Johnson & Johnson was mentioned roughly the same amount every hour online Tuesday as it was in entire weeks before news of the vaccine's pause, according to the tracking firm Zignal Labs. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images hide caption
Untangling Disinformation NPR series examines how widespread the problem of disinformation is, and efforts to overcome it.
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Untangling Disinformation
Voters in Atlanta casting their ballots on voting equipment made by Dominion Voting Systems. After losing the election, former President Trump and his allies spread conspiracy theories about the company, which has responded with defamation suits to combat the disinformation. Jessica McGowan/Getty Images hide caption
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Facebook Inc., speaks virtually during a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittees hearing. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
A worker prepares to give a COVID-19 vaccine last week at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images hide caption
Google's Sundar Pichai, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter's Jack Dorsey face Congressional scrutiny over the spread of misinformation on their platforms. Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images/Composite by NPR hide caption
SkySilk CEO Kevin Matossian joined the tech company just before it decided to help revive the conservative social media site Parler. Tara Pixley for NPR hide caption
Researchers are concerned that Instagram's new "suggested posts" feature is contributing to the spread of misinformation. Denis Charlet/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Trump supporters clash with police outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Social media companies are under scrutiny for allowing their platforms to be used to spread falsehoods about the 2020 election and to allow violent extremist groups to organize January's insurrection. Brent Stirton/Getty Images hide caption
'Exit Counselors' Strain To Pull Americans Out Of A Web Of False Conspiracies
False conspiracy theories have always been a part of U.S. history, but experts say they're spreading faster and wider than ever before. Matt Williams for NPR hide caption
'More Dangerous And More Widespread': Conspiracy Theories Spread Faster Than Ever
The disinformation and "big lie" of election fraud motivated many people to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Matt Williams for NPR hide caption