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information to determine its 
veracity. 
He explains the seven 
potential sources of bias and 
provides simple assessment 
tools to identify partiality 
and erroneous content. He 
also encourages readers to 
evaluate their own predispo-
sitions toward various issues.
“Everybody is inherently 
biased, but we need to be 
aware of how our biases 
affect how we absorb infor-
mation and how we pass it 
on,” said Bean, who has done 
extensive research on AI and 
media literacy.

DISINFORMATION OR 
MISINFORMATION?
Although these terms are 
sometimes used interchange-
ably, they have different mean-
ings. Barbara 
McQuade, 
University of 
Michigan law 
professor and 
former U.S. 
Attorney for the 
Eastern District 
of Michigan, explains the 
distinction in her bestselling 
book Attack from Within: How 
Disinformation is Sabotaging 
America.
She describes disinformation 
as “the deliberate use of lies to 
manipulate people” for profit 
or to advance a political agen-
da or candidate.
Misinformation is the unwit-
ting spread of falsehoods by 
people who share or repost 
content without validating its 
authenticity.
Although misinformation 
is not spread maliciously, it 
is equally damaging. Sharing 
posts or “news” stories without 
verifying their accuracy allows 
the lies to spread like unre-
strained wildfires with interna-
tional reach.
A prominent example is the 
media coverage of the Oct. 17 
rocket explosion at the Al-Ahli 
hospital in Gaza that killed 
hundreds of people. Relying on 
a statement from Palestinian 
officials falsely blaming Israel 
for the attack, several U.S. news 
outlets, including the New York 
Times, the Associated Press 
and the Wall Street Journal, 
published the story before veri-
fying the facts. The news ignit-
ed an international firestorm 
of protests and vehement 
condemnation of Israel along 
with a surge of antisemitic hate 
crimes around the world. 
Although the news organi-

zations corrected their stories 
once it was established the 
blast originated in Gaza rather 
than Israel, the damage caused 
by the erroneous reporting 
could not be undone. 
Disinformation campaigns 
are a bit different: Recent 
examples include an Israeli boy 
and his sisters killed during 
Hamas’ attack on Kibbutz Nir 
Oz on Oct. 7 accused of being 
“crisis actors,” and pro-Hamas 
accounts misrepresenting foot-
age from the Syrian civil war as 
showing children being killed 
in Gaza. 
“Sometimes false claims are 
spread by people who know 
better but go along anyway,” 
McQuade said. “They choose 
tribe over truth.”
She says the tactics used 
by Russia to sow discord and 
influence the last election are 
now being used by U.S. citi-
zens. Using fake social media 
accounts, these individuals 
use a variety of manipulative 
techniques to convey false and 
potentially divisive messages. 
Some of the ploys include 
“declinism,” saying the country 
and its institutions are going 
downhill; scapegoating, blam-
ing all the wrongs on one lead-
er or political party; and the 
“either/or” fallacy, presenting 
only two possible options when 
several may exist.
“When there is no truth, 
people become confused and 
disengage,” she said.
U.S. District Judge Bernard 
Friedman found McQuade’s 
book to be an “eye-opener.”
“I didn’t realize how much it 
(disinformation) 
existed and how 
terrible it is, but 
once I read the 
book, I began to 
notice it in many 
contexts.”

ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
According to a study by Pew 
Research Center, 50% of U.S. 
adults get news from social 
media “often” or “sometimes.” 
In addition, 56% of those 
surveyed use digital devices 
to access news websites, apps 
and search engines compared 
to 9% who read print publica-
tions.
“Many individuals rely on 
social media as a news source. 
We need to take a step back 
and inspect the information 
with a more careful eye,” Bean 
said. “In this day and age, peo-
ple’s posts will be duplicated, 
information will be stolen and 
information that we believe 
comes from a reliable source 
may not be so. We need to 
investigate who the author is.”
Disinformation runs ram-
pant on social media because, 
unlike legitimate news organi-
zations, anyone is free to post 
or share information without 
fact-checking content or vali-
dating sources. Consequently, 
social media users are likely to 
encounter more false stories 
than authentic ones.
“When you check the 
weather, do you use a blog or 
do you go to a weather site 
where the information is creat-
ed by weather professionals?” 
asked Bean, making the point 
that readers should use rep-
utable news outlets to obtain 
legitimate news.
It is no coincidence that 
social media users receive 
messaging that aligns with 
their established interests or 
political affiliations. Bean 
explains how technology com-
panies use the concept of “con-
firmation bias,” the tendency 
to absorb information that 
supports existing opinions, to 
create algorithms that target 
content to specific audiences.
“We must all strive to do a 

continued on page 10

Judge 
Bernard 
Friedman

Barbara 
McQuade

