Q&A with Members Video: Brendan Nyhan

FEBRUARY 19, 2021

In today’s Q&A with Members Video, we share recent insights from Brendan Nyhan, a professor of Government at Dartmouth College. Professor Nyhan’s work addresses misinformation of news media coverage and social media posts related to the recent U.S. presidential election and Senate runoff. In light of Twitter’s unprecedented permanent ban of U.S. President Donald Trump from the social media platform, Nyhan’s research provides robust evidence around combating misinformation.

Nyhan argues that although misinformation remains a major challenge in the U.S., it’s impact on the population’s political attitudes and beliefs may be overstated. In his recent Washington Post article, he addresses five myths about the prevalence and influence of misinformation. In other recent research he examines how social media platforms might effectively label fake news during an election campaign, highlighting potential policy implications for government agencies and social media companies in combating misinformation.