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Misinformation & Disinformation Toolkit

Reality Check:
Navigating Misinformation & Disinformation

PRSA resources

thought leadership

thought leadership

As business and communication leaders, our voices can make a difference.

2024 PRSA Chair-elect Ray Day, APR, on Tackling Misinformation

PRSA has released Tackling Misinformation: The Communications Industry Unites, a first-of-its-kind collection of perspectives, data points, analyses and resources based on the insights and advice from more than two dozen senior communicators across PR, the news media and academia.   

Tackling Misinformation is designed to educate communicators and public relations practitioners, and help them navigate the growing problem of misinformation, disinformation and malinformation.

John Elsasser, editor-in-chief of PRSA's award-winning publication, Strategies & Tactics, spoke with PRSA 2024 Chair-elect Ray Day, APR, who led an in-person roundtable and online conversations with top communications leaders and influencers. The results of these discussions are included in the guidebook. 

CASE STUDIES

These case studies, built out by the Alethea team, highlight real-world scenarios in which corporations, organizations, and non-profits faced online risks in the form of disinformation and  misinformation. Use them to understand how online risks (false narratives, coordinated boycotts or protests, or short seller attacks) migrate through different social media platforms, reach and influence different audiences, and trigger different benchmarks of risk.

The purpose of the content is to demonstrate the value of effective mitigation strategies and proactive risk mitigation because although not every threat requires a response action, you have to know what threats exist in order to make those decisions. 

Pharmaceutical Industry

Pharmaceutical Industry Case Study

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Information is Being Weaponized

Retail Industry, Entertainment Industry and Aerospace & Manufacturing Industry Case Studies

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Short Seller Attack Case Study

Short Seller Attack Case Study

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PRSA RESOURCES

Civic Engagement Toolkit

Civic Engagement Toolkit
 

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PRSA strives to reduce polarization and incivility in America by helping people better understand each other’s point of view through civil conversation and listening.

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The IAE Charter for Greenwash Prevention advances our efforts with a focus on actions needed now from advertising agencies and advertisers in order to avoid the deceptive communications practice known as greenwashing and improve the integrity of environmentally themed advertising.

This initiative is designed to integrate well-established social science frameworks into the advertising industry’s business practices, thus enabling advertising professionals to mitigate risks and better align with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degree global warming target.

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In partnership with Yonder, PRSA invited a group of thought leaders to discuss an issue of critical importance to the communications profession — the proliferation of disinformation.

During a 90-minute virtual roundtable, the panelists provided valuable insights and offered actionable takeaways on future resiliency against false and misleading claims levied against brands and organizations.

PRSA and Yonder are now presenting highlights of this conversation in this 12-page e-book.

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All PRSA members pledge adherence to the Code of Ethics. As issues arise relating to the practice of communications, the PRSA Board of Ethics and Professional Standards (BEPS) provides guidance within the framework of the Code. The PRSA Board of Directors then announces these guidelines through an Ethical Standard Advisory (ESA). ESAs are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice.

PRSA released its ESA on misinformation in December 2021.

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Disinformation actors use a variety of tactics to influence others, stir them to action, and cause harm. Understanding these tactics can increase preparedness and promote resilience when faced with disinformation.

CISA—America’s Cyber Defense Agency – has released this Tactics of Disinformation guide (in English & Spanish) to help everyone understand common disinformation techniques and build resilience against them.

learning

partner resources

partner resources

Media literacy programs have proven effective at improving the ability to identify disinformation online, more accurately judge the veracity of news headlines and motivating participants to verify news stories using online research.

News Literacy Project

The News Literacy Project is a nonpartisan education nonprofit building a national movement to create a more news-literate America. NLP is the nation’s leading provider of news literacy education.

More resources from The News Literacy Project

social media

social media

To counter mis- and disinformation, PRSA is using the power of reputation, creating shareable content and encouraging people to amplify messaging aimed at slowing the spread of disinformation.

Repetition increases the likelihood that a statement will be judged as true.

Based on numerous studies, pausing to consider why a headline is true or false can help reduce the sharing of false news. With this in mind, PRSA members should use their voice and proactively encourage your publics to pause, even briefly, to consider and/or verify the credibility of information before sharing it via social media.

 

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Share these messages on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The information environment, when polluted by false and deceptive information, undermines all aspects of our economy and democracy.

Using a multi-media approach including gamification, which has proven to be an effective education and motivation tool, fine-tune your own skills and then share the knowledge with others to help build our collective resistance to false information and deceptive tactics and their toxic effects.

 

screenshot of Spot the Troll game

Can you identify fake online accounts or trolls?
Play “Spot the Troll” today.

screenshot of Harmony Square game

Shield yourself from political misinformation
Play “Harmony Square” now.

screenshot of Go Viral gameThis 5-minute game helps protect you and others against misinformation.
Play and share “GO Viral” today.