• Although foreign interference has contributed to mis- and disinformation campaigns, inaccurate information doesn’t come only from bots and trolls. Real people, including «blue check» verified social media accounts, are driving the spread of misinformation by sharing falsehoods that they believe to be true.
• Researchers need more access to data from social media platforms. Companies like Facebook keep track of information about topics and online groups that are likely to cause violence but do not share their methods or findings with researchers.
• Online conflict can become offline violence. The events on January 6, 2021 show how online events impact our offline lives in meaningful ways.
• Social media platforms should make design interventions to contain the user-driven spread of misinformation and disinformation. For example, during the 2020 U.S. election, Twitter changed the retweet button by asking users to add commentary to another tweet before sharing it. By increasing friction in the sharing process, Twitter’s design intervention makes it harder to spread misinformation mindlessly.

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