Summary

This document provides news and resources relating to disinformation.

Disinformation is the practice of spreading exaggerated or false information with a strategic impact and outcome. These efforts are sometimes state sponsored. Goals may be to erode public trust in institutions and/or to prop-up leaders who are likely to be harmful to an adversary.

Disinformation usually fuels fascism and, as such, it is the opposite of accurate facts and independent reporting that support democratically self-governing societies.

Eroding Trust

In 2023, a survey of U.S. citizens reflected some known trends of declining trust in society and institutions. These are the outcomes that would be desired by an unrelenting disinformation campaign. People have more trust in their choice of populist leader than in family, friends, media, or religious leaders.

Resources

Here are a few resources for further study on this topic.

• Ohio Secretary of State — “Disinformation Overview” — Excerpt: Disinformation is false information intended to deliberately deceive or mislead individuals. Criminals, terrorist or extremist groups, state-sponsored actors, and conspiracy theorists use disinformation as a tool to spread propaganda, disseminate conspiracy theories, incite distrust and confusion, or compel violence. This isn’t a new threat. Foreign powers have used disinformation to target enemies for hundreds of years. We used to call it “propaganda” or “information operations” – but social media has made it easier to spread and harder to detect while micro-targeting and artificial intelligence have intensified its impact. [Full PDF]
• U.S. State Department — “Disarming Disinformation: Our Shared Responsibility,” 8 February 2024. Excerpt: Russia has operationalized the concept of perpetual adversarial competition in the information environment by encouraging the development of a disinformation and propaganda ecosystem. This ecosystem creates and spreads false narratives to strategically advance the Kremlin’s policy goals. There is no subject off-limits to this firehose of falsehoods. Everything from human rights and environmental policy to assassinations and civilian-killing bombing campaigns are fair targets in Russia’s malign playbook. [More…]
• Wikipedia — “Disinformation” — Excerpt: Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic deceptions and media manipulation tactics to advance political, military, or commercial goals. Disinformation is implemented through attacks that “weaponize multiple rhetorical strategies and forms of knowing—including not only falsehoods but also truths, half-truths, and value judgements—to exploit and amplify culture wars and other identity-driven controversies.” [More…]

News

Below are some videos offering news and information about the impact of disinformation on democracy.

Calder Walton (16 Nov 2024)

“Top Harvard Intelligence Expert: ‘This is the Golden Age of Disinformation'” — Calder Walton is a world-leading expert on intelligence, national security, and geopolitics — a scholar at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. His recent book is “Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West.” The podcast host, Anthony Scaramucci, is the founder and managing partner of SkyBridge, a global alternative investment firm, and founder and chairman of SALT, a global thought leadership forum and venture studio. He is the host of the podcast Open Book with Anthony Scaramucci. A graduate of Tufts University and Harvard Law School, he lives in Manhasset, Long Island. [Source: Anthony Scaramucci Podcast]

Yuval Noah Harari (16 Nov 2024)

“Yuval Noah Harari: ‘Democracy is on the brink of collapse'” — [Source: The Jordan Harbinger Show]

Yuval Noah Harari (18 Oct 2024)

If the video below does not play here, you can watch it on YouTube.

“We can split the atom but not distinguish truth. Our information is failing us” — “Why is it that the quality of our information did not improve over thousands of years? Why is it that very sophisticated societies have been as susceptible as stone age tribes to mass delusion and the rise of destructive ideologies?” [Source: Big Think]

Yuval Noah Harari (16 Sep 2024)

“We Are on the Verge of Destroying Ourselves” — In Yuval Noah Harari’s new book “Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI,” the bestselling author and historian looks at the unique challenges that artificial intelligence represents for our time. Harari joins the show. [Source: Amanpour & Company]

Yuval Noah Harari (9 Sep 2024)

If the video below does not play here, you can watch it on YouTube.

“‘Nexus’ & Threat of AI in the Information Age” — Historian and best-selling author Yuval Noah Harari sits down with Jordan Klepper to discuss his new book, “Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks From the Stone Age to AI.” They talk about how people deal with an overflow of information, whether or not AI is an existential threat, the importance of human understanding in bureaucracy, and why there’s still hope. [Source: The Daily Show]

Yuval Noah Harari (5 Mar 2024)

“How AI Will Shape Humanity’s Future” — Stephen Colbert challenges historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari to explain why artificial intelligence may pose a threat to humanity. Watch as the bestselling author speculates on how our future could be shaped by AI, and check out his latest book, “Unstoppable Us: Volume Two,” available now. [Source: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert]

Jason Stanley (24 Oct 2021)

“The 10 tactics of fascism” — Fascism is a cult of the leader, who promises national restoration in the face of supposed humiliation by immigrants, leftists, liberals, minorities, homosexuals, women, in the face of what the fascist leader says is a takeover of the country’s media, cultural institutions, schools by these forces. Fascist movements typically, though not invariably, rest on an urban/rural divide. The cities are where there’s decadence, where the elites congregate, where there’s immigrants, and where there’s criminality. Each of these individuals alone is not in and of itself fascist, but you have to worry when they’re all grouped together, seeing the other as less than. Those moments are the times when societies need to worry about fascism. [Source: Big Think]