Sander van der Linden
@profsanderlinden.bsky.social
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
www.sandervanderlinden.com
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....
In delegating, are we confusing linguistic plausibility with epistemic reliability?
The age of "epistemia"
www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....
November 21, 2025 at 10:36 AM
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....
In delegating, are we confusing linguistic plausibility with epistemic reliability?
The age of "epistemia"
www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....
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...
www.edelman.com/sites/g/file...
November 18, 2025 at 5:12 PM
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...
www.edelman.com/sites/g/file...
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.
November 11, 2025 at 10:40 AM
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.
I hear a lot about misinformation as a "symptom" of "distrust". Here we test this & find that while trust is important, it doesn't buffer: misinfo isn't mitigated by high trust. Both misinfo & distrust *independently* predict vaccine denial. It's a disease of its own!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 30, 2025 at 8:56 AM
I hear a lot about misinformation as a "symptom" of "distrust". Here we test this & find that while trust is important, it doesn't buffer: misinfo isn't mitigated by high trust. Both misinfo & distrust *independently* predict vaccine denial. It's a disease of its own!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Can people learn to detect signal amidst all the noise?
✅Using Signal Detection Theory (SDT), we find that prebunking/inoculation interventions consistently improve people's ability to discern between reliable and unreliable news without making people unduly skeptical or credulous!
2/5
✅Using Signal Detection Theory (SDT), we find that prebunking/inoculation interventions consistently improve people's ability to discern between reliable and unreliable news without making people unduly skeptical or credulous!
2/5
October 28, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Can people learn to detect signal amidst all the noise?
✅Using Signal Detection Theory (SDT), we find that prebunking/inoculation interventions consistently improve people's ability to discern between reliable and unreliable news without making people unduly skeptical or credulous!
2/5
✅Using Signal Detection Theory (SDT), we find that prebunking/inoculation interventions consistently improve people's ability to discern between reliable and unreliable news without making people unduly skeptical or credulous!
2/5
New Bayesian *Meta-Analysis* of Psychological Inoculation Against Misinformation! Open-access 👇Thread! Buckle up
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
✅We find that prebunking interventions improve people's ability to discern between reliable & unreliable news without causing undue skepticism!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
✅We find that prebunking interventions improve people's ability to discern between reliable & unreliable news without causing undue skepticism!
October 28, 2025 at 11:49 AM
New Bayesian *Meta-Analysis* of Psychological Inoculation Against Misinformation! Open-access 👇Thread! Buckle up
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
✅We find that prebunking interventions improve people's ability to discern between reliable & unreliable news without causing undue skepticism!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
✅We find that prebunking interventions improve people's ability to discern between reliable & unreliable news without causing undue skepticism!
Submit your work to the 2026 Cambridge Disinformation Summit! We're going strong, back next year and look forward to receiving top submissions from across the world on systemic risks from technology that impact disinformation. 👇
www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/events/cambr...
@jagolinzer.bsky.social
www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/events/cambr...
@jagolinzer.bsky.social
October 24, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Submit your work to the 2026 Cambridge Disinformation Summit! We're going strong, back next year and look forward to receiving top submissions from across the world on systemic risks from technology that impact disinformation. 👇
www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/events/cambr...
@jagolinzer.bsky.social
www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/events/cambr...
@jagolinzer.bsky.social
Public health is under attack by a deluge of misinformation. We offer a consensus report from the American Psychological Association summarizing what we know & what interventions are effective in countering it. We provide 8 concrete recommendations. Open-access - awspntest.apa.org/fulltext/202...
October 23, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Public health is under attack by a deluge of misinformation. We offer a consensus report from the American Psychological Association summarizing what we know & what interventions are effective in countering it. We provide 8 concrete recommendations. Open-access - awspntest.apa.org/fulltext/202...
It was a pleasure to talk to Will Hutton about misinformation and inoculation on the We Society Podcast for the Academy of Social Sciences (@acadsocsciences.bsky.social)
Full episode here podfollow.com/the-we-socie...
Full episode here podfollow.com/the-we-socie...
October 22, 2025 at 8:36 AM
It was a pleasure to talk to Will Hutton about misinformation and inoculation on the We Society Podcast for the Academy of Social Sciences (@acadsocsciences.bsky.social)
Full episode here podfollow.com/the-we-socie...
Full episode here podfollow.com/the-we-socie...
It's been 2 years since Foolproof, unfortunately misinformation is a bigger issue than ever, but excited to see all the international versions come out now. Here's the South Korean cover, one of the coolest I've seen!
Simplified Chinese and Turkish editions next!
