Can an accuracy ‘nudge’ help prevent people from sharing misinformation?

A couple weeks ago, the United Nations announced a new initiative called “Pause,” aimed at getting people to stop and think about what they’re sharing about COVID-19 on social media. The campaign is accompanied by the hashtag #takecarebeforeyoushare.

It’s hard to know how effective such campaigns will be in stemming the spread of the worldwide “infodemic” of fake cures and other falsehoods about the virus. But a new study from researchers at the University of Regina in Canada and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at least backs up the initiative’s...