A good start to knowing what caused UK riots is talking to rioters. Always complex. "Protesters had plenty of different motivations and political beliefs, but... most incorrectly blamed illegal migration for the murders in Southport and knife crime" The Bureau of Investigative Journalism thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2024-0…

Shameful to see any elected British politician attempting to justify quoting disinformation from known fake news sites & someone like Andrew Tate as if they were serious "reports" that need investigation.

Correlation is not causation.

How the high volume business model of an amateurish "news website" + unthinking sharing by social media users & some influencers made inflamatory misinformation go viral. It's an ecosystem. Report worth reading from Marianna Spring bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Great Africa Check_Fr study of effects of false factual information on behaviour. False claims Senegalese authorities gave approval for homeless people to take over new-build private homes led hundreds to break in. Azil Momar LÔ, Souleymane DIASSY More👇 africacheck.org/fr/fact-checks…

I guess at least this means he knows the term for what Twitter/X is doing.

This is why I always think the shorthand 'conspiracy theory' is problematic. There are 'conspiracy theories' and 'false conspiracy theories'. Everything, with evidence.

Love to see collaborations like this

Two takes 1. Problems caused by misinformation* are wildly exaggerated 2. "While that exact number is hotly contested, a 27 percent increase in mortality for a common procedure for years on end can add up to an extraordinary death toll". *definition key vox.com/future-perfect…

Almost all attention paid to information disorder focuses on whether people believe/act on mis/disinformation. This report shows eg of the problems caused by another of the info disorder problem - lack of access to accurate data - in this case to economy economist.com/briefing/2024/…

Misinformation - and disinformation - often comes from the top, exhibit no ∞ (Some politicians illustrate how authentic, domestic, live-televised misinformation is at least as concerning, if not more, as the synthetic, foreign, online stuff elite discussions seem obsessed with)

More evidence of real world misinformation effects 👇🏻