Comments from ordinary users on social media platforms can be a force for good, helping others identify false information and navigate what is accurate, new research shows. However these same comments can also mislead when they are inaccurate, which makes it challenging for people to judge what can be trusted. The study shows digital media literacy is not only about telling true from false but also about evaluating the reliability of user comments. In a new book, The Power of the Crowd, Professor Florian Stöckel, from the University of Exeter, and his co-authors uncover this double-edged pattern. The book also shows how difficult it is for people to separate accurate from inaccurate information. As part of a large-scale study with more than 10,000 participants across Germany, the UK, and Italy, researchers examined people’s ability to classify true and false news in social media posts. Participants were shown a set of false and true news posts drawn from…

Some of the world’s most distinguished judges and academics have united to boost knowledge of human rights law across the globe. An innovative new online course takes people on a compelling journey into one of the most powerful concepts at the heart of human rights – dignity. Co-produced with the Global Campus of Human Rights, the course is designed and coordinated by renowned scholars Erin Daly, from Delaware Law School, and Catherine Dupré, from the University of Exeter Law School. It is the result of their passionate work in researching, teaching and inspiring global conversations about human dignity. The course  includes special interviews with three distinguished judges whose work has helped shape human dignity around the world: Albie Sachs, who fought against apartheid in South Africa and was appointed to the country’s first Constitutional Court by Nelson Mandela; Susanne Baer, who sat at the German Federal Constitutional Court until 2023; and Veronica Gomez, who currently sits at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.…