Professor Whitney Phillips writes “How to Avoid Spreading Misinformation About the Protests”

Whitney Phillips, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, wrote a commentary, “How to Avoid Spreading Misinformation About the Protests” for Wired. Professor Phillips, an expert on media literacy and political communication, says that “our ongoing public health crisis has collided with our ongoing civil rights crisis, both set against the backdrop of our ongoing election integrity crisis” leaves that nation with “an information landscape that’s mostly land mines.” Phillips believes that social media and the rapid spread of information has allowed for everything to “become a weapon—or at least, everything has the potential to become weaponized.” Ultimately, the article emphasizes that “when considering whether to amplify information—through our tweets or comments or think pieces—the first order of business is to reflect on how harmful the information might be; and, beyond that, to reflect on what harms might result from our sharing. “