This Week in Misinformation: COVID myths, mini-strokes and KKK in the Rose Garden

I am passionate about the fight against misinformation. I believe every problem facing our society is made worse by the rampant spread of false and misleading information, and would be made better by increased news literacy education. Each week I’ll share links to excellent reporting tackling this important issue.

• Misinformation about COVID-19 continues to be a massive problem, with some doctors saying false myths on social media are “spreading faster than the virus itself.” Doctors Seema Yasmin and Craig Spencer tackled this issue in a tremendous New York Times op-ed and in a TV appearance on CNN.

• Video manipulation is another major issue that appears to be getting worse and worse, especially as the election nears. This week alone, social media companies were forced to take action multiple times, flagging posts containing manipulated video content shared by the White House and Congressional leaders.

• One of the victims of this week’s video manipulation, progressive activist Ady Barkan, wrote a powerful op-ed in The Washington Post about his experience and the dangers of this technology.

• In his always excellent “Reliable Sources” newsletter, CNN’s Brian Stelter breaks down the chain of events that led President Trump to deny something the media had never actually reported, in this case the idea that he had a “series of mini-strokes” last year.

• Kevin Roose of The New York Times reported that far right-wing commentators “Diamond and Silk” had the top-performing Facebook post by a U.S. page on Tuesday, despite earlier this year being tagged as a “repeat offender” by Facebook for sharing misinformation.

• It’s always important to note that misinformation is not a partisan problem, and that we all need to be careful to check our facts and rein in our personal biases before sharing anything on social media. This week, Snopes tackled a distorted meme being shared on Facebook that falsely claimed the newly renovated White House Rose Garden spelled out “KKK” in its hedges.