Weaponizing 'Misinformation' To Smear Critics

The author argues that expansive, vague definitions of 'misinformation' enable researchers and media to portray critics as enabling authoritarianism, rather than engaging with their arguments. He calls for narrower, evidence‑anchored definitions to prevent research and policy from becoming tools of rhetorical guilt‑by‑association. — If 'misinformation' labels are used as partisan cudgels, they chill legitimate critique and corrode standards for truth‑seeking across science, media, and policy.