Disinfo Docket 30 October

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Highlights

Brilliant to chat to @EvaWiseman for the Observer Magazine!

About social media investigations I do for BBC Panorama & Radio 4 pods, exposing impact of algorithms, disinformation, hate. I’m now Social Media Investigations Correspondent. Same job new name! https://t.co/w9V7Tpt1cg pic.twitter.com/KCxumFzVlM

— Marianna Spring (@mariannaspring) October 29, 2024

1. Elon Musk-Funded PAC Supercharges ‘Progress 2028’ Democrat Impersonation Ad Campaign (404 Media, 29 October)
2. People Overestimate Political Opponents’ Immorality (Scientific American, 29 October)
3. Russian disinformation network with ties to notorious ‘troll factory’ is taking aim at the US election, analysis finds (CNN, 30 October)
4. In US swing states, officials brace for conspiracy theories and violence (Reuters, 30 October)
5. Misinformation is more than just bad facts: How and why people spread rumors is key to understanding how false information travels and takes root (The Conversation, 30 October)

An analysis of nearly 3 years of structured & unstructured big data --- US24: A 2024 study on the US information ecosystem https://t.co/Itk0VRPizD via @rapplerdotcom

— Maria Ressa (@mariaressa) October 30, 2024

1. Academia & Research

LISTEN - How a small but vocal minority of social media users distort reality and sow division (PBS, 27 October)

1. When combinations of humans and AI are useful: A systematic review and meta-analysis (Nature, 28 October)
2. High fluid intelligence boosts ability to accept corrected misinformation (PsyPost, 30 October)

Is "virtue signaling" fueling a culture of outrage that destroys our sensitivity to nuance & drives us to harshly punish alleged wrongdoers, even if we’re not sure they deserve it?

Paper w/@NourKteily, just accepted @ JPSP, explores these questions!https://t.co/nVOwn5NRGQ
🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/HWn8zbhVjH

— Jillian Jordan (@Jill_Jord) October 29, 2024

2. Platforms & Technology

1. AI Slop Is Flooding Medium (WIRED, 28 October)
2. How X users can earn thousands from US election misinformation and AI images (BBC, 29 October)
3. Musk and Friends Are Smothering the Internet’s Truth Seekers (Bloomberg, 28 October)
4. What TikTok Can Still Do to Safeguard The Election (Tech Policy Press, 29 October)

3. Russia & Ukraine

1. Fifty shades of the Kremlin’s ‘red lines (EUvsDisinfo, 29 October)
2. It’s time for the Kremlin to start planning Russia’s next State Duma elections. But with the war’s future uncertain, many elites find 2026 hard to imagine. (Meduza, 30 October)
3. Sanctions for Russian disinformation linked to Kate rumours (BBC, 28 October)