Thread by @CraigSilverman

IT’S HERE!

The new Verification Handbook for Disinformation and Media Manipulation is online and avialable for free. Let some of the world’s best experts teach you to investigate our chaotic information environment.

Link and thread:
datajournalism.com/read/handbook/… #OSINT #journalism

I'll take you through the chapters & case studies, and intro you to our fantastic authors. I was lucky to edit the book and thank @ejcnet for publishing it, and @craignewmark for funding the whole damn thing!

The previous Handbooks are free & online here: verificationhandbook.com

The incredible @cward1e wrote an introduction to the concept of information disorder:
datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

And a chapter about investigating messaging apps like WhatsApp: datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

She also read every other piece of content and offered her edits.

The introduction section has a great piece by @BostonJoan, "The Lifecycle of Media Manipulation." She offers important, accessible theory and case studies to help you understand how media manipulation works, and evolves:

datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

I also authored a piece for the introduction section. This excerpt has some key takeaways. Remember: Mindset is more important than tools, and signals of quality/engagement/authenticity are easily faked and manipulated in this environment!

datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

The next section of the book is about Investigating Actors & Content. @BrandyZadrozny has a whipsmart piece focused on social media accounts. So many good tips, tools, and clever ways of analyzing social media accounts (plus Dolly Parton!): datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

We have two case studies about social media accounts. Journalists from @rapplerdotcom show how they uncovered a nest of fake Facebook accounts: datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

@donie explains how he proved the biggest Black Lives Matter page on Facebook was fake: datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

The magical @henkvaness authored a chapter that "helps you to find primary sources online by getting rid of superficial results and digging deeper." Behold the search wizardry on Google, YouTube, Twitter etc: datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

We have two chapters and a case study from @bellingcat staffers. They wrote a chapter about spotting bots, cyborgs, and inauthentic activity:
datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

And a case study about activity on during during the Hong Kong protests: datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

I managed to rope my colleague @JaneLytv into sharing how she monitors for fakes and information operations during breaking news. She does this better than anyone in the world, and now you can know her secrets: datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

The first Handbook had foundational advice for verifying images/video. Read: verificationhandbook.com

Now we have a great chapter by @Flygirltwo and co. to help you "critically question and assess images to understand how and why they are being deployed." datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

Ah, but what about deepfakes and all that, you ask? We have @SamGregory with a fantastic chapter to help you think about & investigate deepfakes and emerging manipulation technologies: datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

The next section of the Handbook focuses on Investigating Platforms.

As noted, @cward1e has a chapter about messaging apps: datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

And we've got a case study from @ludtke about investigating a viral WhatsApp audio message in Brazil: datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

I wrote a chapter about one of my favorite things: investigating websites. It includes examples from stories I've done about Macedonian fake news farms, ad fraud schemes, and more. Lotsa tools and techniques, but also low tech stuff like the attached. datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

The other chapter from our friends at @bellingcat is about investigating ads on social media. This is a great guide to digging into the ad archives of different platforms: datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

And now for the trolls and how to track them across platforms. I recruited the extremely online @oneunderscore__ to give us a chapter about the chans, Reddit, and related platforms. See the attached advice! datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

The final chapter is *really important*: network analysis and attribution, by @benimmo. It ties a lot of the previous techniques together. This is a tricky area where people can go wrong. Always Be Careful About Attribution. datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

We end with two fantastic case studies.

@gabriellelim details the attribution process for an Iran-linked disinfo operation: datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

@BenDoBrown and @elisethoma5 walk you through uncovering an information operation in West Papua: datajournalism.com/read/handbook/…

I hope the book helps journalists, researchers, investigators, and others. This is important, difficult work and I'm grateful to our fantastic authors, contrib. editor @cward1e, stalwart copy editor @meperl, the superb @ejcnet team, and to @craignewmark for his support. Enjoy!

@cward1e @meperl @ejcnet @craignewmark Lots of folks have been asking if the new Verification Handbook for Disinformation and Media Manipulation is available in hard copy or as a PDF. We wanted to get it online ASAP so right now it’s just in the web version. But a PDF download is being worked on!