Explore news coverage of the Center for an Informed Public’s work and CIP-affiliated research for February 2022.
- The New York Times Learning Network (Feb. 1): “Annotated by the Author: ‘Covid Test Misinformation Spikes Along With Spread of Omicron’”
CIP postdoctoral fellow Kolina Koltai was featured in a New York Times Learning Network educational module based on a Jan. 10 article by reporter Davey Alba, where the reporter walks readers through the process of how the story was reported and structured.
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- The Spokesman-Review (Feb. 1): “Here’s what to know about the Russia-Ukraine conflict”
CIP faculty member Scott Radnitz, a UW Jackson School of International Studies associate professor who directs the UW Ellison Center for East European, Russian, and Central Asian Studies, was interviewed for his insights into the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
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- KUOW Public Radio (Feb. 6): “Spotify was larger than life — until it wasn’t”
CIP co-founder and UW Information School associate professor Jevin West was interviewed for an episode of KUOW’s “Soundside” program which focused on Spotify and controversies involving misinformation shared by Joe Rogan.
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- NBC News / Today.com (Feb. 7): “8 tips to discuss COVID-19 vaccine misinformation with fellow parents”
CIP director and UW Human Centered Design & Engineering associate professor Kate Starbird was interviewed for a Today.com feature that offers guidance on how to assess news, information, and other content about COVID-19 and vaccines. “One of the primary media literacy tools is to tune in to your emotional response to content,” Starbird said. That’s because content that is trying to manipulate us often “does it emotionally first.”
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- PolitiFact (Feb. 8): “False flags: They’re real, but far less widespread than social media suggest”
CIP faculty member Scott Radnitz, a UW Jackson School of International Studies associate professor and director of the UW Ellison Center for East European, Russian, and Central Asian Studies, was interviewed by PolitiFact about the history of “false flag” attacks. “The idea of a false flag attack is intuitively plausible because people have the sense that politicians take advantage of crises as pretexts to advance their political goals,” Radnitz said.
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- National Public Radio (Feb. 9): “What a bottle of ivermectin reveals about the shadowy world of COVID telemedicine”
CIP postdoctoral fellow Kolina Koltai was interviewed on NPR’s “Morning Edition” for an article about doctors who are prescribing ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19. “They’re profiting off misinformation, using their medical expertise as currency,” Koltai told NPR.
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- Rolling Stone (Feb. 9): “Meet the ‘girl boss misinfo types’ bringing together wellness influencers and Canadian trucker convoy”
Rolling Stone interviewed CIP postdoctoral fellow Rachel E. Moran about health and wellness influencers who have been pulled into conspiracies pushed by the Canadian trucker convoy protests in Ottawa.
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- The Atlantic (Feb. 14): “The bad ideas our brains can’t shake”
In an article for The Atlantic’s Galaxy Brain newsletter, Charlie Warzel highlights research expertise from CIP postdoctoral fellow Madeline Jalbert and CIP research scientist Mike Caulfield about the reasons why misinformation is sticky. Warzel reflects on Jalbert’s explanation of the continued influence effect: “What Jalbert is saying is that once we’ve yoked a new piece of information to something we already know and still believe to be true, the new piece of information becomes structurally important to our understanding of the world around us. It is load-bearing and thus not easily removed. It’s one reason why, in trial settings, even if a piece of evidence is ruled inadmissible, it may consciously or subconsciously sway a jury.”
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- The Conversation (Feb. 17): “What are false flag attacks – and could Russia make one work in the information age?”
In a contributed article for The Conversation, CIP faculty member and UW Jackson School of International Studies associate professor Scott Radnitz, who directs the UW Ellison Center for East European, Russian, and Central Asian Studies, explores the history of false flag attacks and the challenges Russia would face trying to deploy one as a pretext for an invasion of Ukraine.
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- Gizmodo (Feb. 21): “What’s the most dangerous emerging technology?”
CIP co-founder and UW School of Law professor Ryan Calo was featured in a Gizmodo article for his insights about quantum computing as the most dangerous emerging technology.
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- The Seattle Times (Feb. 22): “WA congressional candidate Loren Culp advises supporters to buy unproven COVID treatment”
CIP postdoctoral fellow Kolina Koltai was interviewed in The Seattle Times for insights about the networks of rogue doctors who dispense alternative cures for COVID-19. “There has been this secret network of physicians within the anti-vax space who will give you what you want.”
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- The Spokesman-Review (Feb. 23): “‘Deep fakes’ could see a crackdown in Washington political campaign”
CIP graduate research assistant Stephen Prochaska, an UW Information School doctoral student who has researched deepfake technology, was interviewed by The Spokesman-Review for an article about a Washington state legislative proposal that would place limits on the use of deepfake technology in political campaigns.
