Beware: U.S. election disinformation masked as 'breaking news'
2 months ago

Beware: U.S. election disinformation masked as 'breaking news'

Raw Story  

"Breaking" news, screamed an online post by a conservative American influencer as he pushed disinformation about Kamala Harris, illustrating how journalism lingo has been co-opted as a tool to amplify election falsehoods. It is yet another disinformation trend undermining trust in traditional media -- already at historic lows, surveys show -- alongside the proliferation of fake "news" sites and the growing tactic of attributing false information to legitimate media outlets. "Journalists report breaking news by interviewing sources, checking data, verifying facts and updating coverage as needed," said Dan Evon, lead writer with RumorGuard, a site that helps debunk viral disinformation. The nonprofit News Literacy Project, which runs RumorGuard, said it has so far gathered at least 72 examples of social media posts that use mainstream journalism terms such as "breaking," "developing," and "exclusive" as a way to spread false information about the election.

Media Information Election False Information False Harris Breaking Rumorguard  narratives  terms  masked  beware  viral  journalism  false  election  information  x  media  disinformation  breaking

History of this topic

After Trump’s win, Russian disinformation aims to drive a wedge between the US and Ukraine
2 weeks, 5 days ago

After Trump’s win, Russian disinformation aims to drive a wedge between the US and Ukraine

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — As President Joe Biden uses his final days in office to boost Ukraine’s defenses, Russia is playing a different game: spreading disinformation aimed at eroding U.S. support for Ukraine before Donald Trump’s return to the White House next month. It’s part of Russia’s continued push to divide Americans over the nearly 3-year war in Ukraine and paint Ukrainians …

After Trump's victory, U.S. election falsehoods shift left
1 month, 1 week ago

After Trump's victory, U.S. election falsehoods shift left

Raw Story  

Right-wing falsehoods about voter fraud fell off a cliff after Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. election, but American liberals took a page from their playbook to push wild conspiracy theories that have fueled doubt about the democratic process. "What we're seeing now is an uptick in election fraud claims from the left, particularly in the days following Election Day …

Misinformation fears mount over second Trump term
1 month, 1 week ago

Misinformation fears mount over second Trump term

Raw Story  

Donald Trump's election victory paves the way for a fresh wave of misinformation, not only around politics but also on vaccines and climate, with his expected cabinet picks ready to challenge the scientific community. "The problem of misinformation and disinformation is the worst it's ever been," said Bill Adair, a Duke University professor who founded the fact-checking site PolitiFact and …

Musk's Social Media Platform X: A Key Source of Election Misinformation
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Musk's Social Media Platform X: A Key Source of Election Misinformation

Firstpost  

Experts have highlighted the influence of Elon Musk and the social media platform X in the dissemination of misleading narratives related to the US elections. X's vast influence contributes to the spread of false or misleading statements made by Musk, particularly in swing states. Musk's rollback of content moderation efforts and the layoffs of a significant portion of the workforce …

Collaboration key in fight against disinformation: Bertelsmann Foundation report
6 months, 1 week ago

Collaboration key in fight against disinformation: Bertelsmann Foundation report

The Hindu  

Published : Jun 14, 2024 15:44 IST - 4 MINS READ Transnational cooperation between civil society organisations, media outlets, and the world’s largest technology companies is needed to effectively combat disinformation, according to a new analysis by the non-profit think-tank Bertelsmann Foundation. “We also need pre-bunking,” she said, referring to a strategy of alerting people to fake content before they …

SPOTLIGHT | How ‘cheapfakes’ are pushing misinformation in the 2024 Lok Sabha election
6 months, 3 weeks ago

SPOTLIGHT | How ‘cheapfakes’ are pushing misinformation in the 2024 Lok Sabha election

The Hindu  

Published : May 31, 2024 18:19 IST - 5 MINS READ The 2024 general election was in full swing when hundreds of social media users shared a video that appeared to show Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying the ruling party wanted to scrap a quota system aimed at undoing centuries of caste discrimination. “From what we can tell, it’s …

Why disinformation is more dangerous than ever
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Why disinformation is more dangerous than ever

The Economist  

Listen to this podcast Your browser does not support the <audio> element. AI is making it easier to create deceptive content, while social media enables it to spread faster than ever before. Scientists are starting to understand the technology and tactics behind disinformation campaigns, opening up new possibilities to fight them. Contributors: Tom Standage, The Economist’s deputy editor; Hollie Berman, …

TikTok disinformation is no more dangerous than this Fox News disinformation
9 months ago

TikTok disinformation is no more dangerous than this Fox News disinformation

Raw Story  

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly to require TikTok to divest its Chinese ownership or be banned in the U.S. because of national security concerns. Fox News admitted lying about Trump’s 2020 loss Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox for defamation following Fox News’ rampant election misinformation during the 2020 election. Election threats within Trump and Fox News continued …

Fake news, AI, and the worries ahead
11 months, 1 week ago

Fake news, AI, and the worries ahead

Hindustan Times  

“What no one knows is how misinformation will spread during the election season this year,” says Jency Jacob, Managing Editor of BoomLive. Artificial Intelligence “The biggest challenge this election season apart from usual narrative misinformation that cuts across parties, is going to be how new technologies like AI will be used by them. “In India, we had cheap fakes, but …

