Disinformation Week is proud to introduce its Four-part series that focuses on the Driving Forces Behind Global and Local Disinformation Campaigns. It’s part of our dedicated set of IN DEPTH stories on issues related to disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda. The series examines who produces disinformation, how it’s done, and how things like social media bot networks can amplify the propaganda claims, in an attempt to make them seem legitimate.
The parts of the series are as follows:
Part 1 – Shifting Political and Economic Winds Help Stoke Global Disinformation Growth
Combating the Rise of Global Disinformation Engines Disinformation and propaganda efforts have been part of our human discourse for much of recorded history. Many people learn to recognize false or misleading information, but that can be challenging. The problem of disinformation is growing. This piece looks at the catalysts that have spurred this growth, including shifting political influence, changing global demographics and powerful social media tools..
Part 2 – How False Information Gets Promoted to Quasi-legitimate News
Successful distribution of modern propaganda is a multi-step process. Purveyors of disinformation and propaganda have many avenues to get a false message in front of a mass audience. This article examines the steps they take, and how those efforts can be detected.
Part 3 – Disinformation Creators are Available for Hire, and They’re Fairly Cheap
In today’s global environment of disinformation, there are multiple organizations for hire who are willing to act as partners, conduits, and promoters of false information. Some of them do this work because of specific political affiliations, while others just do it for money. Disinformation and propaganda for hire is a troubling new trend.
Part 4 – Key Mitigation Step – Using AI to Recognize and Flag Disinformation
Earlier articles in this series examined how artificial intelligence is being leveraged to generate, share, and amplify propaganda. But AI also can be used as a tool to recognize such activity and to shut it down. This piece looks at some of the elements of a news story that AI systems can examine, and how they can be used to recognize propaganda efforts.
