Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting that misinformation can be safely ignored. Here, we rebut the two main claims, namely that misinformation is not of substantive concern (a) due to its low incidence and (b) because it has no causal influence on notable political or behavioral outcomes. Through a critical review of the current literature, we demonstrate that (a) the prevalence of misinformation is nonnegligible if reasonably inclusive definitions are applied and that (b) misinformation has causal impacts on important beliefs and behaviors. Both scholars and policymakers should therefore continue to take misinformation seriously. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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为什么不能忽视错误信息。


最近的学术辩论表明，错误信息不是一个重大的社会问题。我们认为，用于支持这种最小化立场的论点是有缺陷的，特别是如果被解释为（例如，被政策制定者或公众解释为）暗示可以安全地忽略错误信息。在这里，我们反驳了两个主要的说法，即错误信息没有实质性的关注点 （a） 因为它的发生率低，以及 （b） 因为它对显着的政治或行为结果没有因果影响。通过对当前文献的批判性回顾，我们证明 （a） 如果应用合理包容的定义，错误信息的普遍性是不可忽视的，并且 （b） 错误信息对重要的信念和行为有因果影响。因此，学者和政策制定者都应该继续认真对待错误信息。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 （c） 2024 APA，保留所有权利）。