Nina Jankowicz on Disinformation and Misinformation

The quotations were edited to provide clarity. 

Over the past couple of years, disinformation and misinformation have become common vocabulary and a fiery policy topic in politics. Nina Jankowicz, a fellow at the Wilson Center and author of How To Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict, discussed her studies on democracy and technology, and how the government can combat disinformation and misinformation. 

What is your background with technology and national security? 

I got started in the field when I was working at the National Democratic Institute, where I was studying Russia and Belarus. I first became acquainted with the topic of disinformation when Russia invaded Ukraine, and I saw firsthand how destabilizing disinformation can be. These experiences inspired me to go into the field. 

What has gone wrong in the past with disinformation and misinformation? 

Unfortunately, we have recently seen so many examples. COVID-19 information, especially anti-vaccination groups, and the Qanon content during the election and insurrection were funneled into Facebook groups. Disinformation and misinformation have impacted public safety and public health, and social media is making money off of the spread.

How has the current Facebook whistleblower scandal affected the disinformation and misinformation community? 

When something is impacting kids, Congress needs to step up. Congress has attempted to take down social media companies by being very fixated on antitrust laws, but that won’t be enough to break Facebook apart. If Facebook were to invest in better disinformation and misinformation detection, then those changes could potentially trickle down across the country. First, we have to focus on transparency, which means allowing researchers to have access to the data that the social media companies are collecting from the public. Not only that, but we need the government to trust the academic community to conduct studies and take the researchers at their word.

What currently contributes to disinformation and misinformation? 

There is no one cause of disinformation and misinformation. The country doesn’t have comprehensive media literacy education, and social media can still target the most vulnerable populations. The formulas and algorithms used for the social media companies decide what you are going to see on your feed, so content is based on the types of things you have interacted with before. Facebook gathers information from the web, so Americans don’t have privacy protections from data. When you are using websites and social media platforms, you consent to them using information about you, the user. 

How do you think the academic community can help stop misinformation and disinformation?

Academic researchers have to put themselves out there and make all of their research accessible. Not only that, but the academic community has to reach out to citizens and policymakers alike. At the University of Virginia, you have Siva Vaidhyanathan, the author of Anti-Social Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy. His research is great, and he is an expert on making his research on the issues of Facebook and social media companies accessible. Academia can be impactful and can show the effect of the issues that are present in society. There are also so many ways to communicate about digital citizenship. I use my own TikTok account, and other professors do the same, to teach users how to understand social media and the harms of disinformation and misinformation. 

I know that there are efforts in Congress in regards to digital citizenship, but what needs to be done TODAY or TOMORROW to get a grasp on this national security issue?

The best thing is to practice what they preach, but I also think Congress should make disinformation and misinformation illegal or fineable in elections and campaigns. Congress can also introduce rules on the House and Senate floor for censuring politicians for spreading disinformation and misinformation. I want to say one last thing to the next generation: please be careful with what you are sharing online and be mindful of what news you are consuming on social media.