On the occasion of World #FactChecking Day (April 2nd), DW Comms published this post on how and why Germany's international broadcaster is fighting #disinformation:

https://corporate.dw.com/en/international-fact-checking-day-dws-commitment-against-disinformation/a-72108656

International Fact-Checking Day: DW counters disinformation

To mark International Fact-Checking Day, DW emphasizes the urgent need to combat disinformation and presents its initiatives to promote media literacy and news verification.

^{Deutsche Welle}

Essential reading: Paul M. Barrett's meta article on fact-checking for the Tech Policy Blog.

After providing a short history of the discipline, he goes on to debunk three myths, namely that

...fact-checking censors free speech...
...is biased against conservatives...
...and just doesn't work.

👇
https://www.techpolicy.press/some-facts-about-fact-checking-defending-the-imperfect-search-for-truth-in-an-era-of-institutionalized-lying/

#Disinformation #FactChecking #Verification

Some Facts About Fact-Checking: Defending the Imperfect Search for Truth in an Era of Institutionalized Lying

Fact-checking ensures a distinction between facts and falsehoods and that everything is not up for grabs because powerful people say so, writes Paul Barrett.

^{Paul M. Barrett (Tech Policy Press)}

Why being on X for the sake of opposition is complete nonsense https://leavex.eu/posts/why-stay-on-social-media-makes-no-sense/

“The argument that you can’t leave platforms like X or TikTok because there would otherwise be a lack of “dissent” and “opposition” is untenable for several reasons—it’s simply complete bullshit. It is based on a false assumption about how these platforms work and what impact one’s presence there actually has.”

Great article by @kuketzblog, now in English!

#LeaveX #X #disinformation #USpol #Musk #TikTok

@nick_anderson_ sums up the political environment succinctly!

(while this cartoon is focussed on the LA fires, it's relevance is much, much wider!)

#SocialMedia #disinformation #misinformation

#Disinformation similar to the pro-russian "matryoshka" campaign is emerging on #Bluesky, using deepfakes and fake profiles to spread pro-russian messages, prompting calls for more proactive action from the platform.

https://today.rtl.lu/news/business-and-tech/a/2266028.html

A new 'Matryoshka' campaign: Pro-Russian disinformation makes its Bluesky debut

Disinformation similar to the pro-Russian "Matryoshka" campaign is emerging on Bluesky, using deepfakes and fake profiles to spread pro-Russian messages, prompting calls for more proactive action from the platform.

^today.rtl.lu

"A platform that used to downgrade hoaxes, conspiracy theories and false claims has become one where even the boss now spreads the stuff. That change didn’t happen immediately, but the shift of X from a useful information source to a locus of misinformation has alarmed fact-checkers worldwide."

(via @Poynter)

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2024/how-elon-musk-twitter-takeover-accelerated-misinformation/

#twitter #x #disinformation #verification

It’s easy to find misinformation on social media. It’s even easier on X. - Poynter

^{Angela Fu (The Poynter Institute)}

"Hey Uncle Joe, you don't believe in human-made climate change, right?"

"Of course I don't. The whole thing was invented by the wokies!"

"Well, here's a machine you can talk to."

https://www.science.org/content/article/ai-chatbot-shows-promise-talking-people-out-conspiracy-theories

#disinformation #communication #ai

Working in the domain of #disinformation countering / #verification? Here's an interesting #cfp:

The #Cambridge Disinformation #Summit will convene global thought leaders to discuss research regarding the efficacy of potential interventions to mitigate the harms from disinformation. Papers will be selected for presentation at the Summit by an interdisciplinary committee.

https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/events/cambridge-disinformation-summit-2025/

The call is open until 25.10.24.

The summit will take place in Cambridge (UK) in April 2025.

Cambridge Disinformation Summit (2025) - Cambridge Judge Business School

Connect with Cambridge Judge! Explore our full calendar of upcoming events, learn about our programmes and connect with world-class speakers.

^{Cambridge Judge Business School}

"We tend to believe fake news shared by distant social media contacts more than by close friends, even with trust controlled."

Interesting insight from an interesting paper by Babajide Osatuyi and Alan R. Dennis (recently published in the Decision Support Systems journal):

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167923624001088

#misinformation #disinformation #socialmedia #trust

Elon’s your dimwitted right-wing uncle who falls for any nonsense that crosses his FB page, but with billions of dollars and his own private social media company.

It’s amazing and sad that he’s convinced so many people that he’s some visionary genius.

https://www.politico.eu/article/elon-musk-share-fake-news-uk-rioters-detainment-camp/

#elonmusk #fascism #disinformation

Elon Musk shares fake news claiming UK rioters will be sent to ‘detainment camps’

The X owner pushed a made-up headline from a far-right British party on his platform, before deleting it.

^{Andrew McDonald (POLITICO)}

GAI and LLMs: The future of verification? 🤖🔍 Some tools could be a game-changer, but we need to tread carefully.

@lxplm discusses the potential, challenges, and ethical implications:
https://innovation.dw.com/articles/gai-llms-content-verification-proceed-with-caution

#AI #disinformation #verification #factchecking #tools

GAI and LLMs in Content Verification: Proceed. With Caution.

Alexander Plaum on the boon and bane of generative artificial intelligence in the field of verification and fact-checking.

^{innovation.dw.com}

Strong yes.

For lack of a more authoritative reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/GenZ/comments/1bfto4a/youre_being_targeted_by_disinformation_networks

Not that the US hasn't done the same https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covid-propaganda/

With #disinformation , everybody loses.

(I am not oblivious to the fact that I may be the victim of disinformation about disinformation. But those sources, and some of their sources, seemed trustworthy to me.)

"Generative artificial intelligence (#GAI) adds a new dimension to the problem of #disinformation. Freely available and largely unregulated tools make it possible for anyone to generate (...) fake content in vast quantities. (...) But there is also a positive side. Used smartly, GAI can provide a greater number of content consumers with trustworthy information"

– writes our colleague Julius Endert in this DWA post (which is part of a learning guide on tackling disinfo): https://akademie.dw.com/en/generative-ai-is-the-ultimate-disinformation-amplifier/a-68593890

Generative AI is the ultimate disinformation amplifier

Generative artificial intelligence tools allow anyone to quickly and easily create massive amounts of fake content.

^{Julius Endert (Deutsche Welle)}