DisinfoDocket 4 October

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Highlights:

1. As Pakistan approaches a crucial election, its media watchdog bans critical voices from TV (Reuters Institute, 3 October)
2. The dangerous myths sold by the conspiritualists (Coda Story, 3 September)
3. 15 minute cities: How they got caught in conspiracy theories (BBC, 3 October)
4. Too Much Misinformation? The Issue Is Demand, Not Supply - We should worry less about AI-generated lies and more about the humans seeking them out (Bloomberg, 3 October)
5. Iranian American lawmaker in WA says disinformation led to death threat (The Seattle Times, 2 October)

Our #BannedBooksWeek events carry on all week—and throughout the month.... full details at: https://t.co/REuoltCRIa pic.twitter.com/dVOXKX7CV0

— PEN America (@PENamerica) October 3, 2023

The House has entered uncharted territory.

When Speaker McCarthy (R-Calif.) was elected, House rules required him to give a secret list of “speakers-in-waiting” — but House Democratic leadership thinks an interim speaker would only have the power to oversee the election of a new… pic.twitter.com/razMyEJ6QA

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 3, 2023

1. Academia & Research

1. Social media fatigue and narcissism linked to believing and sharing misinformation, finds 8-country study (Phys.org, 2 October)
2. National narcissism in politics and public understanding of science (Nature.com, 2 October)

🌐 The latest from ASD & @BrookingsInst argues for a new approach to public diplomacy as part of a broader strategy that Washington should adopt in the face of challenges from Russia and China.

Authors: Bret Schafer, @jessbrandt, & @rachaeldean https://t.co/S7i4VNV8Gb

— Alliance for Securing Democracy (@SecureDemocracy) October 3, 2023

2. Platforms & Technology

1. AI-generated misinformation: 3 teachable skills to help address it (The Conversation, 3 October)
2. Court to weigh state laws constraining social media companies (Reuters, 29 September)
3. National Security Agency is starting an artificial intelligence security center (AP News, 28 September)
4. How Big Tech is co-opting the rising stars of artificial intelligence (The Washington Post, 2 October)

We covered these viral conspiracy theores in a recent #RumorGuard post: https://t.co/ufSivddxni https://t.co/HHwFXD2pv5

— The News Literacy Project (@NewsLitProject) October 3, 2023

X (formerly known as Twitter)

1. Voice to Parliament referendum 'prime target' for foreign interference on Elon Musk's X, former executive warns (ABC, 29 September)
2. Yaccarino defends X over hate speech rise accusations (Axios, 27 September)

Meta

Instagram or Facebook's European users would have the option to pay a fee or agree to personalised ads, according to Meta’s pitch to EU regulators@samschech from @WSJ has the storyhttps://t.co/EUghpfzj66

— Real Facebook Oversight Board (@FBoversight) October 3, 2023

1. North Korean hackers posed as Meta recruiter on LinkedIn (CyberScoop, 29 September)
2. Meta's new AI assistant trained on public Facebook and Instagram posts (Reuters, 28 September)

TikTok

“In the way that we have been building communities around our reporters on Twitter, we should be doing the same on the platforms that are the most important places for young people to get their news, information, and entertainment.” https://t.co/SiJ6sakebn

— Nieman Foundation (@niemanfdn) October 3, 2023