Camila Cruz Durlacher discusses how scientists can turn the tide of misinformation
If ever there was a time when one would expect the daily impact of science to be felt most acutely, it must have been the last 24+ months of the pandemic.
The course of research on vaccines, masks and respirators was a mainstay in agendas and conversations. And that’s without mentioning the sudden widespread awareness of R values and growth rates. Yet at 3M, our latest research with Ipsos suggests that only 42% of Europeans believe that science is important to their everyday lives, well below the global average of 56%. What is behind this low percentage? The culprit could be misinformation.
There was what appeared to be a major acceleration in the spread of disinformation in Europe. Indeed, the EU Digital Services Act is a clear attempt to tackle the problem of misinformation and misinformation. As unverified facts circulate, it becomes harder and harder for people to know what to believe and undermines the credibility of good scientific facts that are also shared.
Examining research and public opinion as we did in our 2022 State of Science Index reveals more about how ‘fake news’ is not just a subplot, but a major player in the relationship between society and science. As a scientific community, we have the opportunity – which is also the responsibility – to become more vocal guardians of good science.
Tarnished by misinformation
The focus on our public health and quality of care is unlikely to disappear anytime soon. Indeed, 80% of Europeans now recognize the desperate need for greater access to healthcare providers and cite this as a priority issue for society to address. Given its prominence, the issue of health and medicine is unfortunately also fertile ground for the spread of misinformation. A majority of Europeans recognize this threat, with 57% believing that future public health crises could result from distrust of scientific advice.
As well as multiple public health crises, most Europeans are concerned that widespread misinformation will lead to greater social divisions (57%) and an increase in the severity of the effects of climate change (52%). It’s a bleak picture. Read also : Education can help close the healthcare gap for LGBTQ people.
Changing the channel
A key indicator of reliability and trust can be the platform through which the information is delivered. To see also : CGTN: Hong Kong on the highway to become a global technology and innovation hub in 25 years.
Examining social media as a means of communication is not new. Despite this, the fact that only 31% of Europeans trust scientific facts conveyed via social media, compared to 70% of traditional media, is proof of how central social media is perceived to be for the spread of misinformation. Social media allows insights, true or false, to travel at lightning speed and potentially for false information to become entrenched with a wide audience. People in Europe are distrustful of information on social platforms, primarily because they simply do not know what is and is not credible.
And it’s hard – even as experts in our fields, I’m sure we’ve all had moments where we’ve read something on social media and wondered, is it real?
A colleague recently shared with me a method designed to help us all weigh up misinformation. Developed by a digital literacy expert, it provides a short list of actions to help determine whether a news source is credible. The method, called SIFT, asks you to stop, investigate, find and trace the source. I, for one, was reminded of this while scrolling through my social media and it proved to be a useful tool.
With the insights, methods and expertise we have as a community, we have an opportunity to help protect science. Encouragingly, another State of Science Index finding is that almost 80% of the European public wants to hear more from scientists and researchers themselves. Maintaining and increasing trust in science can be a difficult road, but the time has come to step forward and protect the truth. We are all guardians of good science and can work together to stop misinformation.
Camila Cruz Durlacher is VP of Corporate R&D Operations, EMEA, 3M
