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  • Who’s Behind The (Mis)Leading Report?

    Reputable news sources demonstrate transparency in all aspects of their operation. They disclose their sources of funding, identify staff who produce their content and clearly indicate their sources of information. If they commit errors, they openly acknowledge and correct these errors. Our investigation shows Leading Report exhibits none of these characteristics. The two individuals who run the website and its X/Twitter account appear to hold no relevant credentials in health, medicine or journalism.

  • Authorities undertaking climate action targeted by viral “Climate lockdowns” narrative on social media

    The increasing number of measures to limit greenhouse gas pollution that can be expected in the future will certainly present opportunities for future weaponization and misrepresentation. Writers, editors, and journalists should be aware of these manipulation tactics when discussing the aftermath of COVID-19 restrictions or future climate policies, knowing that some actors are trawling for any evidence to boost the manufactured ‘climate lockdown’ outrage.

  • Misinformation superspreaders are thriving on Musk-owned Twitter

    A study of accounts that have repeatedly published popular tweets linking to known misinformation shows that their collective popularity has significantly grown (on average, +42% interactions per tweet) since Elon Musk took effective control of the platform on 27 October 2022. These results appear to run afoul of Twitter’s commitments as a signatory of the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation.

press

  • Rappler
Posted on:  2023-02-16

They’re getting smarter: How disinformation peddlers avoid regulation

Does Facebook’s method work? A study done by Science Feedback said yes, but only to a certain extent. Facebook’s interventions on accounts that repeatedly share disinformation and misinformation results in reduced engagement on posts that violate community standards. However, the study found that this did not change the behavior of repeat offenders in the long run.

Read the article “They’re getting smarter: How disinformation peddlers avoid regulation” (open in a new tab)
  • ProPublica
Posted on:  2022-10-29

How Google’s Ad Business Funds Disinformation Around the World

Science Feedback, a French nonprofit fact-checking organization that employs journalists and scientists, provided ProPublica with 427 active URLs of articles about climate change in French and other languages it has rated false since 2021. A fifth of them were earning money with Google, according to the analysis.

Read the article “How Google’s Ad Business Funds Disinformation Around the World” (open in a new tab)