May 19, 2020
The Peace Corps Needs a Media Literacy Program
Last month, a hoax circulated online that people wearing shoes indoors led to a spike in coronavirus cases in Italy. Worldwide, rapidly spreading misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 is negatively affecting people’s behaviors towards the virus. Action must be taken to curb the spread of false information on a global stage, and the Peace Corps has the capacity to do it.
Media literacy, or the ability to critically evaluate media, is an integral tool that can be used to combat false information online. Despite the need for this skill to discern COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation, there is no formal program geared toward teaching digital skills and media literacy internationally. We need to implement a program to stymie the spread of general misinformation and provide intellectual tools to help discern what is real and what is fake in order to protect public health, trust, and safety.
Read the full article in Inkstick.
More from CNAS
-
Reports
Technology & National Security
Red LinesChinese advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems pose a serious and growing threat to U.S. national security. At least seven Chinese developers now produce systems with f...
By Daniel Remler
-
Commentary
Technology & National Security
Britain Should Be Europe’s Silicon Valley. One Thing Is Stopping It.At the heart of the country’s economic struggles is a central weakness that must be fixed: risk aversion. This is not a cultural problem, as is often implied, but institutiona...
By Keegan McBride
-
Podcast
Technology & National Security
AI on the Battlefield: Project Maven and the Future of War with Jack ShanahanProject Maven stands as one of the earliest and most consequential efforts to bring AI into military operations. This week, Elisa sits down with Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, former...
By Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan
-
Reports
Technology & National Security
Adversarial DistillationThe Chinese Communist Party (CCP) views artificial intelligence (AI) as central to strategic competition with the United States and is pursuing every means to strengthen its A...
By Daniel Remler & Ben Hayum