Simplified Chinese and Turkish editions next!
October 21, 2025 at 1:04 PM
It's been 2 years since Foolproof, unfortunately misinformation is a bigger issue than ever, but excited to see all the international versions come out now. Here's the South Korean cover, one of the coolest I've seen!
Simplified Chinese and Turkish editions next!
Simplified Chinese and Turkish editions next!
Just arrived in Portugal for the Society for Experimental Social Psychology Conference (SESP). 27 degrees out here and a rooftop pool, that’s my kind of conference!
October 17, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Just arrived in Portugal for the Society for Experimental Social Psychology Conference (SESP). 27 degrees out here and a rooftop pool, that’s my kind of conference!
Farage is not just using the same playbook as Trump - there was another false rumour in Ohio that immigrants were eating waterfowl-it's a direct lift. False stories of immigrants eating pets date back to the early 19th century (see below). Shameful propaganda.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
September 25, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Farage is not just using the same playbook as Trump - there was another false rumour in Ohio that immigrants were eating waterfowl-it's a direct lift. False stories of immigrants eating pets date back to the early 19th century (see below). Shameful propaganda.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Congratulations to @yarakyrychenko.bsky.social for being short-listed as a finalist for the Women of the Future Awards in AI! Yara is a massively brilliant scholar so proud 👏 🥳
"For eighteen years, the awards have shone a light on trailblazing women"
awards.womenofthefuture.co.uk/our-alumni-c...
"For eighteen years, the awards have shone a light on trailblazing women"
awards.womenofthefuture.co.uk/our-alumni-c...
September 25, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Congratulations to @yarakyrychenko.bsky.social for being short-listed as a finalist for the Women of the Future Awards in AI! Yara is a massively brilliant scholar so proud 👏 🥳
"For eighteen years, the awards have shone a light on trailblazing women"
awards.womenofthefuture.co.uk/our-alumni-c...
"For eighteen years, the awards have shone a light on trailblazing women"
awards.womenofthefuture.co.uk/our-alumni-c...
No evidence of association between Charlie Kirk shooting and left-wing groups so far, according to officials. Interesting chart here in the NBC piece of ideology and domestic terrorism, 70% comes from far-right groups.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
September 20, 2025 at 7:29 PM
No evidence of association between Charlie Kirk shooting and left-wing groups so far, according to officials. Interesting chart here in the NBC piece of ideology and domestic terrorism, 70% comes from far-right groups.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
In a new paper we show how misinformation derails support for public action on climate change by casting doubt on the scientific consensus (which undermines public opinion).
Disinformers attack expert consensus because they know it works.
Free: bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Disinformers attack expert consensus because they know it works.
Free: bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
September 5, 2025 at 3:34 PM
In a new paper we show how misinformation derails support for public action on climate change by casting doubt on the scientific consensus (which undermines public opinion).
Disinformers attack expert consensus because they know it works.
Free: bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Disinformers attack expert consensus because they know it works.
Free: bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Fascinating new study in @science.org shows that prebunking improves *discernment* of election misinformation with biggest effects among Reps with greatest initial misperceptions about election fraud & lowest trust in the election. Prebunking outperformed debunking.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
August 29, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Fascinating new study in @science.org shows that prebunking improves *discernment* of election misinformation with biggest effects among Reps with greatest initial misperceptions about election fraud & lowest trust in the election. Prebunking outperformed debunking.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
I don't know man, they changed it back in 2021
www.who.int/news-room/qu...
www.who.int/news-room/qu...
August 23, 2025 at 7:53 PM
I don't know man, they changed it back in 2021
www.who.int/news-room/qu...
www.who.int/news-room/qu...
New paper! Across two experiments we find prebunking against *failure* to engage in Actively-Open Minded Thinking (AOT) lowers susceptibility to misinformation & conspiracy thinking via enhanced AOT.
Led by the brilliant @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Led by the brilliant @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
August 21, 2025 at 2:06 PM
New paper! Across two experiments we find prebunking against *failure* to engage in Actively-Open Minded Thinking (AOT) lowers susceptibility to misinformation & conspiracy thinking via enhanced AOT.
Led by the brilliant @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Led by the brilliant @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Can we vaccinate against brainwashing? Pleasure doing this campaign on #inoculation against misinfo for the WHO! Watch me apply manipulation tactics to myself!
Incoherence: Sander is totally incompetent but also responsible for a complex global plot to control the information space, remarkable!
Incoherence: Sander is totally incompetent but also responsible for a complex global plot to control the information space, remarkable!
