• Tricking Fake News Detectors with Malicious User Comments

    Fake news detectors, which have been deployed by social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to add warnings to misleading posts, have traditionally flagged online articles as false based on the story’s headline or content. However, recent approaches have considered other signals, such as network features and user engagements, in addition to the story’s content to boost their accuracies.

  • Six Disinformation Threats in the Post-Election Period

    The problem of disinformation in the run-up to the 2020 election is well covered in the news media. Justin Hendrix writes that what hasn’t been as widely covered is the disinformation campaigns that will likely come right after Americans vote on 3 November.

  • Understanding, and Countering, Information Operations

    In recent years, a growing number of governments, non-state actors, and citizens have rapidly expanded their use of pernicious information operations against other countries and even their fellow citizens. Social media and the internet have become the main tool. The current technological revolution has lowered the cost of entry for those wishing to spread misinformation and disinformation.

  • Election 2020 Chatter on Twitter Busy with Bots and Conspiracy Theorists

    Bots and conspiracy theorists have infested the Twitter chatter around the upcoming U.S. presidential election, researchers have found. Looking at more than 240 million election-related tweets, the study found that thousands of automated accounts, known as bots, had posted tweets about President Donald Trump, his Democratic opponent former Vice President Joe Biden and both of their campaigns.

  • Think Tanks in the Era of Truth Decay

    By Michael D. Rich

    We are living through a moment of crisis that will define who we are as a nation; yet we can’t even agree on what’s real and what’s rumor. Our political discourse too often amounts to opinions about opinions, shouted across a cable-television split screen. Asked to describe their feelings toward the federal government, a majority of Americans say either “frustrated” or “angry.” All of this points to a civic disease that I’ve been calling “Truth Decay,” and that has enfeebled our response to everything from climate change to domestic terrorism to a global pandemic.

  • Russian Propaganda Hits Its Mark

    Given the size and scope of the Russian propaganda campaign that targeted the U.S. electorate in 2016, it is critical to understand both the impact of that campaign and the mechanisms that can reduce the impact of future campaigns, says a new RAND report.

  • Seeing Is No Longer Believing: Manipulation of Online Images

    Image editing software is so ubiquitous and easy to use, and deadline-driven journalists lack the tools to tell the difference, especially when the images come through from social media.

  • Russia Launches Disinformation Campaign to Undermine Public Confidence in Oxford University’s COVID Vaccine

    The U.K. government said it condemned as “utterly deplorable” a Russia disinformation campaign to undermine public confidence in a coronavirus vaccine currently under development by Oxford University scientists. The Times reported on Friday that Russian government officials have been using social media and Russian state media to depict the vaccine as dangerous – going as far as claiming that the vaccine would turn people into monkeys or chimpanzees.

  • Facebook Ran Recruitment Ads for Militia Groups

    A new report shows that Facebook for years allowed militia groups to recruit new members via paid advertisements on the platform. The review — which followed news of the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, which played out on Facebook and other social media — also found more than 50 militia pages and groups that are still active on Facebook.

  • Facebook Users Spread Russian Propaganda Less Often When They Know Its Source

    Russian propaganda is hitting its mark on social media—generating strong partisan reactions that may help intensify political divisions—but Facebook users are less apt to press the “like” button on content when they learn that it is part of a foreign propaganda campaign, according to a new report.

  • Popularity of COVID-19 Conspiracies Linked to Vaccine Hesitancy

    A new study of beliefs and attitudes toward COVID-19 in five different countries – UK, US, Ireland, Mexico and Spain – has identified how much traction some prominent conspiracy theories have within these populations. Moreover, the study finds that people who rate coronavirus conspiracy theories as more reliable are much less likely to say they will get vaccinated.

  • The State of the Science of Combating Misinformation

    With the current flood of misinformation and “fake news” undermining democracies around the world, a consensus document that summarizes the science of debunking has been published by a team of 22 prominent researchers of misinformation and its debunking.

  • Game “Pre-Bunks” COVID-19 Conspiracies as Part of U.K.'s Fight against Fake News

    Go Viral!is a new game developed in partnership between the University of Cambridge and the U.K. government. Based on “inoculation theory,” it simulates an environment for users to play the role of fake news producer, so they can understand how COVID-19 misinformation circulates online.

  • U.S.-Inspired Far-Right Extremism an “Insidious” Threat to Australia: Study

    Researchers from Macquarie and Victoria Universities have published the first study mapping the online activity of right-wing extremists in New South Wales, Australia. Their study has revealed a network of highly active, social, and complex communities that is difficult to monitor for potential offline violence and is highly successful in radicalizing at-risk individuals and introducing hateful and extreme rhetoric into Australian political discussions. The report highlighted the strong influence of American populist politics on right-wing extremism in Australia.

  • Greece: Leaders of Neo-Nazi Group Golden Dawn Convicted of Murder

    After a five-year-long trial, the Greek court on Wednesday found members of the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn guilty of murder and assault. The neo-Nazi group’s leader was convicted of running a criminal organization. The 68 members of Golden Dawn, including 18 former lawmakers, faced many charges, including the murder of Greek rapper Pavlos Fyssas, assaulting migrant fishermen, attacks on left-wing activists, and constituting a criminal organization.