Short Wave - How to Correct Misinformation, According to Science.

Episode Date: May 22, 2020

The World Health Organization has called the spread of misinformation around the coronavirus an "infodemic." So what do you do when it's somebody you love spreading the misinformation? In this episode, Maddie talks with Invisibilia reporter Yowei Shaw about one man's very unusual approach to correcting his family. And we hear from experts about what actually works when trying to combat misinformation.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Hey there, if you are new to Shortwave, go ahead and hit that subscribe or follow button. That way you can start every weekday morning with us, like a little science vitamin that you swallow with your ears. Well, I don't know if that... Just go ahead and follow or subscribe. You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Maddie Safaya here today with Yo-Wei Shaw, a reporter from Invisibilia, NPR's sister pod, about human behavior, Hey Yo! away. Hey, Maddie. What do you got? Okay, so you know how one of the big problems right now seems to be like all the misinformation flying around. Some public health officials are calling an infodemic. Journalists find themselves debunking wild claims. Millions of false tweets. Right,

and it's like especially tricky right now because there's so much we don't know yet. Yeah, which makes it easier for misinformation to flourish, unfortunately. And I've been thinking about one particular drama in all this. Like, what do you do when it's somebody you love who's spreading the misinformation? Right, right. Which is why I was so excited to come across this guy in London named Kush Unadkat. And his misinformation problem, it starts back in March in the form of a WhatsApp message from his dad who lives back in Kenya. It was some natural remedy for coronavirus, like boiling lemons and orange and black pepper for some reason.

It was just really odd. And Cush, he just ignores the message, brushes it off. But a few days later, his dad sends another message about a false coronavirus remedy. And this time, Cush decides to say something on the phone when they're catching up. Dad, like, this is nonsense. I don't know why you're saying this crap. It's like, okay, fine, I'll stop. Oh, that was easy. Well, not so fast, because a few days later, the very same cycle happens again.

Dad, can you just stop forwarding me this crap? He'd be like, yeah, but I just thought you'd find it interesting. Over and over, rinse and repeat. Dad, there's no source. I don't really need to read this. You know, it's quite a... Come on, Dad, seriously. Okay, cool.

That sounds, like, really frustrating for both of them. Totally. And apparently, it's not an isolated incident. Like, Cush said. for the past several weeks, he and his friends have been sharing these screenshots of the misinformation their parents have been texting them about coronavirus. It's become like this running joke for them. But it's also dead serious in Cush's eyes. I do get worked up about it.

I was just like, he's probably sending it to so many people. I'm just like, Dad, you need to stop. So today on the show, Cush decides to fight fire with fire. And we call up some experts to tell us what you can do to effectively combat misinformation. So, Yo-A, where we left off, it sounds like Kush is at his breaking point with his dad. Is he worried that his dad is actually acting on this misinformation? Well, Kush says his dad is following all the safety protocols. And he doesn't think his dad actually believes the misinformation.

I don't think he even reads half the stuff he sends sometimes. It's like a good deed instead of saying, hey, what's going on? It's almost an opener in conversation. Oh, like a little like dad way to touch base. Right. Which Cush recognizes as very sweet, but also dangerous. It's spreading fake news, essentially. That's it.

So one day Cush comes up with a crafty, possibly questionable solution. He creates an image of a fake tweet that looks like it's from President Trump. Oh, wow. And sends the screenshot to his dad, which I just sent to you. Okay. All right. Let me see. Wow, yeah. It looks like a Trump tweet. It says, if you are spreading all caps, fake news via mass communication channels, believe me, all caps again, you will be arrested and taken to prison.

Uh-huh. I don't. So he fought fake news by making more fake news. Yeah. I'm going to tell you what, Yo-A. I've studied science communication a little bit, and I'm pretty sure that's not how you're supposed to do it. But I am curious about whether or not it worked. Well, Kush thinks the fake Trump tweet actually put some fear into his dad, because his dad just responded saying, thank you noted.

Okay. Still feeling weird about it? Yeah, I mean, Cush eventually did come clean. And he says his dad has been a good sport about it. And more importantly, Cush says the misinformation messages have dropped from every two or three days to like one every three weeks. So it didn't like totally work. Right. Just a slowdown. But a minor victory for Cush, which is why I wanted to call up an expert to see what they thought about his approach. Hi. Hi.

Hi. Yes, I'm here. Emma Francis Bloomfield is a professor at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who studies science communication. And here's what she had to say about Cush's strategy. I think it's a strategy that sends a message much more quickly than a longer. That's wrong. That's wrong. That's wrong.

It's a different strategy that interrupts that pattern. Oh, wow. I'm very surprised that she didn't just shut that down completely. Well, for the record, Emma did not. approve of Cush spreading more misinformation. Okay. But she did find parts of Cush's approach to be potentially effective, like how Cush used a source that his dad would find credible, and also the humor.

I mean, I will say it is really hard to figure out the best way to deal with misinformation. Like we see it out there, we want to jump in and correct it, and we want to believe that that will actually work. But when you look at the research around how people, take in and make decisions about information, it can actually be really counterintuitive. Yeah, there are so many landmines. Like, for example, while reading up on the research, I came across this phenomenon called the Overkill Backfire Effect.

