Sander van der Linden

@profsanderlinden.bsky.social

33K followers 990 following 340 posts

Professor of Social Psychology in Society at the University of Cambridge and Author of FOOLPROOF: Why We Fall for Misinformation and How to Build Immunity (2023) + The Psychology of Misinformation (2024). Bad News Game.

www.sandervanderlinden.com .. more

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Sander L. van der Linden is a Dutch social psychologist and author who is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Cambridge. He studies the psychology of social influence, risk, human judgment, and decision-making. He is known for his research on the psychology of social issues, such as fake news, COVID-19 conspiracy theories, and climate change denial. .. more

Sociology 26%

Political science 26%

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Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · Apr 8

Who is susceptible to misinformation? We looked at >60,000 people from 24 countries who took our MIST test. Key results: Gen Z are more susceptible & those on the extreme right (but they don't know it).

Led by the brill @yarakyrychenko.bsky.social & Fritz Götz

authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 1d

If you’re in the business of facts and accuracy, you can forget entry into the United States. Apparently they want none of that. Makes sense for an emerging autocracy www.poynter.org/news-release...

Reposted by Sander van der Linden

University of Cambridge @cam.ac.uk · 2d

How cheap is it to build a bot army? 🤖

Find out using the first global index to track real-time prices for verifying fake accounts on 500 platforms, from TikTok to Amazon 👇
https://bit.ly/44s9QSu

Illustration promoting new Cambridge research on the cost of building a bot army, featuring a figure in a hood facing a large computer screen against a dark network-like background.

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 3d

Press release www.cam.ac.uk/stories/pric...

Price of a 'bot army' revealed across hundreds of online platforms worldwide

The first global index tracking real-time prices for buying fake account verifications on 500+ online platforms in every country has been launched by a team at the University of Cambridge.

www.cam.ac.uk

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 3d

WhatsApp responded to the findings of our new Cambridge Trust and Safety index:

"WhatsApp said in a statement that it welcomed the research into an industry it said was "aiming to mislead internet services."

Unsurprisingly, X did not return messages seeking comment

www.reuters.com/business/med...

Key barrier to online fraud can be bypassed for pennies, say researchers

A central barrier to the creation of bogus social media accounts can be bypassed for as little as a few cents at a time, researchers at the University of Cambridge determined, a sign of just how low t...

www.reuters.com

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 3d

Russia, US and UK emerge as lowest-cost hubs for fake online accounts, some of our findings in the @financialtimes.com

www.ft.com/content/1210...

Russia, US and UK emerge as lowest-cost hubs for fake online accounts

Analysis reveals how cheap text message verification fuels global influence and manipulation campaigns

www.ft.com

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 3d

Brilliant work from Anton Dek, Jon Roozenbeek, @yarakyrychenko.bsky.social @jbs.cam.ac.uk @cam.ac.uk

Reposted by David G. Rand, Nicholas A. Christakis, Hugo Mercier , and 1 more David G. Rand, Nicholas A. Christakis, Hugo Mercier, Greg Linden

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 3d

New paper out in @science.org! We unveil the online manipulation market with the Cambridge Online Trust & Safety Index (COTSI). We show in real time the cost of purchasing fake accounts across every social platform around the world - so they can be held accountable

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Mapping the online manipulation economy

A market perspective on digital manipulation may help improve online trust and safety

www.science.org

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 4d

Australia enacts the world’s first ban on social media accounts for those under the age of 16. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cw...

Australia social media ban: Teens navigate new world without social media as ban takes effect - live updates

The social media accounts of Australians aged under-16 must be deactivated, with companies facing fines for not complying.

www.bbc.co.uk

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 7d

worldpopulationreview.com/country-rank...

Countries with Freedom of Speech 2025

Discover population, economy, health, and more with the most comprehensive global statistics at your fingertips.

worldpopulationreview.com

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 7d

For all this Trump and Elon talk about EU censorship let’s look at World Freedom of Expression rankings. I see lots of European countries but the USA is nowhere to be seen in the top 20.

