Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1337
More and more countries are mounting disinformation campaigns online
[...] That's a long way of saying that I forgive you if you'd like to skip today's news and instead just read nothing but explainers and Twitter threads about impeachment. It's kind of the biggest story in the world right now, and it will all play out in new and exciting and probably terrifying ways across all our big social platforms, and if you want to read some speculation on how I'd point you to this savvy Kevin Roose piece on the subject (further excerpted below).
But say you've finished your impeachment reading for the day and are eager to luxuriate in a good old-fashioned tale of platform-based information warfare. In that case may I please recommend a new report from researchers at Oxford University on the usage of disinformation campaigns by governments around the world. And usage is ... well, I bet you can guess!
Here's Davey Alba and Adam Satariano in the New York Times:
The researchers compiled information from news organizations, civil society groups and governments to create one of the most comprehensive inventories of disinformation practices by governments around the world. They found that the number of countries with political disinformation campaigns more than doubled to 70 in the last two years, with evidence of at least one political party or government entity in each of those countries engaging in social media manipulation.
In addition, Facebook remains the No. 1 social network for disinformation, the report said. Organized propaganda campaigns were found on the platform in 56 countries.
You can read the report yourself here. Personally I found it useful to just read a straightforward guide to the varieties of state-sponsored information attacks — most of which have long been in use, of course, by more garden-variety trolls.
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Wednesday October 02 2019, @03:09PM (3 children)
Do you have some simple physics of the afterlife to propose, like a misinterpretation of the no-hiding theorem?
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday October 02 2019, @03:19PM (2 children)
physics of the afterlife...?
What kind of trick question is that?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Wednesday October 02 2019, @03:27PM (1 child)
In the context of discussing consciousness, somebody once told me that "reality boils down to simple physics" and "simple electrochemical energy drives it all." [soylentnews.org] Since that same somebody now seems to be speculating that there might be an afterlife, it seemed like an obvious question to ask.
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by fustakrakich on Wednesday October 02 2019, @03:46PM
Oh lighten up, will ya? You didn't notice the scare quotes? And what, is wanton speculation a bad thing?
Christ! Now I'm offtopic...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..