Save 7pm ET June 28, 2025, to watch Professor Sander van der Linden as he describes the lab and field studies into the process called “prebunking,” which van der Linden says helps people cultivate cognitive antibodies in both simulated and real social media environments. He’ll also detail several interventions—developed and evaluated with public health authorities and technology companies—to help people around the world recognize and resist unwanted attempts to influence and mislead. You must register in advance to attend this free event: Register Now
Much like a viral contagion, misinformation can spread rapidly from one mind to another. Moreover, once lodged in memory, falsehoods are difficult to correct. Inoculation theory offers a natural basis for developing a psychological “vaccine” against the spread of fake news and misinformation. Is it possible to pre-emptively “immunize” millions of people against disinformation by pre-exposing them to severely weakened doses of the techniques that underlie its production?
Sander van der Linden, PhD, is a professor of Social Psychology in Society and Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. He has won numerous awards for his research on human judgment, communication, and decision making. He codeveloped the award-winning fake news game “Bad News” and regularly advises governments, public health authorities, and social media companies on how to combat the spread of misinformation.
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