Lesson 3: Countering Disinformation
Summary
TLDRThis video, produced by the U.S. Department of State, addresses the evolving landscape of disinformation and strategies to counter it. It outlines how disinformation campaigns manipulate emotions to influence public opinion, often targeting political opponents or vulnerable groups. Tactics include deep fakes, coordinated messaging, and use of bots to amplify false narratives. The video emphasizes vigilance, fact-checking, and responsible sharing of information to combat these threats, while encouraging users to preempt disinformation during major events. The goal is to foster a more informed and resilient public in the face of harmful content.
Takeaways
- 🧐 Disinformation adapts to global trends and domestic events, often targeting political opponents or vulnerable groups.
- 😡 It uses exaggerated language to create strong emotional reactions like anger or fear.
- 📺 Disinformation often appears in doctored videos using AI, such as 'deep fakes' that make leaders appear to say things they didn’t.
- 🤖 Bots are used to spread the same disinformation across multiple platforms, giving it the appearance of viral activity.
- 🔍 Be skeptical of what you read or watch; use reverse image search and fact-check with credible sources.
- 📰 Verify news about major officials by checking their official websites and social media pages.
- 🌍 Visit fact-checking sites regularly to debunk rumors, but be cautious of false 'fact checkers.'
- 🚫 Avoid sharing or commenting on disinformation, as it can increase engagement and spread.
- 👁 Look for signs of coordinated disinformation campaigns, such as identical content across many accounts.
- 📢 Pre-bunking before major events can help steer the conversation by sharing verified information early with credible sources.
Q & A
What are the main goals of disinformation campaigns according to the script?
-The main goals of disinformation campaigns are to discredit political opponents, institutions, or vulnerable groups, and to sow distrust or discourage people from speaking out or voting.
How do disinformers use coded language to avoid censorship?
-Disinformers use coded language by referring to groups with slurs or nicknames, asking controversial questions to provoke emotional responses, or claiming that inflammatory information was meant as a joke.
What are 'deep fakes,' and how are they used in disinformation campaigns?
-'Deep fakes' are doctored videos created with artificial intelligence to make it appear that someone, often a famous or influential figure, is saying something they are not. These are commonly used to mislead and manipulate audiences.
What is the difference between viral content and coordinated disinformation campaigns?
-Viral content spreads quickly and widely due to organic sharing by users, whereas coordinated disinformation campaigns simulate virality by distributing the same messages, photos, and videos across multiple platforms and accounts in a deliberate and planned way.
What tools or techniques can be used to verify if a video or photo is part of a disinformation campaign?
-To verify if a video or photo is part of a disinformation campaign, one can use tools like Google’s reverse image search to trace its origins, check if individuals in videos have flat eyes or unnatural lip movements (signs of deep fakes), and double-check stories with credible news outlets.
How can bots be identified on social media platforms?
-Bots can be identified by checking a profile page for signs such as little personal information, reposted or copied content, a focus on a single topic, and minimal original content from the account holder.
What is 'pre-bunking,' and how can it be used to counter disinformation?
-'Pre-bunking' involves posting accurate information early on, before disinformation spreads, and citing authoritative sources to preemptively steer the conversation in the right direction during major events like elections or crises.
Why is it important not to engage with disinformation, even in criticism?
-Engaging with disinformation, even to criticize it, increases its visibility and engagement, making it more likely that others will see it. It’s important to avoid repeating or mentioning disinformation in order to prevent its spread.
What role do fact-checking sites play in countering disinformation?
-Fact-checking sites play a crucial role in countering disinformation by debunking false rumors and providing credible analysis. However, it's also important to be wary of false 'fact-checkers,' another tactic used by disinformers.
What are the key steps individuals can take to stop the spread of disinformation?
-Individuals can stop the spread of disinformation by being skeptical of what they read and watch, verifying information with credible sources, checking official websites for news about major officials, and avoiding sharing or engaging with disinformation.
Outlines
🌐 Understanding Disinformation and Its Tactics
This paragraph introduces the concept of disinformation, explaining how bad actors use exaggerated language to provoke emotional responses such as anger or fear. It highlights the prevalence of disinformation during global crises and political events, like elections. Sara J. Wachter, an international journalist with extensive experience, is credited with writing this lesson on countering disinformation. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of recognizing disinformation's various forms and its goal of discrediting political opponents, institutions, or vulnerable groups.
