The UN and the World Economic Forum have identified misinformation and disinformation as top global risks—ranking them as higher short-term threats than extreme weather, state-based armed conflict, and cyber insecurity.1,2 Although many people might associate this phenomenon with the COVID-19 crisis, the pandemic only exacerbated a growing trend, which preceded COVID-19 and has evolved since. The already uncontrolled spread of misinformation through social media alongside rapidly changing artificial intelligence with the ability to create convincing mimics of real people and events, further complicates a high-risk misinformation landscape with implications for health outcomes and a protracted impact on trust in science.
Sadly, the USA has since become one of the biggest sources of misinformation, with global repercussions.4 Specific misinformation and disinformation around vaccines, fluoridation, or the health impacts of climate change are harmful in themselves.5,6 Yet misinformation also undermines trust in the scientific process and, over time, may result in a populace that rejects scientific evidence more broadly.7
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