Prebunking

Prebunking is the practice of exposing people to misinformation tactics and strategies before they encounter the disinformation itself, with the goal of building resistance to it. It is a preventative approach, much like a vaccine, that aims to preemptively build psychological immunity against manipulative content.

This strategy stands in contrast to “debunking,” which is the reactive process of correcting misinformation after it has already spread. Because disinformation can spread faster than it can be fact-checked, prebunking focuses on prevention rather than damage control.

Key components of prebunking Prebunking efforts often achieve their goals by:

Forewarning: Alerting people that they may encounter deceptive information on a specific topic.
Weakened dose: Providing a harmless example of a manipulative technique or false narrative.
Counter-argument: Explaining why and how the tactic is being used to mislead people.

Common prebunking tactics Instead of focusing on specific false claims, prebunking typically teaches people how to spot the underlying methods used to spread misinformation, such as:

Emotional manipulation: Using fear, outrage, or other strong emotions to bypass critical thinking.
Scapegoating: Blaming a specific person or group for a complex problem.
Fake expertise: Using fake “experts” or impersonating a trusted source to create a false sense of authority.
False comparisons: Using misleading analogies to draw a flawed parallel between two things.
False dichotomies: Presenting only two extreme options when other alternatives exist.

AI responses may include mistakes.

[1] https://centralmethodist.libguides.com/fake_news/prebunking_misinformation

[2] https://www.sustainingpeace-select.org/tool/prebunking-and-public-inoculation-to-information-integrity/

[3] https://prebunking.withgoogle.com/docs/A_Practical_Guide_to_Prebunking_Misinformation.pdf

[4] https://www.npr.org/2022/10/28/1132021770/false-information-is-everywhere-pre-bunking-tries-to-head-it-off-early

[5] https://www.unhcr.org/handbooks/informationintegrity/practical-tools/prebunking

[6] https://firstdraftnews.org/articles/a-guide-to-prebunking-a-promising-way-to-inoculate-against-misinformation/

[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK609022/

[8] https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/qa-sander-van-der-linden-on-vaccinating-against-misinformation.php

[9] https://www.aft.org/ae/winter2021-2022/cook

[10] https://prebunking.withgoogle.com/

[11] https://prebunking.withgoogle.com/how-to-prebunk/