COVID-19 meets Election 2020: the perfect storm for misinformation

When a mysterious virus began racing around the globe early this year, scientists at the University of Washington’s newly created Center for an Informed Public described it as the perfect storm for bogus information, both innocent and malicious.

So what’s the situation six months later, now that the coronavirus pandemic is playing out in tandem with a passionate push for racial justice and the opening volleys of the presidential race? The perfect superstorm?

Pretty much, says Kate Starbird, a co-founder of the center.

“As time goes on, what we’re...