The Rise of Social Media and The War Against Disinformation
Although adversaries have engaged in disinformation campaigns against their opponents in the past, the increased use of the Internet and the rise of social media in the 21st century have made disinformation campaigns more effective. Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a new disinformation campaign in Europe and the US where individuals are spreading negative messages about democratic countries’ inability to effectively respond to the crisis. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, expressed that she is worried about the health and safety of those who fall victim to this dangerous information. Disinformation could also have a negative impact on the legitimacy of democratic institutions. To their credit, social media companies have actively attempted to reduce the spread of disinformation on their platforms, but more needs to be done.
Modern disinformation campaigns spread successfully on social media in part because not enough people have been properly trained to effectively combat it on their social media timelines. European countries and the United States should improve media literacy education for students to promote critical thinking and effective fact-checking. In light of the negative effect disinformation has had on democratic legitimacy and governments’ ability to respond to public health crises, it is important for countries to address the disinformation problem before the next global crisis hits.
WHERE DID DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGNS ORIGINATE?
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union engaged in mass propaganda campaigns that focused on spreading disinformation. Through Operation Infektion or Operation Denver, the KGB spread disinformation about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, claiming that the United States created the virus as a biological weapon to use against the Soviet Union and its allies. The KGB’s goal for this campaign was to create a favorable view of themselves while simultaneously ruining the United States’ global reputation.
Disinformation campaigns did not end when the Cold War was over. Modern disinformation campaigns thrive in the current media environment. For example, in 2014, unidentified malicious actors launched a Secondary Infektion campaign with the goal of undermining democratic institutions in Europe and the US, sowing division within countries, and dividing countries on a global scale. The group launched attacks against Hilary Clinton’s campaign in the 2016 US election and interfered in the 2017 French election. In addition, unidentified campaigns now spread disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Romer and Jamieson found one-third of people believed China created the COVID-19 virus as a biological weapon, and Pew Research reported a quarter of people believe government officials planned the pandemic.
To make identifying the origins of disinformation campaigns more problematic, there is a rise in non-state actors engaging in their own campaigns. This is particularly the case with far-right groups. CrowdTangle analyzed 8 million Facebook posts and found that sources categorized as far-right misinformation had significantly more engagement with users than any other type of partisan post.
HOW DISINFORMATION UNDERMINES DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS
Disinformation campaigns undermine democratic institutions by creating feelings of distrust among citizens towards their governments. As seen in the US, election disinformation campaigns have encouraged voters and elected officials to support restrictive voting laws. These laws are aimed at upholding “election integrity.” However, Hajnal, Lajevardi, and Nielson 2017 found that strict elections laws decrease the voter turnout of minority populations, therefore decreasing overall turnout which can impact the outcome of future elections.
The negative impact of disinformation on the quality of democracy reached its peak at the insurrection on the United States Capitol in January 2021. The European Parliament published their own report on the insurrection outlining the dangers of disinformation. The report claims that President Trump’s tactics accelerated the spread of anti-democratic values throughout the United States and other democratic countries.
COVID-19 disinformation also has reduced trust in government officials and researchers. As a result of this mistrust, people began to spread disinformation about masking and vaccines. The Rockefeller Foundation reports that people exposed to COVID-19 related disinformation are less likely to receive the vaccine. This makes it harder for governments to effectively address the COVID-19 pandemic and reopen economies.
CURRENT APPROACHES TO BATTLE DISINFORMATION
In 2017, the U.S. Congress introduced the Honest Ads Act, requiring big tech companies to report who buys advertisements on their platforms and what they advertise. However, the Bill never made it out of committee even after it was reintroduced in 2019. In 2018, the European Union published a Code of Practice signed by big tech companies that requires them to make advertisements transparent, to remove bots and fake accounts, to support the research community, and to disrupt the advertisement revenue from fake news sites. Since the EU published the Code of Practice, the COVID-19 pandemic increased the amount of disinformation and some believe that the Code needs to be expanded upon to be more effective.
In addition to the EU’s Code of Practice, some tech companies use a three-step approach to battle disinformation: promote accurate information, remove bad information, and attempt to prevent disinformation from appearing at all. Google achieves this by portraying information from trusted websites first. For example, when you search ‘coronavirus,’ the CDC and World Health Organization websites appear first. Facebook also added a fact-checking feature that gives articles alongside information that may be inaccurate.
However, these action plans are only triaging the current situation. Officials need to find long-term solutions to combat future disinformation campaigns. Removing posts and supplying people with information from accurate websites can only go so far. Unless people are properly educated on media literacy, there is always a chance someone will fall victim to a new disinformation campaign.
EDUCATIONAL POLICY FOR LONG TERM IMPROVEMENTS
Most of the current actions against disinformation focus on transparency of platforms, independent fact-checkers, as well as other triage type actions to prevent disinformation from continuing to spread. However, a stronger education policy needs to be adopted to ensure future generations have the skills to battle disinformation on their own. Finland has developed a process to fight disinformation with education in schools that encourages critical thought and personal fact-checking. FactBar developed the program in Finland to teach students about three concerning categories of false information: misinformation or information that is unintentionally mistaken, disinformation or information that is intentionally deceptive, and malinformation or information that intends to harm its viewers. This style of media literacy education is effective. The Media Literacy Index 2018 ranked Finland number one in media literacy out of 35 different European countries due to their extensive education.
The United States and European countries should hold a symposium to identify the current state of media literacy education in each country and identify ways to improve media literacy education for younger generations. The goal of the symposium should be to create a curriculum for high school students that teaches them the history and danger of disinformation campaigns as well as gives them tools to avoid falling victim to these campaigns. Currently, private companies like Microsoft have launched their own media literacy tools. However, creating national programs ensure that all students receive crucial media literacy education. National media literacy programs will provide long-term solutions to fight disinformation by giving students tools to combat it on their own timelines.
Photo Credit: Mikhail Denishchenko; PublicDomainPictures.net
