Cuihua (Cindy) Shen, A Fake Image is Worth a Thousand Lies

Visual misinformation, including fake, manipulated or out-of-context images and videos, is increasingly common on the Internet and social media platforms. Because of visuals' superior impression, retention, virality and persuasiveness, visual misinformation poses a significant threat to national security, social cohesion, and public health. Yet, we know very little about how users process and judge the authenticity of visuals, and the ways in which platforms and fact-checking agencies could effectively detect and fight against visual misinformation. In this talk, I will report findings from several recent experiments that reveal the characteristics of users most susceptible to visual misinformation, and a few effective technical and social interventions to counter visual misinformation. About the speaker: Cuihua (Cindy) Shen is a professor of communication at UC Davis and the co-director of the Computational Communication Research lab. Her research focuses on understanding visual misinformation and designing effective interventions. From 2017 to 2022, she served as the chair of the Computational Methods Division of the International Communication Association. She is also the founding associate editor of the journal Computational Communication Research, as well as the associate editor of Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.