The WHO has declared that the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer a public health emergency of international concern. But does it mean that spreaders of pandemic disinformation have dispersed and gone dormant? We discuss the persistence of pandemic disinformation with Tommaso Canetta, who works at Pagella Politica/Facta in Italy. He also edits regular fact-checking briefs for the European Digital Media Observatory: https://edmo.eu/fact-checking-briefs/ These briefs compare how much disinformation on the pandemic, climate, and other topics is tackled by fact-checkers in Europe. You can find all our ..read more

In this episode, we talked to Christiern Santos Rasmussen about the possible future of Russian disinformation tactics ..read more

Being able to reach key facilities, like schools and shops, within 15 minutes, would make city life really comfortable, right? Not if you ask conspiracy theories, mobilizing around the world to blend opposition to the idea of 15-minute cities with anti-vaccination and far-right sentiment. They think that 15-minute cities are all about population control.   In this episode we explore how the protests, online abuse against proponents of the 15-minute city idea, and an explosion of climate deniers’ hashtags illustrate how conspiracies keep reincarnating.   Older episode with Eszter Szen ..read more

How do algorithms facilitate the rise of political fringes in Europe? And what makes it worthy for political opportunists to be radical? We invited Prof. Miguel Poiares Maduro, who has an academic background in law, governance and politics, to reflect on the various threats to democracy from social media, and to zoom in on his home country, Portugal. Prof. Poiares Maduro also chairs the executive board of the European Digital Media Observatory, so we asked him about responses to anti-Ukrainian disinformation across the political spectrum. Here are the links to the past episodes mentioned: Anti ..read more

What are the latest news on disinformation and vaccine hesitancy? We discuss our top picks — and discuss the pros and cons of AI-assisted news review. Links to the news discussed: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/twitter-sudden-death-vaccine-conspiracies https://edmo.eu/2022/12/06/died-suddenly-yet-another-conspiracy-video-about-covid-19-vaccines-reigniting-disinformation-with-the-same-old-hoaxes/ https://medium.com/dfrlab/how-china-funds-foreign-influence-campaigns-72d547ad0771 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/world/europe/finland-misinformation-classes.html  https://www.nature.com/arti ..read more

This season The Inoculation is focusing on politics and activism. We will explore how anti-vaccine views have left a mark on different political and activist movements in Europe and beyond. Daiva will be focusing on these issues as a Policy Leader fellow at the European University Institute in Florence. Please and this show on Apple Podcasts,Audible,Google Podcasts, Spotify, or another platform of your choice. Follow us on Facebook as @theinoculation, on Twitter as @TInoculation, and on Instagram as @the_inoculation ..read more

With Twitter in turmoil, we are inviting you to revisit our conversation with WF Thomas, a disinformation researcher. Eva talked to him while working on a story on audio disinformation, which was part of her Transatlantic Media Fellowship by the Heinrich Boell Foundation Washington, DC. You can read the BBC reporting on Russia’s Twitter network here and the New Yorker’s article on regulation here. Please subscribe to our newsletter, and this show on Apple Podcasts,Audible,Google Podcasts, Spotify, or another platform of your choice. Follow us on Facebook as @theinoculation, on Twitter as ..read more

As Dr. Oz loses his bid for a seat in the US Senate and the American Board of Internal Medicine moves to strip a falsehood-spreading doctor’s qualifications, we look at the phenomenon of medical doctors spreading COVID-19 disinformation on both sides of the Atlantic. In this episode, we reference our earlier work: - On homeopathy: https://www.theinoculation.com/homeopathy-a-pseudoscientific-gateway-to-anti-vaccine-views-and-covid-19-denialism/ - On a Swedish team that got an interview with Andrew Wakefield: https://www.theinoculation.com/how-anti-vaccination-movements-pull-parents-in/&nbs ..read more

According to Pew Research, six-in-ten American adults accept at least one of New Age beliefs: psychics, spiritual energy, reincarmation and/or astrology. And overall, seven-in-ten women hold at least one New Age belief, compared to just over half of men. Research also shows that spiritual people are more likely to believe in COVID-19 conspiracies. That’s why in this episode we are looking at conspirituality — the merger of conspiracy theories and spiritual beliefs. We discuss the origins of the term, the different generations of conspirituality, and their influence today. We also talk to Dr. E ..read more

Homeopathy, the principle that ‘like cures like’ even in trace amounts, came to be at a time when opium, blood-letting and alcohol were all common treatments for illnesses. Study after study, it has been proven not to work, and testing of homeopathic products appears to often fail to follow established ethics. But many European countries allow selling sugar pills with ‘memory’ water alongside clinically tested drugs. The idea of memory water also appeals to anti-vaccine entrepreneurs. And, as we discuss in this episode, homeopathic and anti-vaccine communities significantly overlap. Sourc ..read more