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Health Reviews

Insights

  • Of the many factors that cause wildfires, the influence of climate change and human activities is growing

    Although there are multiple things at play when it comes to wildfires, climate change is becoming increasingly important. Wildfires are the result of complex interactions between biophysical and human factors, and it only takes one poorly managed campfire to cause a serious, widespread wildfire disaster. Many wildfires are indeed the direct result of human activities. However, many more and much worse wildfires are now possible because of climate change, leading to greater environmental and economic negative impacts.

  • What do we know about the safety of COVID-19 vaccine mRNA in breast milk?

    The mRNA inCOVID-19 mRNA vaccines can enter breast milk. However, research only detected small amounts of it, which were mostly degraded and non-functional form. COVID-19 vaccines are beneficial to pregnant women because they are particularly at risk of severe disease and poorer pregnancy outcomes. Furthermore, breast milk from lactating women contains antibodies able to neutralize the COVID-19 virus, meaning that vaccinated women can pass on some protection against COVID-19 to their babies.

Climate reviews

Analysis & Investigations

  • Who’s Behind The (Mis)Leading Report?

    Reputable news sources demonstrate transparency in all aspects of their operation. They disclose their sources of funding, identify staff who produce their content and clearly indicate their sources of information. If they commit errors, they openly acknowledge and correct these errors. Our investigation shows Leading Report exhibits none of these characteristics. The two individuals who run the website and its X/Twitter account appear to hold no relevant credentials in health, medicine or journalism.

  • Authorities undertaking climate action targeted by viral “Climate lockdowns” narrative on social media

    The increasing number of measures to limit greenhouse gas pollution that can be expected in the future will certainly present opportunities for future weaponization and misrepresentation. Writers, editors, and journalists should be aware of these manipulation tactics when discussing the aftermath of COVID-19 restrictions or future climate policies, knowing that some actors are trawling for any evidence to boost the manufactured ‘climate lockdown’ outrage.

press

  • Rappler
Posted on:  2023-02-16

They’re getting smarter: How disinformation peddlers avoid regulation

Does Facebook’s method work? A study done by Science Feedback said yes, but only to a certain extent. Facebook’s interventions on accounts that repeatedly share disinformation and misinformation results in reduced engagement on posts that violate community standards. However, the study found that this did not change the behavior of repeat offenders in the long run.

Read the article “They’re getting smarter: How disinformation peddlers avoid regulation” (open in a new tab)
  • ProPublica
Posted on:  2022-10-29

How Google’s Ad Business Funds Disinformation Around the World

Science Feedback, a French nonprofit fact-checking organization that employs journalists and scientists, provided ProPublica with 427 active URLs of articles about climate change in French and other languages it has rated false since 2021. A fifth of them were earning money with Google, according to the analysis.

Read the article “How Google’s Ad Business Funds Disinformation Around the World” (open in a new tab)
  • Rappler
Posted on:  2022-07-11

Why possible loss of CrowdTangle worries fact-checkers and disinformation researchers

How do you know if the fact-checking program works? The fact-check group Science Feedback attempted to answer this question by analyzing Facebook data captured through CrowdTangle and Buzzsumo. (…) “In our research we have been able to show how much Facebook is reducing the visibility of posts in these repeat offender accounts. We were able to transparently verify that Facebook is implementing this policy. Otherwise there is no way of knowing that. We really need this kind of data if we want to be able to measure what is happening on the platform,” Vincent told Rappler.

Read the article “Why possible loss of CrowdTangle worries fact-checkers and disinformation researchers” (open in a new tab)