A recent Washington Post interactive feature laid bare a grim portrait of where America is headed—or, more precisely, where we already are. The piece traces the widening rift between Americans over the use of military force against civilians, the normalization of extreme immigration crackdowns, and the way these once-fringe authoritarian tactics are now openly endorsed by large segments of the public.
The Integrity Project
Astroturfing, a term borrowed from marketing, refers to the creation of fake grassroots campaigns. In the media context, it involves fabricating a publication that looks and acts like a legitimate news source but serves a hidden agenda—political, ideological, or financial.
The Integrity Project
More than half of all the top trending videos offering mental health advice on TikTok contain misinformation, a Guardian investigation has found. People are increasingly turning to social media for mental health support, yet research has revealed that many influencers are peddling misinformation.
The Guardian
What is going on in Los Angeles? Depends on whom you ask. Word to the wise: Don’t ask Fox News. The outlet would have you believe that the entire city of Los Angeles is in flames, that immigrants have taken over everything, that mass chaos reigns.
The Arizona Republic / USA Today Network
Historians warn, “authoritarian governments in all corners of the world are trying to construct their own version of the past, passing laws that make their versions of history the only ones allowed”, and the United States is not immune to such pressures. In recent years, a wave of political rhetoric and conspiracy theory has sought to recast two defining events in modern U.S. history .
The Integrity Project
The American health system is bleeding out, and it desperately needs a real doctor. Leading Health and Human Services (HHS) today is like navigating a chaotic hospital — patients in every hallway, monitors screaming, seconds ticking away. Yet, instead of a seasoned physician who triages and trusts proven protocols, that hospital is overseen by an activist named Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Fox News
Farmers in states like Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota have culled millions of fowl to prevent the avian flu outbreak from spreading. Conspiracy theorists online have made life for farmers even more difficult as they deal with the problem.
The Associated Press
The Trump administration knew that the vast majority of the 238 Venezuelan immigrants it sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador in mid-March had not been convicted of crimes in the United States before it labeled them as terrorists and deported them, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security data that has not been previously reported.
ProPublica
It is not often that cold, hard facts determine what people care most about and what they believe. Instead, it is the power and familiarity of a well-told story that reigns supreme. Whether it’s a heartfelt anecdote, a personal testimony or a meme echoing familiar cultural narratives, stories tend to stick with us, move us and shape our beliefs.
The Conversation
In late February, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters presented the State Board of Education with a 400-page revision of the state’s social studies standards—just hours before a scheduled vote. The changes, which included highly politicized revisions about the 2020 election and the COVID-19 pandemic, blindsided board members and ignited bipartisan criticism from lawmakers and educators across the state.
The Integrity Project
In spring 2022, model Lori Harvey casually revealed in a TikTok video that after gaining “15 pounds of relationship weight” she lost it by eating “maybe 1,200 calories in a day, max” alongside twice-daily workouts. The clip went viral — reproduced by outlets from Yahoo News to the Daily Mail — and ignited a firestorm. Nutrition experts and viewers alike pounced on the advice.
The Integrity Project
The Independent and other media outlets have recently reported on the Trump administration’s cuts of over $1 billion in federal research grants, with a significant portion targeting programs that studied misinformation—particularly those examining how falsehoods spread online and the role of social media in amplifying them.
The Integrity Project
Health authorities across Mexico are scrambling to contain the nation’s biggest measles outbreak in decades. Cases have been concentrated in the Mennonite community — long skeptical of vaccines and distrustful of authorities — in the northern border state of Chihuahua.
The Associated Press
A first-of-its-kind study from researchers at Michigan State University reveals that individuals who experience the most distress and impairment in daily functioning from social media use are more likely to believe fake news.
Michigan State University Today
Misinformation is legion in the 21st century, polluting our politics, corroding public trust, and making it harder to have honest, fact-based conversations. We all know it’s a problem, but many of us don’t admit we ourselves might be contributing to it.
The Integrity Project
Many of us may have friends and family who have fallen down the information rabbit holes of intense partisanship, conspiracy theories or deeper holes of extremism. With both sides of the political aisle falling victim to these rabbit holes, now is as good of a time as any to help our friends and family.
The State Press
The publisher of The New York Times is warning about what he says is a trend of misinformation permeating public discourse and an increasingly hostile posture toward the press taken by leaders around the world.
The Hill
At the 2025 SXSW EDU conference, a panel of experts discussed the evolving importance of media literacy education amid rising misinformation and political polarization.
The Integrity Project
Voice of America (VOA) is planning to partner with One America News (OAN), according to Kari Lake, who serves as the senior adviser at the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM).
The Hill
Health officials are raising alarms over the spread of misinformation amid a growing measles outbreak across the United States, with Georgia falling short of herd immunity thresholds.
WANF / Atlanta News First