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 8d

I imagine they’ll increase the fines and eventually threaten to shut off X in the EU until they pay.

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 8d

Let’s go EU!

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 8d

Defunding the US government wasn’t sufficient. Elon now wants to dismantle the European Union.

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 12d

Thanks so much to Stanford for including Foolproof as one of their favorite books!

www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/sta...

Stanford GSB Faculty Recommend Some Favorite Reads

www.gsb.stanford.edu

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 12d

Great article from @zionlights.bsky.social in the New Humanist on teaching children to think critically and how Finland is leading the charge. newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6482

With some cautiously optimistic thoughts from me.

Reposted by Sander van der Linden, Peter Thorne, Scott L. Greer , and 34 more Sander van der Linden, Peter Thorne, Scott L. Greer, Rosemary A. Joyce, David Rothschild, Philip N. Cohen, Jonathan M. Gilligan, Juan Cole, Rebecca Tushnet, David R. Miller, Silvia Secchi, Adrian Daub, Caroline T. Schroeder, Andrew Jacobs, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Margot C. Finn, Rebecca M. Bratspies, Brian Keegan, William Myers, David C. Kimball, Sarah Roberts, Aurélien Mondon, Mark Rice, Lisa Diedrich, Ann Bartow, Nelson Flores, Alessandro Rigolon, Seth Masket, Raúl Pacheco-Vega, Andrew Rudalevige, Brooke Harrington, Daxton R. Stewart, Manisha Sinha, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Clark Gray, Paul Franco

gwen howerton @kissphoria.bsky.social · 13d

OU has put the professor here on administrative leave:

The University of Oklahoma takes seriously concerns involving First Amendment rights, certainly including religious freedoms. Upon receiving notice from the student on the grading of an assignment, the University immediately began a full review of the situation and has acted swiftly to address the matter.
First, the college acted immediately to address the academic issue raised by the student. College leaders contacted her on the day her letter was received and have maintained regular communication throughout the process. As previously stated, a formal grade appeals process was conducted. The process resulted in steps to ensure no academic harm to the student from the graded assignments.
Second, the student reported filing a claim of illegal discrimination based on religious beliefs to the appropriate university office. OU has a clear process for reviewing such claims and it has been activated.
The graduate student instructor has been placed on administrative leave pending the finalization of this process. To ensure fairness in the process, a full-time professor is serving as the course instructor for the remainder of the semester.
OU remains firmly committed to fairness, respect and protecting every student's right to express sincerely held religious beliefs.
The UNIVERSITY of OKLAHOMA

Reposted by Sander van der Linden, Juan Cole, Bessma Momani

Matthew Facciani @matthewfacciani.bsky.social · 19d

A new paper shows how social media accelerates extremism by flooding users with emotionally charged, divisive content that algorithms naturally amplify, making extremist narratives far more visible, engaging, and persuasive than they would be otherwise.

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 20d

In a new paper we present a framework for thinking about online radicalization where some people acquire extremist beliefs on social media (path A) whereas for others SM simply reinforces existing extremist beliefs (path B). Both can lead to support for violence.

www.frontiersin.org/journals/soc...

Reposted by Sander van der Linden, Kate Starbird

Center for an Informed Public @cip.uw.edu · 23d

🧵We're seeking nominations for the CIP Award for Impact & Excellence, which recognizes outstanding contributions, achievements or bodies of work that advance civic health and promote an informed society by helping individuals, communities and institutions navigate complex information challenges.

A graphic reading "CIP Award for Impact & Excellence" set on an evening photo of UW Red Square with the broken obelisk sculpture and Kane Hall illuminated.

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 23d

Great work from @walter4c.bsky.social & co!

