General Election: Sander van der Linden on the vicious circle of disinformation during elections

"The type of content that is more likely to go viral is the type that dunks on the other side."

Professor Sander van der Linden warns of the steep increase of polarising content on our news and social media feeds during elections. This could lead to a rise in the spread of disinformation, leading to decreased trust in democracy.

????️ What is at stake for the UK General Election? In this new video series, students and academics from the University of Cambridge share their insights on some of the biggest themes facing our country at this crucial moment, from AI to racial inequity, levelling up to misinformation, and first-time voting to tax changes.

Sander van der Linden is Professor of Social Psychology in Society in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab. His research looks at how people process (mis)information, how it spreads in online networks, and how we can most effectively inoculate people against false information.

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