"Something future historians will struggle to explain is that, in the 21st century, all of human knowledge became instantly available to anyone in the world, and the primary effect was to make everyone dumber.”
'Just 10 "superspreader" users on Twitter were responsible for more than a third of the misinformation posted over an eight-month period, according to a new report.
In total, 34 per cent of the "low credibility" content posted to the site between January and October of 2020 was created by the 10 users identified by researchers based in the US and UK.'
#MediaLiteracy#FactChecking#Disinformation#Misinformation: "When it comes to not falling for misinformation, being aware of our human fallibilities, such as our quickness to believe what we want to believe, is a good first step. Research shows that even being more reflective in general can "inoculate" us against believing fake news.
But it's not the only thing that we can do. In particular, researchers have found there are several simple, concrete strategies that we all can (and should) use, especially before we're tempted to share or repeat a claim, to verify its accuracy first.
One of my favourites comes with a nifty acronym: the Sift method. Pioneered by digital literacy expert Mike Caulfield, it breaks down into four easy-to-remember steps."
'The European Union on Friday banned four more Russian media outlets from broadcasting in the 27-nation bloc for what it calls the spread of propaganda about the invasion of Ukraine and disinformation as the EU heads into parliamentary elections in three weeks.'
#India#Politics#Elections#WhatsApp#Disinformation#Propaganda: "India’s ongoing elections are the world’s largest in history, with almost 1 billion people eligible to vote. They are so big that voting is being conducted in waves from April 19 to June 1. The BJP, which has been in power for 10 years, is widely expected to win. But in the process, both Modi’s administration and his electoral campaign have been criticized for stirring hate against Muslims and increasing polarization.
As millions of Indians vote, many of them will turn to WhatsApp for information. India is the Meta-owned app’s largest market, with 400 million active users — more than a quarter of the country’s population. India’s last general elections, in 2019, were labeled the “WhatsApp elections” because of the platform’s prevalence and influence. In 2024, politicians are redoubling their focus on the app.
Kiran Garimella, an assistant professor at Rutgers University who researches WhatsApp in India, told Rest of World the app reaches people that other platforms don’t, including remote communities. “There are a number of people in India who only use WhatsApp,” he said.
"Facebook users who deactivated their accounts for six weeks before the 2020 U.S. presidential election weeks may have been less likely to cast a vote for Trump [...]."
I'd ask: How are people like Laura Ingraham allowed anywhere near anything with "news" in its name? For that matter, how is it that #Fox has managed to have free rein to be the voice of #disinformation & assaulting #truth ?
Once upon a time broadcasters were required to serve the public by offering actual, you know, #facts.
Now there's a bubble for anyone who wants to stay comfortably immersed in #TrumpVirus and #GQP#cult messaging.
David Weiss now says the salacious conspiracies were false. With the indictment yesterday of Alexander Smirnov, the source of those false claims, Weiss confesses he is a direct witness in an attempt to frame President Joe Biden, even as Weiss attempts to bury it.
US Govt is seeking a protective order in the #Smirnov case disclosing what was fairly obvious: that the case involves sources & methods. And if there was an active #FISA order while the nitwit caucus was potting with Comrade Smirnov there's going to be a lot of panic in Dog Patch.
Republicans disseminated disinformation from Russian intelligence to harm President Biden. The Kremlin Hunter Biden Operation is used to gain control of American political outcomes.