Lecturer accused of sharing Russian propaganda
This article was originally published in print on the 23rd March Lecturers at several universities, including the University of Edinburgh, have been accused of sharing Russian propaganda.Nadhim Zahawi, the Education…
Social media companies hold power to stop misinformation
“FAKE NEWS” has been shouted louder than almost anything else over the last few years. Coming to the forefront with the wild accusations of Donald Trump, fake news has stayed…
What can Frankenstein teach us about bad science?
A scientific consensus is only worth acknowledging when it follows a scientific method, so failing to replicate or reproduce data could permanently damage the authority of experts.
Twitter cracks down on platform manipulation – but is this enough?
Last week social media powerhouse Twitter suspended over 70 accounts on the grounds of ‘platform manipulation’ all of which were linked to the upcoming 2020 US Presidential Election. The accounts…
Fake news: how much of a threat is it really?
Ever since the term ‘fake news’ first came into public attention in 2016, it’s been lurking in the political background. And with little surprise: it was only last month that…
A dive into Zetetic Astronomy: understanding contemporary flat earth beliefs
Contemporary flat earth beliefs originate from the mid-nineteenth century, coming from Samuel Birley Rowbotham’s book Zetetic Astronomy: Earth not a Globe. This book laid out Rowbotham’s view of the earth…
The abuse of journalists’ human rights shows that they are needed now more than ever before
Despite the fervent protests in response to the appalling massacre at the offices of Charlie Hebdo two years ago, little has changed for journalists on the ground. The brutal murder…
Fake news: more than just a punchline
The term ‘fake news’ is bandied about a lot these days and is largely used as a joke. Despite this flippant use of the term, however, the fact remains that…
