Lesson 3: Countering Disinformation

Summary

This 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

00:00

🌐 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.

05:01

📊 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.

Keywords

💡Disinformation

Disinformation refers to the deliberate creation and sharing of false or misleading information, often with the intent to deceive or manipulate public opinion. In the video, disinformation is highlighted as a tool used by 'bad actors' to influence geopolitical conflicts, health crises, and political events. It is used to discredit political opponents, institutions, or vulnerable groups, aiming to sow distrust and discourage people from participating in democratic processes such as voting.

💡Geopolitical conflict

A geopolitical conflict refers to disputes or tensions between nations or regions that have significant political, economic, and strategic implications. The script mentions that disinformation is often used during geopolitical conflicts to manipulate public sentiment and influence outcomes. This is a context where disinformation can have far-reaching consequences, as it can escalate tensions and shape international relations.

💡Health crisis

A health crisis is a situation where there is a significant threat to public health, often due to an outbreak of a disease or other medical emergencies. The script points out that disinformation is also spread during health crises, potentially causing panic, confusion, and mistrust in authorities and scientific advice. This can lead to people making uninformed decisions that can exacerbate the crisis.

💡Emotional responses

Emotional responses are reactions that are driven by strong feelings such as anger or fear. The video script explains that disinformation often uses exaggerated language designed to provoke powerful emotional responses. This strategy aims to make the disinformation more impactful and memorable, thereby increasing the likelihood that it will be shared and believed.

💡Coded language

Coded language refers to the use of indirect or含蓄 language to convey a message, often to avoid censorship or to subtly communicate a controversial or offensive idea. In the context of the video, disinformers use coded language to discredit groups or individuals without explicitly stating their intentions, such as using slurs or nicknames to refer to certain ethnic or religious groups.

💡Deep fakes

Deep fakes are hyper-realistic, AI-manipulated videos or audio recordings that make it appear as though someone is saying or doing something they did not actually say or do. The script describes deep fakes as a common medium for disinformation, where influential figures can be made to appear as saying something that aligns with the disinformers' agenda, thus misleading the audience.

💡Flood the zone

To 'flood the zone' with information means to inundate the public with the same message across multiple platforms and accounts to create an overwhelming impression of its truth. The video script mentions that disinformers use this tactic by distributing identical messages, photos, and videos across various media to convince people of the validity of their disinformation.

💡Bots

Bots are automated software applications that can perform tasks, such as posting comments or sharing content, on social media platforms. In the context of disinformation, the script explains that bots are used to artificially inflate the visibility of false information by engaging with a large number of users and spreading disinformation rapidly.

💡Fact-checking

Fact-checking is the process of verifying the accuracy of information, often by cross-referencing it with credible sources. The video script encourages viewers to use fact-checking websites to debunk rumors and to be wary of false fact-checkers, which are a trick used by disinformers to lend credibility to their false claims.

💡Pre-bunking

Pre-bunking is a proactive approach to counter disinformation by providing accurate information before or at the onset of a major event to preempt the spread of false narratives. The script suggests using this tactic by sharing articles and authoritative sources on social media to steer the conversation towards the truth and to expose disinformation tactics.

💡Viral activity

Viral activity refers to the rapid and widespread sharing of content online. The script notes that disinformers attempt to simulate viral activity to make their disinformation appear legitimate and widely accepted. This is done by coordinating campaigns and leveraging trending topics to make false information seem popular and credible.

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]