Today we are announcing that First Draft is closing its doors to make way for the next chapter — its mission will continue at the newly launched Information Futures Lab, an initiative from Brown’s School of Public Health. https://firstdraftnews.org/first-draft-update-june2022/

First Draft researchers Carlotta Dotto and Seb Cubbon, along with Stefano Cresci, Serena Tardelli and Leonardo Nizzoli from the Institute of Informatics and Telematics of Pisa, explore new approaches to the complex phenomenon of online coordination. As researchers of disinformation, we inherit terms and concepts from platforms that can shape…

First Draft researchers Madelyn Webb and Bethan John explore the complexities and contradictions of calls for increased transparency around online advertising. As misinformation researchers, we spend a lot of time thinking about online advertising. …

First Draft’s head of impact and policy, Tommy Shane, explores how keywords related to rumor can help us understand and respond to dangerous activities online. If you’re a reporter, getting your queries right really matters. In 2015, Daniel Victor of The New York Times was searching for witnesses to an…

First Draft’s research analyst, Seb Cubbon, explores how data deficits get exploited by disinformation actors, and how we can get ahead of them. Until very recently, mRNA (messenger ribonucleic Acid) vaccine technology and vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) were still considered highly specialized, niche topics. But following the recent Pfizer and Moderna…

First Draft’s head of policy and impact, Tommy Shane, explores how our technology affects what misinformation we do and don’t see. “The ocean twilight zone is a layer of water that stretches around the globe … below the ocean surface, just beyond the reach of sunlight … the twilight zone…

First Draft’s head of policy and impact, Tommy Shane, explores what questions we need to ask to provide better information during the next pandemic. “Covid-19 is neither the first nor the last health emergency we will face. My fellow scientists estimate that we will face a pandemic or health emergency…

First Draft’s head of policy and impact, Tommy Shane, explores how different ways of knowing can create vulnerabilities online. This article is part of First Draft’s new Footnotes publication. Read more about what we want to achieve and inspire with this new body of work. When we think about disinformation…

First Draft director and co-founder, Claire Wardle, introduces our revamped Medium publication as the organisation turns five years old. In the summer of 2015, First Draft published its first Medium post. The website came slightly later, and with it the flurry of articles, guides, videos, resources, studies, courses and quizzes…