When you give everyone a voice and give people power, the system usually ends up in a really good place," Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, said in 2010. Twelve years later, the world is not in such a great place. Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms may have given everyone a voice, but they've also unleashed a storm of negative effects-spreading disinformation, inciting hate, and endangering democracy. In this issue, Science explores how scientists are grappling with the radically altered information landscape. Social media has given them a voice and power, too-to communicate directly with the public, spread the word about exciting findings, criticize each other's data, and fight disinformation with information. The COVID-19 pandemic has turned some into trusted beacons in an ocean of confusion.
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