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When Web Rumors Run Amok

The Internet's vast information highway has opened up many new avenues for sharing information. Much of it is helpful. But a disturbing amount of it is false. After last month's Indian Ocean tsunami, images of deadly waves flooded e-mail accounts around the world. And many of the most spectacular pictures were fabricated.

Then came an onslaught of Internet rumors about what caused the tsunami, and whether donor nations had ulterior motives for sending aid to the victims.

Henry Farrell teaches political science at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. With Daniel Drezner, Farrell, co-authored "Web of Influence," an article for Foreign Policy magazine. Farrell discusses the growing phenomenon of cyber rumors with NPR's Scott Simon.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.