Tag Archives: disinformation

“2024 elections are ripe targets for foes of democracy”

Uncategorized

NPR: 

This past summer and fall, thousands of Facebook accounts started posting about U.S. politics and foreign affairs. But their posts were weird — some included what looked like Twitter handles and the term “RT,” an abbreviation for “retweet.”When Facebook’s parent company, Meta, started digging into them, it found that the accounts were copying posts from Twitter, now known as X, and pasting them onto Facebook. The accounts were pretty obviously fake: While they claimed to belong to Americans, Meta found they were being operated from China, with stolen names and profile pictures.

Share this:

“As social media guardrails fade and AI deepfakes go mainstream, experts warn of impact on elections”

Uncategorized,

PBS NewsHour:

Nearly three years after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, the false election conspiracy theories that drove the violent attack remain prevalent on social media and cable news: suitcases filled with ballots, late-night ballot dumps, dead people voting.

Experts warn it will likely be worse in the coming presidential election contest. The safeguards that attempted to counter the bogus claims the last time are eroding, while the tools and systems that create and spread them are only getting stronger.

Share this:

“How Russian and Chinese Interference Could Affect the 2024 Election”

Uncategorized,

More analysis on this story from NYT: 

….As Washington looks ahead to the 2024 vote, U.S. intelligence agencies last week released a report on the 2022 midterm elections — a document that gives us some hints about what might be to come. . . . 

In 2022, the intelligence report found, Russia attempted to denigrate Democrats, including by amplifying allegations of corruption by Mr. Biden’s family, in large measure because of his administration’s support for Ukraine. . . With Republican opposition to Ukraine funding growing, officials believe that Moscow is likely to try to interfere even more in 2024. . . . 

It is not entirely clear what China is going to do, or what side it will take in 2024. But the report suggests that Chinese leaders viewed the 2022 election as a chance to portray the U.S. model as chaotic.  . . .

China has already begun experimenting with artificial intelligence in its influence campaigns. Industry experts say that new technologies will make it easier for foreign countries to mimic native English speakers and generate messages amplifying existing divisions more rapidly.

Share this:

Lawyers’ Committee files amicus in Murthy v. Missouri

Uncategorized,

From the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:

Washington, DC – Today, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed an amicus brief in Murthy v. Missouri in support of social media platforms’ ability to censor harmful disinformation. The brief follows the Lawyers’ Committee’s similar filing last week in Netchoice, LLC v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice, LLC, the Supreme Court cases concerning Texas House Bill 20 and Florida Senate Bill 7072, laws that would vitiate the ability of online businesses to remove content spewing hate and disinformation on their platforms.

In the brief, the Lawyers’ Committee argues that social media companies have an obligation to safeguard elections from disinformation, misinformation and other threats, underscoring the importance of collaboration between these entities to develop and enforce policies that protect the integrity of the electoral process.

Share this: