Renée DiResta: How to Beat Bad Information | Stanford HAI
Stanford
University
  • Stanford Home
  • Maps & Directions
  • Search Stanford
  • Emergency Info
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Trademarks
  • Non-Discrimination
  • Accessibility
© Stanford University.  Stanford, California 94305.
Skip to content
  • About

    • About
    • People
    • Get Involved with HAI
    • Support HAI
    • Subscribe to Email
  • Research

    • Research
    • Fellowship Programs
    • Grants
    • Student Affinity Groups
    • Centers & Labs
    • Research Publications
    • Research Partners
  • Education

    • Education
    • Executive and Professional Education
    • Government and Policymakers
    • K-12
    • Stanford Students
  • Policy

    • Policy
    • Policy Publications
    • Policymaker Education
    • Student Opportunities
  • AI Index

    • AI Index
    • AI Index Report
    • Global Vibrancy Tool
    • People
  • News
  • Events
  • Industry
  • Centers & Labs
Navigate
  • About
  • Events
  • Careers
  • Search
Participate
  • Get Involved
  • Support HAI
  • Contact Us

Stay Up To Date

Get the latest news, advances in research, policy work, and education program updates from HAI in your inbox weekly.

Sign Up For Latest News

news

Renée DiResta: How to Beat Bad Information

Date
December 03, 2020
Stocksy/Colin Anderson

Inadvertent misinformation and outright disinformation have become a scourge on American discourse, but those committed to the truth are keeping pace.

Renée DiResta is research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, a multi-disciplinary center that focuses on abuses of information technology, particularly social media.

She’s an expert in the role technology platforms and their “curatorial” algorithms play in the rise and spread of misinformation and disinformation.

Fresh off an intense period keeping watch over the 2020 U.S. elections for disinformation as part of the Election Integrity Partnership, DiResta says the campaign became one of the most closely observed political dramas in American history.

She says that whether it comes from the top down or the bottom up, bad information can be spotted and beaten, but overcoming falsehoods in the future will require vigilance and a commitment to the truth. She explains more on Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast, with host Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here.

 

Stanford HAI's mission is to advance AI research, education, policy and practice to improve the human condition. Learn more. 

Stocksy/Colin Anderson
Share
Link copied to clipboard!
Contributor(s)
Stanford Engineering
Related
  • Whose History? AI Uncovers Who Gets Attention in High School Textbooks
    Edmund L. Andrews
    Nov 17
    news

    Natural language processing reveals huge differences in how Texas history textbooks treat men, women, and people of color.

Related News

‘We are Stanford’: Open Minds Event Honors Staff
Stanford Report
Mar 31, 2026
Media Mention

Stanford University President Jon Levin highlights Stanford’s pivotal role in shaping the future of AI, pointing to Stanford HAI as a leader in advancing its ethical development and deployment.

Media Mention
Your browser does not support the video tag.

‘We are Stanford’: Open Minds Event Honors Staff

Stanford Report
Ethics, Equity, InclusionMar 31

Stanford University President Jon Levin highlights Stanford’s pivotal role in shaping the future of AI, pointing to Stanford HAI as a leader in advancing its ethical development and deployment.

Who Decides How America Uses AI in War?
Curtis Langlotz, Amy Zegart, Michele Elam, Jennifer King, Russ Altman
Mar 30, 2026
News
image of drones connected by digital net

As artificial intelligence becomes central to national security, experts grapple with a technology that remains unpredictable, unregulated, and increasingly powerful.

News
image of drones connected by digital net

Who Decides How America Uses AI in War?

Curtis Langlotz, Amy Zegart, Michele Elam, Jennifer King, Russ Altman
Mar 30

As artificial intelligence becomes central to national security, experts grapple with a technology that remains unpredictable, unregulated, and increasingly powerful.

Stop Telling AI Your Secrets - 5 Reasons Why, And What To Do If You Already Overshared
ZD Net
Mar 25, 2026
Media Mention

"The ultimate problem is that you just can't control where the information goes, and it could leak out in ways that you just don't anticipate," says HAI Privacy and Data Policy Fellow Jennifer King.

Media Mention
Your browser does not support the video tag.

Stop Telling AI Your Secrets - 5 Reasons Why, And What To Do If You Already Overshared

ZD Net
Regulation, Policy, GovernanceGenerative AIMar 25

"The ultimate problem is that you just can't control where the information goes, and it could leak out in ways that you just don't anticipate," says HAI Privacy and Data Policy Fellow Jennifer King.