Many people who participate in disinformation campaigns are unwitting accomplices and much of the information they spread is accurate, which makes it all the harder to identify the campaigns.
Twitter’s ‘blue tick’ club of influential users was locked out after financial scammers hacked celebrities’ accounts. But with ever more trust placed in social media, we stand to lose more than money.
Sophie Marineau, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)
The Covid-19 epidemic has given rise to an avalanche of fake news, and accounts managed by Russian interests lead the way. How does this misinformation work, and what are its aims?
China’s attempts to promote its actions and model of governance while discrediting the EU are not a short-term response to the pandemic, but part of a long-term strategy to build its international power.
Unlike the US, Australia hasn’t yet been hit by a large-scale disinformation campaign focussed on meddling with elections. But this is a ‘realistic prospect’ moving forward.
False information about the new coronavirus is a big threat to containing the pandemic but governments must not use ‘fake news’ as an excuse to limit freedom of expression.
The recognition that COVID-19 is accompanied by an equally alarming “infodemic” has added a level of complexity to the situation. What are the consequences of this avalanche of information?
Attempting to defeat these folk theories with science achieved little; the myth busters of the AIDS epidemic were talking past those they were trying to convince.
Twitter’s efforts to label misinformation during the US primaries haven’t met with success. So how do we sift useful coronavirus information from wrong or downright dangerous untruths?
The coronavirus pandemic lays bare the many vulnerabilities created by society’s dependence on the internet. Watch the video to learn more about these issues.
QAnon refers to the online community that believes in conspiracy theories about Donald Trump and the so-called deep state, and is spreading harmful misinformation about COVID-19.
Facebook, Google and Twitter are stepping up to block misinformation and promote accurate information about the coronavirus. Their track records on self-policing are poor. The results so far are mixed.
Much of the world is moving online in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Society’s newly increased dependence on the internet is bringing the need for good cyber policy into sharp relief.
Why have conspiracy theories so easily circulated during the COVID-19 pandemic? What do these theories tell us about societies and what challenges do they present?