There is something deeply human about wanting to make sense of a chaotic world. We scroll through our feeds, and a headline catches our breath; a video makes our heart race; a photograph seems to confirm our worst fears or our deepest hopes. In those moments, before we have even verified what we have seen, we have already formed an opinion, and often, we have already shared it. This week, as the BRICS Summit 2026 unfolded in New Delhi, the world was watching India with unusual intensity, and that attention created a fertile ground for misinformation. One of the most…

It’s a scenario that plays out more often than anyone would like to admit. A tourist sits in a hotel room in Rapid City, South Dakota, phone in hand, asking a search engine for a schedule of the evening’s summer fireworks. A resident, meanwhile, taps out a query about the city’s recycling rules before hauling their bins to the curb. A downtown business owner wants to know the deadline for a new façade grant. In each case, the answer arrives with speed and, crucially, with an air of complete authority. But here’s the catch: that authority is false. Rapid City…