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US government defunds research on misinformation


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The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has terminated government research grants for studying misinformation and disinformation. The defunding comes at a time when propaganda and scams fuelled by the latest artificial intelligence technologies are flooding social media networks, and tech companies are abandoning content moderation efforts and eliminating fact-checking teams.

The grant cancellations began on 18 April when the NSF published a statement saying it would not support research on misinformation or disinformation “that could be used to infringe on the constitutionally protected speech rights…



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