30. Case study: Vaccine misinformation 33.

2 Chapter two: How the information environment is shaped and navigated 40. How do our minds process information ? 40. Types of misinformation actors 42. Incentives for information production and consumption 44. How the internet facilitates access to information 47. Policies adopted by major online platforms 49. Case study: 5G misinformation 51. Chapter three: Techniques for creating and countering misinformation 56. Synthetic content 56. Techniques used to promote misinformation 60. Tools and approaches for countering misinformation 62. Chapter four: Trustworthy institutions 72. Decontextualisation 73. Quantity of information 73. Hallmarks of trustworthiness 74. The importance of curatorship 75. Case study: Water fluoridation misinformation 76. Chapter five: The future landscape 80. Conclusion 92. Appendix 94. Index of figures and boxes 94. Working Group members 95. Royal Society staff 95.

3 Acknowledgments 96. Survey methodologies 97. Commissioned literature reviews 98. THE online information environment 3. FOREWORD. Foreword It is arguably one of the most abundant Misinformation and fake news is not resources of our age never before new (see the quote from George Eliot's has so much information been Middlemarch). Alongside this report, we are available to so many people. publishing two literature reviews looking at the spread of misinformation about Wherever access to the internet is possible, water fluoridation and vaccination in the individuals can access entire libraries-worth 20th century, well before the emergence of knowledge, decades of news reports, of the modern information environment . Professor Frank Kelly vaults-full of documents and records, What online technologies have changed, CBE FRS. speeches, images and videos; and, in the however, is the scale and speed of spread.

4 Current pandemic, the genome sequence of a novel coronavirus and a torrent of research The Royal Society's mission since it was preprints released before peer review. Once established in 1660 has been to promote it would take days for news to pass from town science for the benefit of humanity, and to town, but the last century saw a speeding a major strand of that is to communicate up of information transmission, from the early accurately. But false information is interfering growth of telephony through to the advent with that goal. It is accused of fuelling mistrust of the World Wide Web in the 1990s and in vaccines, confusing discussions about the popularity of social media from the early tackling the climate crisis and influencing the 2010s. Digital technology has transformed our debate about genetically modified crops. ability to be informed and to inform others. Science stands on the edge of error.

5 It is a But it is not just high-quality process of dealing with uncertainties, prodding information that is being shared. and testing received wisdom. Science challenges us to continually assess and revise Inaccurate, misleading and completely our understanding of the world. What we false information is shared online in believed 100 years ago has been replaced large volumes both unintentionally by with new knowledge. Some people think some and maliciously by others. Fictional science is absolute and when it corrects itself stories end up being passed around as it is somehow not to be trusted or believed. truth, conspiracies gain weight as they We must work to help people recognise that pass through the rumour mill and science the core ability to correct itself is a strength, becomes mangled beyond recognition. not a weakness, of the scientific method. This ability requires the prioritisation of the best data and most trustworthy information , as well as a safe and healthy online information environment which allows robust and open scientific debate.

6 Balancing these necessities is one of the key aims of this report. 4 THE online information environment . FOREWORD. Of course, this report can only consider part The scientific community has its own issues of a problem as broad and complicated as to address in this regard. The incentives for But oppositions how to improve the quality of the information scientific publication and communication environment . Misinformation problems need careful consideration, to ensure that have the illimitable are in part irreducibly political and social novelty isn't overstated simply to grab range of objections in nature. In free and diverse societies we attention. Open access has been a boon, at command, will always have some version of them. In but in an age of information overload we this report we have focused on the part need tools to identify questionable publishers which need never of this where the Royal Society, as the or platforms.

7 Furthermore, scientists need stop short at national academy of science, speaks with to be clear and transparent about their the boundary of the greatest authority: on issues pertaining own motivations and whether they are knowledge, but to how science is communicated online , seeking to inform or seeking to persuade. and the technologies underpinning that. can draw forever This report represents continuing on the vasts of Fact-checking is especially important, and this is development of, rather than a final chapter ignorance. What an area where the scientific community can help. in, the Royal Society's consideration of National academies and learned societies can these issues. Further work going into more the opposition in react to new misinformation threats by quickly detail on some areas covered is planned. Middlemarch said providing accurate summaries of what we know.

8 An example of this is the Society's ambitious about the New To do this, better access to data is needed for new programme, Reimagining science, Hospital and its researchers to identify topics of misinformation which seeks to improve the narratives of early in the process of amplification. science in society. Future work will also administration had examine the role of digital technologies, certainly a great This, in itself, will not be enough to and data access, in scientific research. deal of echo in counteract the algorithmic amplification of polarising misinformation in an attention Professor Frank Kelly CBE FRS it, for heaven has economy which incentivises the spread taken care that of sensational stories rather than sound everybody shall not understanding. Ultimately, we will need be an originator . to see legislation which can address the incentives of business models that shape the George Eliot, algorithms determining the spread of content.

9 Middlemarch (1872). Scientists will need to work with lawyers and economists to make sure that the particular sensitivities of scientific misinformation are considered when legislation is framed. THE online information environment 5. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Executive summary The internet has transformed the way The Royal Society's mission is to promote people consume, produce, and disseminate excellence in science and support its use for information about the world. In the online the benefit of humanity. The consumption and information environment , internet users can production of online scientific information is, tailor unlimited content to their own needs and therefore, of great interest. This report, The desires. This shift away from limited, gatekept, online information environment , provides an and pre-scheduled content has democratised overview of how the internet has changed, access to knowledge and driven societal and continues to change, the way society progress.

10 The COVID-19 pandemic exemplifies engages with scientific information , and how this, with global researchers collaborating it may be affecting people's decision-making virtually across borders to mitigate the harms behaviour from taking up vaccines to of the disease and vaccinate populations. responding to evidence on climate change. It highlights key challenges for creating a healthy The unlimited volume of content, however, online information environment and makes a means that capturing attention in the online series of recommendations for policymakers, information environment is difficult and highly academics, and online platforms. competitive. This heightened competition for attention presents a challenge for those who These recommendations, when taken wish to communicate trustworthy information together, are intended to help build collective to help guide important decisions.