Disinfo Docket 24 July

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Highlights

1. Our twin crises of despair and misinformation (Brookings, 22 July)
2. The anticipated disinformation target (Axios, 23 July)
3. The ways people hear about big news these days; “into a million pieces,” says source (Nieman Lab, 22 July)
4. Fake Harris audio spreads like wildfire on TikTok after Biden’s announcement (Media Matters for America, 22 July)
5. The Flattening Machine: The chaotic aftermath of the assassination attempt shows a toxic information system working as designed. (The Atlantic, 16 July)

With concerns about Biden, Kamala Harris is facing more gender and race related attacks online. Given cutbacks in data access, it will be hard for researchers to measure this kind of misinfo, @ZeveSanderson tells @Slate.https://t.co/GOv93IJXVp

— NYU's Center for Social Media and Politics (@CSMaP_NYU) July 18, 2024

1. Academia & Research

When Twitter deplatformed users after the January 6 protests, there were fewer misinformation/ low-quality URLs circulating on Twitter, suggesting the effectiveness of deplatforming, finds @mccabe_s @DiogoFerrari @_Jon_Green @davidlazer @KevinEsterling https://t.co/68dQsWCPVF pic.twitter.com/dlKxM9jpoA

— Ross Dahlke 🔑 (@Ross_Dahlke) July 23, 2024

“When you are writing a headline, you should not just be asking yourself if it’s false or not. You should be asking yourself if the headline is likely to cause inaccurate perceptions.” — @DG_Rand https://t.co/iw8WGrerSN

— MIT Sloan School of Management (@MITSloan) July 22, 2024

2. Platforms & Technology

1. Google U-turn over long-running plan to ditch cookies (BBC, 23 July)
2. Disinformation Security Startup Cyabra Plans To List On NASDAQ (Forbes, 23 July)
3. The AI-generated disinformation dystopia that wasn't (Axios, 22 July)

Yahoo News covers our study showing YouTube's algorithm exposes users to misinfo & explicit content, regardless of age or interests. How did we find this? ISD set up profiles with mainstream interests like gaming or mommy vloggers to track exposure. More 👇https://t.co/OjUq1ouxsM

— Institute for Strategic Dialogue (@ISDglobal) July 18, 2024

🚨 [AI GOVERNANCE] The @ai_observatory published the report "Responsible AI Governance in Africa: Prospects for Outcomes Based Regulation," and it's a must-read for everyone interested in global AI governance challenges. Quotes:

"At an African level, fewer than 10 countries have… pic.twitter.com/och9iBauEO

— Luiza Jarovsky (@LuizaJarovsky) July 16, 2024

3. Russia & Ukraine

1. How Russian propagandists spun the Trump assassination attempt (DFR Lab, 18 July)
2. Russia Using Disinformation To Undermine Moldova's Upcoming Elections, Officials Tell U.S. Panels (Radio Free Europe, 23 July)
3. Paint It Black – pro-Kremlin take on the NATO Summit (EUvsDisinfo, 19 July)
4. A geopolitical paradox: Former diplomat Sergi Kapanadze on Georgia’s upcoming elections, the people’s E.U. aspirations, and the government’s drift towards Russia (Meduza, 19 July)
5. As Russia’s Caucasus influence falls, filling the gap isn’t simple (ASPI, 22 July)