In 2022, the stakes of online misinformation were higher than ever. Europeans witnessed the beginning of a war premised on disinformation, as Russia’s state propaganda outlets used false claims about Nazis running Ukraine’s government. As the COVID-19 pandemic continued, purveyors of health misinformation found new and more creative ways to spread false claims, including on TikTok. And ahead of the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, hundreds of communities searching for trustworthy news sources stumbled upon secretly partisan-funded websites, posing as independent local news publishers.
NewsGuard’s journalists spent the year rating and updating ratings for more than 8,500 news and information sources accounting for more than 95% of online engagement with news, cataloging more than 1,000 false narratives, and uncovering misinformation campaigns and trends on topics where misinformation is creating real-world harm.
Now, we’re pleased to share NewsGuard’s Social Impact Report for 2022. In this report, you’ll learn:
- How our roster of more than 50 partners — from technology platforms to advertising companies, researchers to nonprofits — leverage our data to protect users, brands, and democracies from misinformation.
- Updates on our continued efforts to help consumers stay informed about who is feeding them news, through our pro-bono initiatives with over 800 public libraries and partnerships with educational institutions around the world.
- A summary of our research reports investigating false narratives surrounding political elections across our markets, analyzing the proliferation of harmful hoaxes on platforms like TikTok and documenting disinformation from Russia to China in our Misinformation Fingerprints database.
Read the full report below or click here to download the PDF version.