What will 2022 bring in the way of misinformation on social media? Three experts weigh in

Fake new is hardly a new phenomenon, yet its costs have reached another level in recent years. Misinformation concerning Covid-19 has cost countless lives all over the world. — Abstract vector created by vectorjuice - www.freepik.com

At the end of 2020, it seemed hard to imagine a worse year for misinformation on social media, given the intensity of the presidential election and the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic. But 2021 proved up to the task, starting with the Jan 6 insurrection and continuing with copious amounts of falsehoods and distortions about Covid-19 vaccines.

To get a sense of what 2022 could hold, editors at The Conversation asked three researchers about the evolution of misinformation on social media.