August 21, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Can we vaccinate against brainwashing? Pleasure doing this campaign on #inoculation against misinfo for the WHO! Watch me apply manipulation tactics to myself!
Incoherence: Sander is totally incompetent but also responsible for a complex global plot to control the information space, remarkable!
Incoherence: Sander is totally incompetent but also responsible for a complex global plot to control the information space, remarkable!
Given the gravity of the topic, we're doubling down at @natureportfolio.nature.com on fighting misinformation with a special collection on health misinformation I'm (co)-editing.
Please share and submit your work! Open for submissions.
www.nature.com/collections/...
Please share and submit your work! Open for submissions.
www.nature.com/collections/...
July 23, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Given the gravity of the topic, we're doubling down at @natureportfolio.nature.com on fighting misinformation with a special collection on health misinformation I'm (co)-editing.
Please share and submit your work! Open for submissions.
www.nature.com/collections/...
Please share and submit your work! Open for submissions.
www.nature.com/collections/...
If there was ever a moment where useful idiots who claim that misinformation isn't a clear concept, harms few, & is not widespread, have to come to terms with how their rhetoric is being co-opted by right-wing climate denial think thanks, this is THAT moment. The tobacco playbook - as predicted.
June 27, 2025 at 3:51 PM
If there was ever a moment where useful idiots who claim that misinformation isn't a clear concept, harms few, & is not widespread, have to come to terms with how their rhetoric is being co-opted by right-wing climate denial think thanks, this is THAT moment. The tobacco playbook - as predicted.
Did a Q&A for @cellpress.bsky.social about trust in (climate) science, political polarization, and what evidence-based strategies scientists can take amidst political attacks on climate and sustainability science! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@cp-oneearth.bsky.social
@cp-oneearth.bsky.social
June 22, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Did a Q&A for @cellpress.bsky.social about trust in (climate) science, political polarization, and what evidence-based strategies scientists can take amidst political attacks on climate and sustainability science! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@cp-oneearth.bsky.social
@cp-oneearth.bsky.social
Just received this in the mail. For those who don't know 'Homeland', they are a far-right Nazi fascist group who endorse white genocide conspiracy theories and ethnic cleansing in the UK.
Pro tip: don't trust pie charts that don't have any numbers on them! Clear visual manipulation technique.
Pro tip: don't trust pie charts that don't have any numbers on them! Clear visual manipulation technique.
June 15, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Just received this in the mail. For those who don't know 'Homeland', they are a far-right Nazi fascist group who endorse white genocide conspiracy theories and ethnic cleansing in the UK.
Pro tip: don't trust pie charts that don't have any numbers on them! Clear visual manipulation technique.
Pro tip: don't trust pie charts that don't have any numbers on them! Clear visual manipulation technique.
New paper out in Neuron today with the great @indecisionwins.bsky.social.
We call upon neuroscientists of all stripes to work on the neuroscience of misinformation: what makes the brain susceptible, how does it spread, & how can we optimize interventions? 👇
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lG3e3BtfH...
We call upon neuroscientists of all stripes to work on the neuroscience of misinformation: what makes the brain susceptible, how does it spread, & how can we optimize interventions? 👇
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lG3e3BtfH...
June 13, 2025 at 6:01 PM
New paper out in Neuron today with the great @indecisionwins.bsky.social.
We call upon neuroscientists of all stripes to work on the neuroscience of misinformation: what makes the brain susceptible, how does it spread, & how can we optimize interventions? 👇
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lG3e3BtfH...
We call upon neuroscientists of all stripes to work on the neuroscience of misinformation: what makes the brain susceptible, how does it spread, & how can we optimize interventions? 👇
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lG3e3BtfH...
Very cool implementation of inoculation against misinfo in AI
"AI models should be fine-tuned on small, quarantined sets of explicitly labeled falsehoods as a “vaccine” against misinformation...immunized models generate substantially
less misinformation than baselines"
arxiv.org/pdf/2505.17870
"AI models should be fine-tuned on small, quarantined sets of explicitly labeled falsehoods as a “vaccine” against misinformation...immunized models generate substantially
less misinformation than baselines"
arxiv.org/pdf/2505.17870
June 6, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Very cool implementation of inoculation against misinfo in AI
"AI models should be fine-tuned on small, quarantined sets of explicitly labeled falsehoods as a “vaccine” against misinformation...immunized models generate substantially
less misinformation than baselines"
arxiv.org/pdf/2505.17870
"AI models should be fine-tuned on small, quarantined sets of explicitly labeled falsehoods as a “vaccine” against misinformation...immunized models generate substantially
less misinformation than baselines"
arxiv.org/pdf/2505.17870