True Costs of Misinformation: The Global Spread of Misinformation Laws

A new article co-authored by the Citizen Lab’s Gabrielle Lim examines the global rise of misinformation laws, drawing on data from 177 countries over 15 years and a review of 57 articles. It identifies four key drivers—the popularization of “fake news,” Western influence on security discourse, governments’ desire to control information, and high-profile platform governance revelations—and assesses the risks of using legislation as the primary mitigation, noting their co-occurrence has tightened control over online misinformation.