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- Nieman Lab (Feb. 24): “Some resources for following the invasion of Ukraine”
Tweets from CIP director and UW Human Centered Design & Engineering associate professor Kate Starbird were referenced in a Nieman Lab article about how to navigate uncertainty around news and information about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Don’t necessarily trust your in-network amplifiers. Other folks are moving fast and maybe not vetting so well,” Starbird advised.
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- Government Technology (Feb. 24): “Experts warn of Ukraine misinformation”
Tweets from CIP director Kate Starbird, a UW Human Centered Design & Engineering associate professor, were referenced in a Government Technology article about mis- and disinformation stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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- KUOW Public Radio (Feb. 24): “‘Nobody believed that would happen.’ The war in Ukraine from Seattle”
CIP faculty member Scott Radnitz, a UW Jackson School for International Studies associate professor who directs the UW Ellison Center for East European, Russian and Central Asian Studies, was interviewed on KUOW Public Radio’s Soundside program about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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- Newsweek (Feb. 24): “Russia-Ukraine misinformation is running rampant – here’s how to spot it”
CIP research scientist Mike Caulfield, who developed the SIFT method for factchecking and contextualizing claims online during the “fog of war” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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- CNN Reliable Sources (Feb. 24): “Tips for navigating social media ‘fog of war’ as Russia invades Ukraine”
Tweets from CIP cofounder Kate Starbird, a UW Human Centered Design & Engineering associate professor, were referenced in an article about how to navigate the “fog of war” online around Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Starbird shared advice regarding the importance of checking out a social media account to make sure there isn’t anything suspicious before sharing their content. “Are they brand new? Or low follower? What were they tweeting a couple of weeks or months ago? Make sure they are who they say they are. If you’re not sure, it’s okay to not retweet.”
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- MIT Technology Review (Feb. 25): “How to avoid sharing bad information about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”
Tweets from CIP co-founder Kate Starbird and CIP research scientist Mike Caulfield were referenced in a MIT Technology Review article about how to avoid contributing to the “fog of war” online amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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- McClatchy News (Feb. 25): “There’s plenty of misinformation on Ukraine and Russia – especially on TikTok”
In a McClatchy News article published in The Kansas City Star and other newspapers, a tweet thread from CIP director Kate Starbird, a UW Human Centered Design & Engineering associate professor, about the “fog of war” surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was referenced.
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- Grid News (Feb. 25): “In Ukraine’s fog of war, social media creates further confusion”
In an article about how social media can seed confusion and uncertainty around Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, CIP co-founder Jevin West, a UW Information School associate professor, discusses how opportunists online “take advantage of a crisis to gain followers, influence or clout,” Grid reported.
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- GeekWire (Feb. 25): “How to avoid propagating misinformation”
GeekWire featured insights from CIP director and UW Human-Centered Design & Engineering associate professor Kate Starbird and a CIP blog post about how to avoid contributing to the “fog of war” during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In an aggregated blog post, The Stranger linked to GeekWire’s article in an aggregated news roundup.
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- CNET (Feb. 26): “How misleading videos about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spread on Twitter”
In an interview with CNET, CIP research scientist Mike Caulfield discusses how old video footage can be used in out-of-context ways to deceive and mislead. “It’s a tactic that is used by both people who are in search of clicks and shares and by people who are sometimes engaging in active disinformation campaigns.”
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- The Atlantic (Feb. 26): “‘Netwar’ could be even worse than cyberwar”
In an article in The Atlantic looking at the cyber and tech impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ian Bogst references the SIFT method for factchecking and contextualizing claims online developed by CIP research scientist Mike Caulfield.
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- USA Today (Feb. 28): “Biden warns Americans are at high risk of Russian cyberattacks after Ukraine invasion: What you should do right now”
In an interview with USA Today, CIP faculty member Scott Radnitz, a UW Jackson School of International Studies associate professor who directs the UW Ellison Center for East European, Russian and Central Asian Studies, said that Russia is losing the global disinformation war over its invasion of Ukraine “both because its attack on Ukraine was unprovoked and impossible to disguise, and because the government has taken a scattershot approach to shaping the narrative.”
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- Axios (Feb. 28): “Ukraine misinformation spreads as users share videos out of context”
In an Axios article about social media users sharing misleading or out0of-context videos, CIP postdoctoral fellow Rachel E. Moran discusses “low-tech misinformation is often conveyed by well-meaning people trying to make sense of a confounding situation to feel less helpless.”
