Trend · rank 30 of 250

Misinformation & disinformation

Cheap automated production and platform distribution are increasing the volume of false and misleading information, raising the cost of verification and weakening the shared factual basis for public decisions and crisis response.

Information & InfluenceInformation & trustinformationaipolitics

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass unchanged. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
30of 250
Sensitivity
21.7rank 22
Breadth
3of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
57.0rank 28
Eigenvector
41.3
Betweenness
4.0
Links
18trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
38.5

Attention over three years

How much this trend is read about on Wikipedia and searched for on Google, week by week, set against the typical trend in the list so that what moves every trend at once is taken out. 100 is this trend's own three-year average. The score measures public attention, which is not the same as the strength of the force: a trend can deepen unnoticed, and a news event can lift attention for a fortnight.

Now
89
Over a year
−11%Steady
Over three years
−11%
Peak
1788 Sept 2024
Sources
Bothagreement 0.45
Coverage
21languages · 55 nations

Trailing 4-week average. 100 is this trend’s three-year average.

By language

Wikipedia reading in each language edition where the trend’s pages are read enough to measure (21 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English47%79−16%
Spanish8%85−30%
French7%80−10%
German6%77−4%
Portuguese5%115+5%
Japanese5%100−19%
Italian4%62−23%
Russian4%116+21%
Chinese3%73−10%
Persian2%110+1%
Polish2%72−24%
Turkish1%83−5%
Korean1%102−19%
Ukrainian1%50−69%
Arabic1%108+12%
Dutch1%72−15%
Bengali1%51+5%
Hebrew1%131+48%
Indonesian1%78−47%
Vietnamese0%87−25%
Swedish0%85−6%

By country

Google search interest over the three years, as a share of each country’s searching. 100 is the nation where interest is highest. The search terms are English, which favours countries that search in English.

Ghana

Philippines

Singapore

United States

Brazil

Canada

Australia

Nigeria

India

South Korea

United Kingdom

Ireland

100

78

66

54

49

39

38

37

36

35

33

30

The 12 highest of 55 nations with a reading.

By region and G20 member

Attention to this trend inside each place, from Google searches made in its countries and Wikipedia reading in the languages mostly read there, averaged where both exist. Each line compares the trend with its own past in that place; the lines do not compare places.

Regions

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
North AmericaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in English77+0%−16%−14%
EuropeGoogle in 9 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch, Swedish76−14%−11%−24%
ChinaGoogle in 1 country124−43%+36%+69%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 11 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian93−12%−17%−3%
South AsiaGoogle in 3 countries + Wikipedia in Bengali156+137%+136%+276%
Gulf and Middle EastGoogle in 5 countries + Wikipedia in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew92−17%+12%−19%
AfricaGoogle in 4 countries89−2%−1%+36%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 4 countries + Wikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese105−8%−2%+29%
Russia and EurasiaGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Russian, Ukrainian75−43%−37%−5%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
AustraliaGoogle74−1%−17%−35%
BrazilGoogle + Wikipedia in Portuguese98+19%+0%−11%
CanadaGoogle81+4%−18%−22%
ChinaGoogle124−43%+36%+69%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French77−14%−14%−29%
GermanyGoogle + Wikipedia in German69−12%−11%−20%
IndiaGoogle + Wikipedia in Bengali205+212%+221%+390%
IndonesiaGoogle + Wikipedia in Indonesian89+9%−26%+16%
ItalyGoogle + Wikipedia in Italian63−17%−25%−44%
JapanGoogle + Wikipedia in Japanese100−26%−15%−5%
South KoreaGoogle + Wikipedia in Korean111−7%−8%+17%
MexicoGoogle126−13%+35%+90%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian116+5%+21%+32%
Saudi ArabiaGoogle93−1%−12%+12%
South AfricaGoogle80−10%−11%−11%
TürkiyeGoogle + Wikipedia in Turkish81−1%−11%−36%
United KingdomGoogle86+3%−19%−18%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English76+0%−15%−13%

Relation to each scenario

A trend relates to a scenario when it changes how likely the scenario is, how hard it lands, or is itself sharply changed by it. Each score is the median of three scores given separately by the members of the model panel.

RelationScenarioFamily
5 · Very highA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
4 · HighHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
4 · HighA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
3 · ModerateA public service platform reaches inclusive operation S18 ↗Technology and infrastructure
3 · ModerateA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health
2 · LowA major disaster disables the national economic core S07Energy, climate and resources
1 · Very lowA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
1 · Very lowTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
1 · Very lowA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
1 · Very lowA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
1 · Very lowAffordable preventive treatments reduce chronic illness S19 ↗Health
0 · Not relatedCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedAn AI deployment step causes abrupt labour displacement S08Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure

Similarity = 0.3 × shared tags (Jaccard) + 0.3 × likeness of scenario profiles (cosine) + 0.3 × likeness of names and descriptions (TF-IDF cosine) + 0.1 if in the same capability domain, cut into seven levels at 0.12, 0.22, 0.33, 0.45, 0.58, 0.72. Shown at Moderate and above.

SimilarityTrendThemeRank
4 · HighDeclining institutional trustInformation & trust7
4 · HighPublic communication in crisisInformation & trust10
4 · HighDecline of independent journalismInformation & trust29
4 · HighConspiracy movements & science denialInformation & trust68
4 · HighSynthetic media & deepfakesInformation & trust87
4 · HighForeign information manipulationInformation & trust91
4 · HighPlatform power over public discourseInformation & trust99
4 · HighMedia provenance & authenticationInformation & trust100
4 · HighCensorship & surveillanceInformation & trust103
4 · HighAI-mediated information accessInformation & trust118
3 · ModerateExecutive overreach & emergency powersState capacity & governance4
3 · ModerateErosion of rights & civic freedomsState capacity & governance14
3 · ModerateElection integrity & interferenceInformation & trust57
3 · ModerateOpen-source intelligence & transparencyInformation & trust79
3 · ModerateReligious & identity nationalismInformation & trust122
3 · ModerateDiaspora politics & transnational repressionInformation & trust176
3 · ModerateDigital language representation gapsInformation & trust193
3 · ModerateOnline harms & safetyInformation & trust202