Our mission is to resist strategic misinformation, promote an informed society, and strengthen democratic discourse.

RESEARCH

The U.S.-Mexico border near Sunland, New Mexico by Anne Adrian / Flickr via CC BY 2.0 DEED

A boosted video resonates with ‘border crisis’ and ‘rigged election’ frames

03.14.2024

In a 2024 U.S. Elections Rapid Research blog post, a team of CIP-affiliated researchers present a multi-dimensional analysis — across source, content, and spread — of a single misleading video that connects the border crisis to concerns with election integrity. Mert Can Bayar, Ashlyn B. Aske, Nina Lutz, Joseph S. Schafer, Stephen Prochaska and Kate Starbird show how the video spread across social media platforms with help from a set of “new elite” influencers on Twitter/X, explore the history of the video’s producer and demonstrate how he adapted his content to attract an audience that rewarded him for resonating with these political narratives.

Previous CIP rapid research and analysis:

Search engines post-ChatGPT: How generative artificial intelligence could make search less reliable

02.18.2024

University of Washington Information School doctoral student Shahan Ali Memon and iSchool associate professor Jevin D. West, a CIP co-founder, explore how generative artificial intelligence could reduce the reliability of search engines. As they write, generative AI “carries an unwarranted sense of credibility, while decreasing transparency and sourcing ability,” while “search engines are already answering queries with error-laden, generated content, further blurring the provenance of information and impacting the integrity of the information ecosystem.” 

Can provenance save us from a barrage of synthetic media?

02.21.2024

Through work with the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), a team of UW researchers, Human-Centered Design & Engineering PhD student Kevin Feng, Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering PhD student Jina Yoon and CIP faculty member Amy X. Zhang, found that provenance can help better calibrate trust and accuracy perceptions of media. But it can come with its own risks of misinterpretation.  

INSIGHTS

CIP’s Jevin West explores ‘generative misinformation’ in UW Office of Public Lectures event at Town Hall Seattle  
EDUCATION & ENGAGEMENT  |  10.27.2023

In a UW Graduate School Office of Public Lectures 2023-24 series event at Town Hall Seattle, CIP co-founder Jevin West, an iSchool associate professor, explores how generative AI will make it more challenging to address the challenges we face from the spread of misinformation.

EDUCATION

MisinfoDay 2024 logo.

High school students from across Washington to participate in MisinfoDay 2024 workshops and activities 

EVENTS  |  MARCH 2024

Through an ongoing statewide partnership between the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public and Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, we’re presenting MisinfoDay 2024 events and programming in March for high school students, teachers, librarians, and other educators. In addition to hosting three in-person events for high school students at WSU Pullman (March 8), UW Seattle (March 12), and WSU Vancouver (March 21), teachers and librarians have an option to host MisinfoDay 2024 activities in their own classrooms.

MisinfoDay 2023

Close up shot of a hand holding a tabletop game card.

Break-free in a misinformation themed escape room

RESOURCES 

Loki’s Loop games, including the Euphorigen Investigation, immerse people in an interactive escape room of manipulated media, social media bots, deepfakes, and other forms of deception to learn about misinformation. These games, a research project from the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public in partnership with the UW Technology & Social Change Group, UW GAMER Research Group and Puzzle Break, are designed to improve people’s awareness of misinformation tactics and generate reflection on the emotional triggers and psychological biases that make misinformation so powerful. Loki’s Loop games are available for libraries, schools, and organizations with an educational mission, in both online and in-person versions.

CIP Updates

 

 

“It’s one of the most  important problems of our time that we as a society need to solve. This is not a left or right issue. This is an issue that transcends political boundaries. Everyone wants to get this right.”

— Jevin West, Co-Founder and Inaugural Director

 

CONFRONTING MISINFORMATION

The spread of misinformation is among the most pressing challenges of our time. New platforms for human interaction and information sharing have opened the door to misinformation, disinformation and other forms of networked manipulation, which not only mislead and create divisions, but also diminish trust in democratic institutions such as science and journalism. The nonpartisan Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington brings diverse voices from across industry, government, nonprofits and other institutions together to confront the problem through our research, education, policy and engagement efforts. Learn More

WHAT WE DO

RESEARCH

We support cutting-edge research with a strong focus on research to practice, which spans disciplines from sociology to information science and law.

EDUCATION

We educate information consumers across the demographic landscape in order to make more informed decisions.

LAW & POLICY

We address information policy through generative analyses of the legal frameworks and the available levers for intervention.

ENGAGEMENT

We engage directly with the public in collaboration with our partners, libraries and community leaders.