Information integrity is a growing concern among the public and policymakers. Around the world, many news outlets and governmental agencies are sounding the alarm regarding the political and societal threats posed by a lack of information integrity. Yet significant findings from academic studies suggest that the effects of false information are limited, and concerns about "post-truth" politics are possibly exaggerated. Using evidence from Brazil, Dr. Bueno addresses this puzzling mismatch between public perception and mixed evidence by discussing what we know about the prevalence of false information in political discourse from political leaders and how we detect false information using statistical techniques. The research then focuses on the consequences of false information shared by political leaders, and what we can do to counter it. Overall, the studies reveal that false information has strikingly heterogeneous consequences depending on the audience receiving it and the type of action it may induce, and similarly, the effectiveness of tools to combat false information is contingent upon the content of the false information.
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Natália S. Bueno is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Emory University. Her research focuses on elections, false information, and public policy, especially housing and third-sector policy.