Reposted by Walter Quattrociocchi

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 23d

New study on LLMs shows that while LLMs & humans converge on similar judgments of reliability of news media, they rely on very different underlying processes.

In delegating, are we confusing linguistic plausibility with epistemic reliability?

The age of "epistemia"

www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Simon Hix, Ben H. Ansell , and 45 more Marc Lynch, Simon Hix, Ben H. Ansell, David Lazer, Sander van der Linden, Will Jennings, Gordon Pennycook, Brendan Nyhan, Carl T. Bergstrom, John De Vos, Olivier Klein, Scott L. Greer, Steven Van de Walle, Michael A. Clemens, Victor Asal, Steven S. Smith, Maarten Vink, Jeffrey Ian Ross, Jon Green, Rebecca Sear, Calvin K. Lai, Juan Cole, Benjamin Braun, Mary Corcoran, Dorothea Kübler, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Jane Suiter, Paolo Crosetto, Rebecca Tushnet, David R. Miller, Silvia Secchi, Julia Lynch, Margot C. Finn, Andreas De Block, Matthijs Rooduijn, Sebastian Karcher, Jutta Haider, Michael Jones‐Correa, Fabrizio Bernardi, Guy J. Curtis, Johannes Breuer, Georg Weizsäcker, Tom Louwerse, Juan Ramón, Tim Stephens, Pepper D. Culpepper, Dana Howard, Evan Roberts

Josh McCrain @joshmccrain.bsky.social · 26d

new paper by Sean Westwood:

With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 26d

Let’s hope that’s the explanation

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 26d

Just casually reading in the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer that nearly a quarter (28-country average) seem to think that intentionally spreading disinformation (!) or committing violence (!!) is OK as a means to bring about societal change.

www.edelman.com/sites/g/file...

Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky, Sander van der Linden, Victor Pickard

Michelle Amazeen @commscholar.bsky.social · 26d

🎉 Excited to share that Content Confusion publishes today! It dives into how news orgs & advertisers—including fossil fuels—blur journalism & ads, fueling disinfo & distrust. Available now! Use code MITP30 today for 30% off at MIT Press. Thanks for the support! 🙏
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255360...

Content Confusion

We often blame social media for the rampant problem of disinformation, but mainstream news media is also at fault. Not only do news outlets disguise paid con...

mitpress.mit.edu

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Sander van der Linden, Will Jennings , and 8 more Lisa W. Fazio, Sander van der Linden, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan, Garry Peterson, Gordon Hodson, Steve Peers, William J. Brady, Laia Balcells, Mohsen Mosleh, Allison Eden

David Rand @dgrand.bsky.social · Nov 14

🚨Out in PNAS🚨
Examining news on 7 platforms:
1)Right-leaning platforms=lower quality news
2)Echo-platforms: Right-leaning news gets more engagement on right-leaning platforms, vice-versa for left-leaning
3)Low-quality news gets more engagement EVERYWHERE - even BlueSky!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · Nov 11

Would have been better!

Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky, Olivier Klein

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · Nov 11

Yes the BBC edit was poor journalistic form but the research indeed shows that Trump's speech predicted riots, violence, and weapons use on January 6th.

Reposted by Sander van der Linden, John R. Hutchinson, Smith

Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · Oct 31

Sad day for the folks who staked their reputations on lab leak conspiracy theories.

www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...

The Telegraph Headline: New Covid virus found in wild Brazilian bats

Subhed: The discovery of a ‘furin cleavage site’ suggests the mutation which helps the virus adapt to humans is naturally occurring

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · Oct 31

Here's my top 5 ways to help friends & family falling down the conspiracy hole:

1. Prebunk - prevention is key

2. Validate their worldview first

3. Reiterate social consensus to highlight extremism

4. Involve ex-conspiracy theorists

5. Keep in touch & prevent isolation

shorturl.at/dmldd

How to help friends and family dig out of a conspiracy theory black hole

Some tried and trusted techniques that might help.

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