Avaaz's experience in this matter is global and the message on point, so we thought it was worth sharing. There is also a pile of other linked information that you might find useful in relation to how news travels, how much money social media makes, a first hand account of how Russian trolls work & and who shares & believes fake news. You'll be surprised! Brazil’s new president, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, makes Trump look like a saint: he praises dictators, wants to destroy the Amazon, and says gay children should be beaten up. And like Trump, the polls said he stood no chance, but he still won! His secret weapon? DISINFORMATION. Bolsonaro’s supporters used fake accounts to flood social media with toxic lies designed to confuse voters and sow distrust. And it worked!! Polls now show that a large majority of his voters believed these lies, for example that his opponent was a paedophile. And it’s not just in Brazil. We’re all being targeted, wherever we live and whatever our political beliefs. This is the most serious threat facing our democracies today, and to stop it, we have to understand it.
Humans are hardwired to remember negative information over positive, it’s how we learn. Peddlers of disinformation know this and play on deep emotions, which make us far more likely to share it on social media -- and so it spreads up to six times faster than factual news!
The more time we spend on social media, the more money those companies make. They know that extreme and shocking content hooks our attention, so they programme their sites to promote it. And it reaches billions.The biggest newspapers sell a few million copies, while news on Facebook reaches over a BILLION per day.
Authoritarian leaders from Brazil to China are weaponizing disinformation as the newest move in the playbook for age-old divide and rule politics. But it’s Russia that leads the pack -- their huge ‘troll farms’ employ legions of people to set up millions of fake accounts to spread disinformation. And RT, Russia's propaganda outlet, is one of YouTube’s most-viewed news channels with an estimated 2 billion views!
Disinformation is driving vigilante violence in India and Brazil, and fueled brutal ethnic cleansing in Myanmar. It’s also poisoning our politics. Fake news helped give us Brexit, Bolsonaro, and Trump. And it’s destroying trust in mainstream media, our democratic institutions, and political leaders, creating the perfect breeding ground for anti-establishment strongmen to rise to power. Because of disinformation, social media is now a threat to democracy.
People across the political spectrum are being micro-targeted as part of a strategy to polarise and erode our societies. In the US, Russia's troll army created a fake page for American black activists that drew more followers than the official Black Lives Matter movement pages! We think we’d never fall for this stuff, but studies show that even the most educated among us tend to believe fake news, and people over 65 are even more likely to spread it.
Disinformation spreads distrust, fear, and lies. But the more we know about it, the more we can stop it -- share this briefing with friends and family to educate them on the disinformation threat. And read on to see how to protect yourself.
Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Seen a random Facebook post with shocking info about a political candidate? Don't trust it! Check the facts with reliable sources, and if you think you may have found a piece of disinformation, let Avaaz know here.
Most traditional media is covered by regulations and ethics that make it far more trustworthy than a random dude on the internet. They’re not perfect, but they check their facts and can be held responsible! Subscribing to a high quality newspaper with real journalism is one of the most powerful acts a citizen can take today.
Avaaz has a simple and effective plan to push the tech giants to cure the disinformation epidemic on social media -- by showing independently-verified factual corrections to fake news.
The goal of the troll armies is to create such a climate of distrust that ordinary citizens walk away from democracy. When that happens, fanatic extremists can dominate it. We must keep showing up and voting, encouraging our friends and family to do the same, and holding our elected officials to account.
Disinformation preys on our deepest fears, appealing to our natural negativity bias and bringing out our more angry and cynical sides. But if we can learn to engage with the arguments of people who don’t think like us, with empathy, big ears, and wisdom, we can connect across our differences. We have more in common than our fears make us believe. If we trust that, amazing things can happen.
I kind of knew this went on but had no idea it was this bad. Thank you for opening up my eyes. This is such incredibly important information and should be shared wisely. Monday, 20 May 2019