📊 Coordinated Disinformation Campaigns and Their Impact
This section delves deeper into the tactics used by disinformers, such as distributing identical messages across multiple platforms, a strategy called 'flooding the zone.' It also touches on the use of bots and deepfakes—videos altered by artificial intelligence to make it appear as if someone, often a public figure, is saying something they didn’t. The paragraph explains how coordinated campaigns differ from viral content and warns about the difficulty of discerning truth when information appears consistently across different outlets.
🔍 Identifying and Countering Disinformation Online
This paragraph provides practical advice for individuals to combat disinformation. It urges skepticism when reading or watching content, suggesting methods like reverse image search to verify the origins of photos and videos. Other recommendations include cross-referencing stories with credible news sources, checking official websites for confirmation, and identifying telltale signs of deepfakes, such as flat eyes and odd lip movements in videos.
🛡️ Steps to Prevent the Spread of Disinformation
This part focuses on actions individuals can take to stop the spread of disinformation. It emphasizes not forwarding disinformation, refraining from commenting on or engaging with false rumors, and regularly reading up on disinformation trends. It also advises against engaging with false 'fact checkers,' another tactic used by disinformers to deceive the public.
🤖 Recognizing Bots and Coordinated Activity
This paragraph highlights how to detect coordinated disinformation campaigns by examining repeated content across multiple accounts and social platforms. It also provides tips on identifying bots—accounts with little personal information that mostly repost or retweet content. The section underscores the importance of analyzing social media behavior to prevent disinformation from influencing public opinion.
📢 Pre-Bunking: Proactive Disinformation Prevention
The final paragraph explains how people can proactively counter disinformation, especially during critical events like elections or natural disasters. The strategy of 'pre-bunking' involves posting credible information early, citing multiple trustworthy sources, and alerting others to disinformation tactics. This approach helps shape the conversation and prevent disinformation from gaining traction. The paragraph concludes by reminding readers that disinformation is deliberately harmful and encourages responsible media consumption and sharing.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Disinformation
💡Geopolitical conflict
💡Health crisis
💡Emotional responses
💡Coded language
💡Deep fakes
💡Flood the zone
💡Bots
💡Fact-checking
💡Pre-bunking
💡Viral activity
Highlights
Disinformation adapts quickly to global trends, crises, and domestic events like elections.
Exaggerated language is used in disinformation to provoke strong emotional reactions such as fear or anger.
Disinformation often targets political opponents, institutions, or vulnerable groups to sow distrust and discourage civic engagement.
Disinformers use coded language and slurs to avoid censorship while inciting controversy and emotional responses.
Coordinated disinformation campaigns often spread identical messages across multiple platforms to 'flood the zone'.
Phony accounts, known as bots, are used to engage with numerous users online, amplifying disinformation.
Deep fakes—videos altered using artificial intelligence—are frequently used to make influential people appear to say false things.
Coordinated campaigns simulate viral activity by using popular topics or trends to attract attention.
Disinformation can often be identified when sources are vague, unverifiable, or lack links to reference information.
Verifying photos and videos through reverse image searches and checking credible news sources helps combat disinformation.
Be cautious of false 'fact checkers,' which are another tactic used by disinformers to spread false information.
Do not repeat or engage with disinformation online as it increases the likelihood of it spreading.
Look for signs of coordinated activity by checking if identical content appears across many accounts.
Checking for bots involves looking for profiles with minimal personal information and repeated reposting of similar content.
Pre-bunking disinformation before major events, such as elections or crises, can help steer conversations in the right direction.
Transcripts
[TEXT: DEMOCRACY, PROSPERITY, HUMAN RIGHTS, EDUCATION, SECURITY A PRODUCTION OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE]
Disinformation is a fast moving space,
as bad actors adapt their tactics to the latest global trends
used during the latest geopolitical conflict or health crisis,
or during domestic political events like elections.
The language is exaggerated, aimed to create powerful emotional responses
like anger or fear.
[TEXT: UNDERSTANDING AND COUNTERING DISINFORMATION] Welcome to Understanding and Countering Disinformation.
[TEXT: COUNTERING DISINFORMATION] This lesson is Countering Disinformation.
[TEXT: Sarah J. Wachter] This lesson was written by Sara J. Wachter,
[TEXT: International Journalist and Communications Consultant] an international journalist and communications consultant with over
25 years of experience in foreign reporting and training journalists.
[TEXT: Experience in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas] Sara has conducted assignments in over two dozen countries in Africa
[TEXT: Experience in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas] and across the Middle East, Asia and the Americas.
She closely tracks global trends in disinformation and conducts
training for journalists, communications professionals and security experts
on how to recognize and combat disinformation.
[TEXT: Master of Science in Journalism from Columbia University, New York] She holds a master of science in journalism from Columbia University
in New York City.