So just to make up an example so we don't propagate actual misinformation out there right now, let's say you were trying to correct someone who believes in a myth that, like, listening to Taylor Swift causes memory loss or whatever. And you delivered like 19 reasons why it doesn't. They might be harder to remember than the more simple myth. Right. Another landmine I found to be Kafka-esque is how you have to be careful not to repeat the misinformation. Because Emma says research has shown that just repeating something tends to make it feel

more true. That can create what we call belief echoes or what some people call the familiarity backfire effect. So for example, going back to our obviously false Taylor Swift rumor, when correcting you naturally might want to go, there's no evidence that listening to Taylor Swift causes memory loss. But that is still actually repeating the misinformation, which could lead to a problem later on. You only remember the part that there is a link there. Right. There's like a little bit of, I'm hearing about this link again, so there might be something to it. And I will say it is hard not to repeat the thing that is wrong. Like we've even done it

on the show before, trying to give people context for why we're talking about a certain thing. Yeah, it's kind of a catch-22. Okay, Yoway. So let's talk about what works. Say you're having a conversation and you want to correct. some piece of misinformation. Well, Emma has done some research where she had conversations with over 50 climate change skeptics, and she proposes some strategies that might work. The first being to find common ground. So saying stuff like, I get that you're sharing this because you care about me.

There's a lot of information out there. It's hard to know it's accurate, and this pandemic is really scary. Yeah, that's exactly right. Also, no insults. Like, it should be a dialogue. You know, don't just say, read this article, you're wrong. Instead, you know, you could try saying something like, well, that thing you sent me might be right, but I've been reading a lot that contradicts that. Do you mind if I send you an article to read?

And I'd love to read your source as well. Like maybe they're more likely to be open to persuasion and read your link if you show that you're like open-minded about what they have to say or share. And Emma says it's also good to ask questions. you think that drinking turmeric would work, right? And if you help someone to backtrack and actually seriously consider the information that they're sharing and the things they believe, you can help them convince themselves. As for the content of the correction, there has been a long line of research trying to figure out what works. And there are some best practices. So correct as early as you can and deliver the correction in bite-sized chunks. And if you can,

make sure to provide an alternative to the misinformation so that you're not just leaving a hole in their mental picture. Right. And then, if possible, you also want this alternative explanation to affirm and not threaten their worldview values and identity. Right. Okay. So like with our T. Swift example, if you're talking to somebody who really hates her music and believes it causes memory loss, maybe you could say like, hey, obviously Taylor Swift is the worst. We all know that. But then transition into telling them, like, what actually causes memory loss. Exactly. All right. So, yeah, wait, I'm just going to play devil's advocate here.

What do you do if you can't move this person you love? Like, you try these strategies and nothing works. I mean, the stakes are really high right now. Like, people can die if they don't have the right information. Calls at poison control centers are up by 20 percent. Yeah. I mean, it is completely possible that none of these strategies. strategies will work with your loved one.

But the good news is that there are other things you can do as an individual that arguably could have an even bigger impact than just changing one person's mind. It turns out we can do something. I talked to another expert, Emily Vraga, a professor at University of Minnesota who studies health misinformation. And fun fact, Facebook actually used one of her studies, to make changes in how they dealt with misinformation back in 2017. Oh, well, well, well. I know.

And talking to Emily made me feel more hopeful. She and her colleague, Leticia Bodie, did a series of studies that showed you can actually make a dent in correcting misperceptions on social media. Not necessarily with the person who posted the misinformation on Facebook or Twitter. But for all the hundreds, maybe even thousands of people in their network who are watching. So those people aren't geared up for battle, so to speak, and they're much more persuadable. They're one step removed, and so their ego might be a little less involved. And for those people, Emily and Letitia found you can correct misperceptions at least somewhat by doing a few simple things. Somebody already talked about.

So like linking to an expert source, saying the facts as simply as possible without repeating the myth. Yes, y'all got to stop sharing that article you're trying to debunk. on Twitter, stop sharing it. And finally, there's power in multiple corrections. At least we know two is better than one. If you see your aunt sharing misinformation and your cousin has corrected them, that doesn't mean you shouldn't. Which to me feels kind of rude.

But Emily wants to reframe what a correction means in our culture. Not as something combative or to be ashamed of, but like a helpful good. I tend to be a bit conflict avoidant. I'm not eager to get involved in a big fight on social media, but doing this work has convinced me that it's important and it can matter and it could be consequential. You could see it as like our collective duty to protect each other. I like that. All right, Yo-A, thank you for the story. I think it's really helpful. Of course. Oh, and before we go, Swifties, we have nothing against your leader.

Please don't destroy me on Twitter. Oh, God, I didn't even think about that. I actually think Taylor's a genius. Okay, Yo-Wei. You're so scared right now. If you want even more on science communication, check out our episode called How to Talk About the Coronavirus with Friends and Family. This episode was reported and produced by Yo-Wei Shah, edited by Deborah George.

The facts were checked by Emily Vaughn. I'm Maddie Safaya. Thanks for listening to Shortwave from NPR.