Why the fight to counter false election claims may be harder in 2024
1 year, 1 month ago

Why the fight to counter false election claims may be harder in 2024

NPR  

Why the fight to counter false election claims may be harder in 2024 Enlarge this image toggle caption Brandon Bell/Getty Images Brandon Bell/Getty Images In Marion County, Fla., elections supervisor Wesley Wilcox has stopped using the word "misinformation." Sponsor Message Another feature of DHS's election security work that seems to be fading into the background is a website called "Rumor …

Disinformation Experts Change Tactics For 2024 Election
1 year, 2 months ago

Disinformation Experts Change Tactics For 2024 Election

Huff Post  

Kate Starbird had been studying online conspiracy theories for years when she realized last year that she was at the center of one. “Next year might be one of the worst times we have seen, and maybe the worst time we have seen, for the spread of election-related mis- and disinformation.” Ending The ‘Golden Age’ Of Access After Trump was …

Twitter slow to act on misleading U.S. election content, experts say
2 years, 1 month ago

Twitter slow to act on misleading U.S. election content, experts say

The Hindu  

Election experts reported the spread of new falsehoods across Twitter and other social media services on Tuesday as Americans voted in midterm elections, four days after Twitter Inc. fired half its staff and new owner Elon Musk tweeted a recommendation to vote for Republican candidates. The nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause, which monitors social media for voter suppression efforts, said …

Social media platforms have done ‘half-measures’ to root out election disinformation
2 years, 2 months ago

Social media platforms have done ‘half-measures’ to root out election disinformation

LA Times  

Baseless claims about election fraud continue to flourish on popular internet platforms ahead of the midterms, despite what the companies say have been efforts to contain them. A Facebook search for the words “election fraud” first delivers an article claiming that workers at a Pennsylvania children’s museum are brainwashing children so they’ll accept stolen elections. While platforms like Twitter, TikTok, …

Fighting bogus claims a growing priority in election offices
2 years, 3 months ago

Fighting bogus claims a growing priority in election offices

Associated Press  

Election officials preparing for the rapidly approaching midterm elections have one more headache: trying to combat misinformation that sows distrust about voting and results while fueling vitriol aimed at rank-and-file election workers. A barrage of misinformation in some places has led election officials to complain that Facebook parent Meta, Twitter and other social media platforms aren’t doing enough to help …

Jency Jacob: ‘It’s a dangerous time to be a ground reporter today’
2 years, 5 months ago

Jency Jacob: ‘It’s a dangerous time to be a ground reporter today’

The Hindu  

Published : Jul 10, 2022 18:00 IST Jency Jacob is the managing editor of BOOM, one of India’s leading fact-checking websites. Fact-checking has emerged as a new form of journalism, but it would not have been so if the mainstream media had risen to the challenge of disinformation on social media and the need to verify comments made by those …

Journalists despair over toll of disinformation on jobs
2 years, 8 months ago

Journalists despair over toll of disinformation on jobs

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — Journalists are sounding an alarm about the spread of disinformation in society and how it affects their jobs on a daily basis, along with skepticism on whether traditional methods to combat it really work. The free speech advocates PEN America found in a survey of journalists released Thursday that 90% said their jobs have been affected by …

Fake News Gets More Engagement on Facebook—But Only If It's Right-Wing
3 years, 9 months ago

Fake News Gets More Engagement on Facebook—But Only If It's Right-Wing

Wired  

It’s not exactly a secret that extreme, less-than-accurate content finds a big audience on Facebook. An anonymous Facebook executive told Politico last September, “Right-wing populism is always more engaging.” New research released today, however, appears to be the first to show empirically that the relationship between accuracy and engagement varies dramatically based on where the source aligns on the partisan …

Trump and allies spread falsehoods to cast doubt on election
4 years, 1 month ago

Trump and allies spread falsehoods to cast doubt on election

Associated Press  

While much of America was sleeping Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump’s leads in crucial battleground states began slipping — and that’s when online falsehoods about the election started surging. Researchers at the Election Integrity Partnership, a group of some of the world’s top misinformation researchers, found that mentions of voter fraud rose dramatically immediately following Trump’s early morning remarks. Misinformation …

‘Fake news’: A guide to Trump’s favourite phrase – and the dangers it obscures
4 years, 2 months ago

‘Fake news’: A guide to Trump’s favourite phrase – and the dangers it obscures

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Since the phrase first appeared on his Twitter …

Trump's Campaign Is Testing The Ways It Can Distort Reality Online
4 years, 3 months ago

Trump's Campaign Is Testing The Ways It Can Distort Reality Online

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING The presidential election is just 56 days away, and as Donald Trump struggles to gain ground in key states, he is increasingly relying on deceptively altered media to bend reality in his favor. The “Trump War Room” Twitter account shared an out-of-context clip of Biden saying, “You won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.” And on Facebook, …

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