Glossary: Debunking
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Debunking means demonstrating clearly that a specific claim is false, typically by presenting the actual evidence that directly contradicts it in a clear and straightforward manner. It differs meaningfully from pre-bunking, which instead aims to prepare people in advance to recognise a misleading claim well before they ever actually encounter it themselves.
Effective debunking generally presents the correct, accurate information clearly and directly to the audience, rather than repeating the original false claim more than is genuinely necessary, since research on correction consistently suggests that repetition of the false version can sometimes work directly against the correction's own genuinely intended effect on the audience.
Debunking works considerably best when it is delivered entirely without judgement toward whoever originally believed the claim in question, since a genuinely respectful correction is considerably more likely to be sincerely accepted than one delivered with any obvious frustration or any visible condescension attached to it at all.