Disinformation is aimed at discrediting a political opponent,
an institution or vulnerable group, such as a certain ethnic
or religious group or a particular gender or sexual orientation,
to sow distrust or discourage people from speaking out or voting.
To avoid being censored,
disinformers use coded language such as referring to a group
by a slur or a nickname, ask controversial questions
they hope will elicit a highly emotional or violent response,
or claim the inflammatory information was meant
as a joke.
These bad actors attempt to influence or steer the online conversation,
sometimes over many months or many years.
They hope to influence a desired outcome or response from the targeted group,
such as how they vote in an election or the position
they take on a particular cause.
They launch coordinated
campaigns - distributing the same messages, photos
and videos across multiple traditional and social media platforms
and many hundreds of accounts, to “flood the zone.”
The point is to convince people something is true
because the same information is seen everywhere.
And they use phony automated profile accounts called bots
that can engage with an endless number of users
on social media.
The most often-used medium for disinformation
is videos that are doctored with artificial intelligence.
Using this technology, disinformers can alter a video
to make it look like someone,
often a famous or influential leader, is saying something that they are not.
These videos are known as “deep fakes.”
Coordinated disinformation campaigns
rely on a numbers game of placing the same message in many places.
This is different from when a single video, or other piece of content,
“goes viral” because people share it quickly and widely online.
Disinformers will attempt to simulate this type of viral activity
through coordinated campaigns and through clever online tricks,
such as using words, images and topics
that are trending on the Internet.
[TEXT: “said a witness at the demonstration”] Another telltale sign of disinformation is that sources are either
not given, or are so vague that they cannot be verified
and no links to referenced information are provided
to back up the claims made.
There are several steps we all can take to stop the spread
of disinformation and ensure that we are being responsible
when consuming and sharing news and information.
[TEXT: Be skeptical of what you read and watch.] Be skeptical of what you read and watch.
To verify a video or photo,
put it into Google's reverse images search to trace its true origins.
If the individuals in a video have flat looking eyes and odd lip movements
and if it is of poor quality, it is probably a deep fake.
Be skeptical of what you read and watch.
[TEXT: Double-check a story with credible news outlets.] For a news event described,
double check with credible news outlets to see if it has been reported;
if not, treat it with suspicion.
For video photos and articles involving major officials or leaders,
visit their official websites
and social media feeds to see if the news is reported there.
Be sure to confirm that you are on an official site, as
these are often imitated in a way meant to deceive consumers.
[TEXT: Visit local, regional and international fact-checking sites.] Visit local, regional and international fact checking websites
to find any debunked rumors.
Watch out for false “fact checkers” - that is another trick
disinformers use.
[TEXT: Do not repeat disinformation.] Do not forward messages containing disinformation to others.
Refrain from mentioning the rumor or disinformation in your social media feeds
and don't leave comments online criticizing the disinformation.
This increases engagement with the disinformation
and makes it more likely others will see it.
Read up on disinformation trends regularly - there are several
free online resources available.
[TEXT: Look for coordinated activity.] Look for coordinated activity.
To sleuth out coordinated activity as you research
a major event or trend across all the social media platforms,
see if the same messages, photos and videos
appear across many accounts.
[TEXT: Check for bots.] To check for bots, examine a profile page.
Check to see if there is little personal information.
if the video is original and not copied from another user or site,
and if the page mostly reposts or retweets on a single topic
and has little author generated content.
[TEXT: Get out ahead of disinformation.] Just before or at the start of a major event in your country - an election,
the outbreak of a conflic, the onset of a major weather event
such as a flood, or a major crisis such as famine - you can help steer
the conversation in the right direction by “pre-bunking.”
Post an article in your social media feeds early on,
detailing the disinformation trend and, citing authoritative resources
such as a fact checking outlet or an electoral commission, mentioning
at least two credible sources and providing links to their analysis.
Then give the correct information, again by citing at least two credible sources
and providing links to their analysis, and be sure to detail
the disinformation tactics being used.
The creation and sharing of
disinformation is a deliberate act to manipulate and cause harm.
The bad actors who create and spread it intend to cause conflict,
fear and doubt, usually in an effort to gain power or some advantage.
We must all be aware.
Be vigilant.
And be engaged and responsible consumers and sharers
of news and information.
[TEXT: For more on this course and to access related resources,] For more on this course and to access related resources,
[TEXT: visit our website.] visit our website.
[TEXT: DEMOCRACY, PROSPERITY, HUMAN RIGHTS, EDUCATION, SECURITY A PRODUCTION OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE]
Weitere ähnliche Videos ansehen
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)