Reframing misinformation as informational-systemic risk in the age of societal volatility

When a bank run, a pandemic, or an election spirals out of control, the spark is often informational. In 2023, rumors online helped accelerate the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. During COVID-19, false claims about vaccines fueled preventable harms by undermining public trust in health guidance, and election lies in the United States fed into the broader dynamics that culminated in the January 6 Capitol attack. These events reveal that misinformation is not just about false or misleading content, but about how degraded information can destabilize entire social systems. To confront this, we must reframe misinformation as an informational-systemic risk that amplifies volatility across politics, health, and security.