Joan Donovan first saw extremism up close more than 20 years ago as the vocalist of a punk band in the Boston underground scene — when she got punched in the face by a neo-Nazi. Today, Joan is a sociologist at Harvard who studies disinformation and how it colors American society, including the outsized influence that white supremacists and other fringe groups hold in online forums and social media. With the 2024 presidential cycle already begun, what can the public — and the media — do to combat disinformation and limit the reach of bad actors? Find us online at globe.com/opinion.

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