Fake news has consequences. That sentence can sound like a slogan until you spend time with the story of Twin Falls, Idaho, in 2016, before the phrase “fake news” had even become a part of our national vocabulary. The town was thrown into chaos by a rumor that would not die. The claim, though it shifted as it traveled, was that local government officials were covering up a terrible crime — something involving child molestation and a connection to Syrian refugees. Almost overnight, the notion moved from the fringes of the Internet to kitchen tables, to local radio, and into…

Vaccines have saved more lives than almost any other medical breakthrough in human history. They have wiped out smallpox, pushed polio to the edge of extinction, and protected countless children from measles, diphtheria, and pneumonia. Yet today, vaccines face a threat that cannot be defeated in a laboratory or through clinical trials alone. That threat is misinformation. It spreads quietly and quickly, often in the form of a worried message shared in a family group chat, a misleading video on social media, or a whispered warning at a school gate. A parent may lie awake at night, not because they…