Tag Archives: disinformation

The Hill: Biden campaign launches strategy to combat misinformation on social media

Posted on by
Reply

The Hill: Biden campaign launches strategy to combat misinformation on social media. “President Biden’s reelection campaign is creating a working group centered on combating misinformation on social media networks, a Biden campaign official told The Hill on Wednesday. The group will be led by Rob Flaherty, deputy campaign manager; Michael Tyler, communications director; and Maury Riggan, general counsel, as well as aides from the rapid response communications team and legal team.”

Washington Post: Misinformation research is buckling under GOP legal attacks

Posted on by
Reply

Washington Post: Misinformation research is buckling under GOP legal attacks. “Academics, universities and government agencies are overhauling or ending research programs designed to counter the spread of online misinformation amid a legal campaign from conservative politicians and activists who accuse them of colluding with tech companies to censor right-wing views.” The link is to a gift article so you should be able to read it without paywall.

NBC News: Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, ranks last in climate misinformation ‘scorecard’

Posted on by
Reply

NBC News: Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, ranks last in climate misinformation ‘scorecard’. “Environmental groups slammed Elon Musk’s X app in a report Wednesday ranking social media platforms on their approach to climate change misinformation. X, formerly known as Twitter, ranked last because it’s not clear the app has policies against the spread of misleading information about climate change, according to Climate Action Against Disinformation, the creator of the score card. The group is a coalition of more than 50 environmental groups, ad agencies and other organizations.”

Reuters: US Supreme Court Extends Pause on Order Curbing Biden Social Media Contacts

Posted on by
Reply

Reuters: US Supreme Court Extends Pause on Order Curbing Biden Social Media Contacts . “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday extended a temporary block on an order restricting the ability of President Joe Biden’s administration to encourage social media companies to remove content it deemed misinformation about COVID-19 and other matters of public concern.”

The Diplomat: Beijing Is Getting Better at Disinformation on Global Social Media

Posted on by
Reply

The Diplomat: Beijing Is Getting Better at Disinformation on Global Social Media. “Several in-depth investigations published over the past two months by academic researchers, think tanks, news outlets, and cybersecurity companies have shed light on the evolution of disinformation campaigns originating in China. Some offer new insights on campaigns that peaked last spring, while others analyze more recent messaging, tactics, and accounts that have emerged since October 2020. A close reading of these investigations points to several emergent features of China-linked disinformation campaigns – meaning the purposeful dissemination of misleading content, including via inauthentic activity on global social media platforms.”

NBC News: Donald Trump Jr.’s X account apparently hacked, announces father’s death

Posted on by
Reply

NBC News: Donald Trump Jr.’s X account apparently hacked, announces father’s death. “Donald Trump Jr.’s account on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter appeared to be hacked early Wednesday. One post falsely stated that former President Donald Trump had died, according to screenshots.”

Euronews: Social media flooded with misinformation after surge of migrants in Lampedusa

Posted on by
Reply

Euronews: Social media flooded with misinformation after surge of migrants in Lampedusa. “When more than 10,000 undocumented migrants landed on the shores of the Italian island of Lampedusa last week, social media became flooded with misinformation. Euronews debunked two viral and misleading clips. In this context of heated discussions on how EU member states should handle illegal immigration, multiple misleading videos have been shared criticising the migrants arriving in Italy.”

BBC: AI used to target kids with disinformation

Posted on by
Reply

BBC: AI used to target kids with disinformation. “YouTube channels that use AI to make videos containing false ‘scientific’ information are being recommended to children as ‘educational content’. Investigative BBC journalists working in a team that analyses disinformation, information that is deliberately misleading and false, found more than 50 channels in more than 20 languages spreading disinformation disguised as STEM [Science Technology Engineering Maths] content.”

The Verge: TikTok accidentally blocked Hollywood writers strike videos while casting a QAnon net

Posted on by
Reply

The Verge: TikTok accidentally blocked Hollywood writers strike videos while casting a QAnon net. “TikTok videos about the Hollywood writers strike were temporarily blocked as the platform attempted to moderate QAnon conspiracy theories. Media Matters for America, a nonprofit media research group, reported today that TikTok users were unable to search for content related to the Writers Guild of America strike.”

Nigeria elections: Websites use false stories to attract views and ads (BBC)

Posted on by
Reply

BBC: Nigeria elections: Websites use false stories to attract views and ads. “Several websites established around the time of Nigeria’s general elections in February 2023 are reaching thousands of people while spreading false news, the BBC has found. A high number of adverts on the websites mean they can be profiting from the spread of disinformation.They weave false stories with factual news about sports, entertainment, and politics – with some publishing as many as 700 pieces per month.”

Modern War Institute at West Point: Ukraine’s Fight On The Front Lines Of The Information Environment

Posted on by
Reply

Modern War Institute at West Point: Ukraine’s Fight On The Front Lines Of The Information Environment. “Of course, success in war is often a function not only of innovation, but also of a willingness to borrow tactics, techniques, and procedures that have worked well elsewhere, in other conflicts. … But this is not the only example that appears to have influenced the development of Ukrainian operations in the information environment. Unsurprisingly, these operations have also borrowed from Soviet and Russian concepts of information warfare.”

Gizmodo: Salacious Chinese Disinformation Campaign Blames Maui Fires on Deadly American ‘Weather Weapon’

Posted on by
Reply

Gizmodo: Salacious Chinese Disinformation Campaign Blames Maui Fires on Deadly American ‘Weather Weapon’. “Researchers say they’ve discovered 85 social media accounts and blogs originating from China and working in tandem to amplify a conspiracy theory claiming the deadly fires in Maui were caused by a secretive “weather weapon” unleashed by the US military. NewsGuard, which has previously uncovered other online influence operations from China and Russia, claims the new ‘coordinated online campaign’ represents the most expansive Chinese operation it has uncovered to date.” Did I intentionally put these two articles together? No.

The Journal (Ireland): Major internet companies not doing enough to combat misinformation, report finds

Posted on by
Reply

The Journal (Ireland): Major internet companies not doing enough to combat misinformation, report finds. “MAJOR INTERNET COMPANIES are not doing enough to combat misinformation on their platforms, according the CoP Monitor Report co-authored by the EDMO Ireland hub in DCU’s Institute for Future Media Democracy and Society. The report is an international collaboration of 9 academics who conducted a systematic analysis of all information provided by Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), in the first self-reports submitted under the Strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation.”

The Next Web: Ukraine’s fight against disinformation is creating a new startup sector

Posted on by
Reply

The Next Web: Ukraine’s fight against disinformation is creating a new startup sector. “Government campaigns had prepared Ukrainians for digital disinformation. When the crude deepfake appeared, the clip was quickly debunked, removed from social media platforms, and disproven by Zelenskyy in a genuine video. The incident became a symbol of the wider information war. Analysts had expected Russia’s propaganda weapons to wreak havoc, but Ukraine was learning to disarm them. Those lessons are now fostering a new sector for startups: counter-disinformation.”

Reuters: Court eases curbs on Biden administration’s contacts with social media firms

Posted on by
Reply

Reuters: Court eases curbs on Biden administration’s contacts with social media firms. “A federal appeals court on Friday ruled the White House, the FBI and top health officials may not ‘coerce or significantly encourage’ social-media companies to remove content the Biden administration considers misinformation, including about COVID-19. But the three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed much of an injunction issued by a Louisiana judge that restricted Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration from communicating with social-media companies.”