{"id":243352,"date":"2026-04-13T07:04:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T11:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=243352"},"modified":"2026-04-09T16:49:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T20:49:51","slug":"are-you-fooled-by-disinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/04\/are-you-fooled-by-disinformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Fooled by Disinformation?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even though a timely discussion on fact-checking and AI was held in Wilbur Cross on April 1, the widespread dissemination of disinformation is no joke.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Disinformation is inundating our media diet. With artificial intelligence becoming extremely difficult to recognize at first glance, distinguishing fact from fiction is a skill that everyone needs to develop. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Katie Sanders,\u00a0<\/span>editor-in-chief of PolitiFact\u00a0<\/span>\u2014\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>nonpartisan fact-checking website\u00a0<\/span>\u2014\u00a0<\/span>joined Amanda J. Crawford, professor in the Department of Journalism, to discuss current media posts that are deceiving people, and what methods news consumers can use to uncover the truth.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The falsely reported death of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spread on multiple social media platforms, is a recent example of disinformation, and debunking it swiftly made it PolitiFact’s most popular <\/span>fact-check<\/a>,<\/span> according to Sanders.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Transparency, \u201crabid nonpartisanship” \u2014 equally scrutinizing both political parties \u2014 and correcting mistakes publicly are among PolitiFact journalists’ principles, she added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sanders said the process of verifying information begins with analyzing the source, asking questions including: Who is behind the post? What evidence is there that supports the claim(s) made? What are other sources saying about the claim(s) made?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For visuals, reverse image search is a mechanism used when needed to verify assertions on a photo\u2019s origins.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A
Sanders and Crawford field questions about disinformation and AI (Anna Heqimi \/ UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Crawford stressed the importance of <\/span>viewing<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>everything<\/span>\u00a0with\u00a0<\/span>a critical eye<\/span>. \u201cWhen we see something that supports our p<\/span>reconceived bias, then we are more likely to fall for it<\/span>,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re all at risk with being okay with disinformation if it supports our side.\u201d <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With\u00a0<\/span>PolitiFact’s<\/span> \u201c<\/span>Truth-O-Meter<\/span>,\u201d journalists<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>research<\/span> and report on the extent of accuracy on a specific and popular claim. R<\/span>eporters then <\/span>suggest<\/span>\u00a0a\u00a0<\/span>rating for the<\/span>\u00a0widely\u00a0<\/span>disseminated<\/span> statement ranging <\/span>from \u201cTrue\u201d to<\/span>\u00a0\u201cHalf True\u201d to<\/span>\u00a0\u201cPants on Fire<\/span>\u201d<\/span> \u2014 <\/span> <\/span>a rating when the <\/span>statement found is inaccurate and is a \u201cridiculous\u201d allegation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>T<\/span>hree editors\u00a0<\/span>review<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>discuss<\/span>\u00a0each article<\/span>\u00a0before publication<\/span>, asking\u00a0<\/span>the reporter <\/span>for evidence for everything they state either supporting or refuting components examining a certain claim.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though fact-checking and spreading truth is imperative, Crawford warned that there are times when fact-checking can \u201cbackfire.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Crawford, whose research concentrates on misinformation and media coverage of mass shootings, raised a concern about amplifying controversies or disinformation when it is not yet widely known to the public, with the risk that publishing fact-checks on falsehoods could give them traction.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All the spread of false information on social media is nothing new, the increasing sophistication of generative AI has made it easier than ever before.<\/p>\n

As a seemingly benign example, Crawford cited AI-generated cat videos that people believe are real. The corollary: If we are falling for benign fake cat videos, are we going to believe disinformation that actually has consequences?<\/p>\n

PolitiFact recently investigated an AI video<\/a> showing a crying toddler touching the casket of his military father who was killed in Iran, Sanders said. Many expressed their empathy and sorrow after viewing the video, believing it was real.<\/p>\n

Yet Sanders cited one benefit to artificial intelligence. She said her team is experimenting with a \u201cJurisprudence Assistant\u201d that generates recommended ratings for fact-checks, consulting an archive of PolitiFact’s previous claim ratings. Sanders said the AI assistant can provide more information or help editors strengthen their conclusions. <\/span>They do not use AI to\u00a0<\/span>draft or edit stories.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For those new to fact-checking, Sanders said that AI tools such as ChatGPT can be useful as a starting point for research, akin to a Google search<\/span>. However,\u00a0users\u00a0must approach\u00a0the tool with caution,\u00a0<\/span>cognizant<\/span>\u00a0that\u00a0fake sources\u00a0can be\u00a0generated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>message of the evening was clear: S<\/span>tay vigilant and approach everything with skepticism.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The event was sponsored by UConn, PolitiFact, and the Connecticut Foundation for Open Government. Co-sponsors included the UConn Department of Journalism, Department of Political Science, Humanities Institute, Alan R. Bennett Political Science Honors Fund, and Student Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Politifact’s editor-in-chief gives a UConn audience a crash course on how to spot false info online <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":243737,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2226,2460,2317,2235,2225],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2706],"class_list":["post-243352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clas","category-faculty","category-journalism","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-storrs"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 11:53:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243352"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":243739,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243352\/revisions\/243739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/243737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243352"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=243352"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=243352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}