Taking down online scientific misinformation isn’t necessary, as most people don’t believe it, says Royal Society
Most people in the UK agree with the scientific consensus on key issues such as vaccination and climate change and believe that the internet has improved the public’s understanding of science, finds a new report from the Royal Society.1 The report, which investigated the effects of scientific misinf...
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| Published in: | BMJ (Online) 2022-01, Vol.376, p.o182-o182 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
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| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Most people in the UK agree with the scientific consensus on key issues such as vaccination and climate change and believe that the internet has improved the public’s understanding of science, finds a new report from the Royal Society.1 The report, which investigated the effects of scientific misinformation online, concluded that removing harmful information from the internet could actually make the situation worse. [...]with the exception of illegal content, such as child sexual abuse material, there was little evidence to support removing content and banning accounts, the authors said. In a survey of 2000 members of the public, the Royal Society found that 5% of respondents did not believe that covid vaccines were safe, 5% did not believe humans were at all responsible for climate change, and 15% believed that 5G technology was harmful to human health. |
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| ISSN: | 1756-1833 1756-1833 |