Thread by @EliotHiggins

I’ve written this piece for the FT about the challenges we face globally with disinformation and the urgent need of a systematic approach to address the root causes of the creation and spread of disinformation, and the positive opportunities that offers.

https://twitter.com/FT/status/1735916218895208713

I believe that among many of the policymakers and practitioners who have attempted to address disinformation there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the causes of disinformation, which has undermined our ability to deal with it effectively.

There’s a perception that disinformation is created by outside actors who influence communities, and society as a whole. A typical example of this is the reaction to the 2016 election of Donald Trump, where much of the attention was focused on Russia interference.

In reality, the creation and spread of misinformation and disinformation is fuelled by communities that, for the most part, believe themselves to be truthseekers, not propagandists or agents of disinformation.

If we fail to recognise this then we cannot address the issues that result in the growth of these communities and the spread of disinformation. First, we need to understand 6 factors behind why these communities exist in the first place.

1 - Real Fears and Questions: Entry into conspiracy theories often begins with genuine concerns about personal or global issues, leading to a search for answers in alternative theories.

2 - Psychological Need during Crises: In times of crisis, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, people gravitate towards conspiracy theories as a coping mechanism to deal with uncertainty and fear.

3 - Distrust in Mainstream Narratives: Growing skepticism towards mainstream media and institutions leads individuals to embrace conspiracy theories that counter established narratives.

4 - Social Media Influence: Social media algorithms create echo chambers, amplifying conspiracy beliefs and distorting reality, making these theories appear more credible.

5 - Emotional Resonance and Community: Conspiracy theories offer emotional solace and a sense of belonging, providing simple explanations for complex issues and fostering community among believers.

6 - Personal Experiences and Identity: Individual backgrounds and personal experiences heavily influence the susceptibility to conspiracy theories, shaping one's identity and worldview.

My fear is that without understanding these issues those people who are in positions of power and attempt to counter disinformation only address the symptoms of what’s fundamentally a social and cultural issue.

That’s especially dangerous when the communities who create and spread misinformation and disinformation already have a deep distrust in traditional institutions, as those attempts are likely to reinforce their lack of trust in those institutions.

Throughout this, remember that many people involved with these communities see themselves as noble truth seekers, pushing back against mainstream narratives they believe are rooted in fundamental mistruths and deception.

Often this is rooted in genuine concern and a legitimate sense of betrayal. The 2003 Invasion of Iraq is a prime example of this, where many people, justifiably, felt a sense of betrayal from the media and politicians who built the case for war.

Events like these are hugely damaging to the public trust. We may see the Partygate scandal in the UK come to be another such driver of long term public mistrust in the media and politics.

Online spaces provide a place where people who have lost trust in these traditional institutions can find answers to the questions they no longer trust those traditional institutions to give truthful answers to, but that creates its own problem.

I like to use an example with Covid-19. Many people had questions about the safety of vaccines. mRNA vaccines were new to most people, so if you’ve got a question, you go to Google, and type in “are vaccines safe”, then you begin your online journey.

The first results you click on might be something quite mild, certainly not claims of Bill Gates putting microchips in vaccines, and you’ll find a whole community of people discussing it, blogging, making videos, etc.

The algorithm picks up that you have an interest in vaccine safety, so it recommends more related content. Now some of that content might be slightly more extreme, maybe suggesting vaccines have some issues that aren’t widely known. You’re curious, so you click on it.

You might not agree with what you see, but the algorithm doesn’t know what you think, just you clicked on that link, and starts recommending you more content, some of which is a little more extreme, and the process continues.

Effectively you’re being exposed to content that becomes more and more extreme as you continue to feed the algorithm information about what you’re looking at, sort of an algorithmic radicalisation.

At this point you might be thinking “well that didn’t happen to me, I’ve not been radicalised”, but most people aren’t. The problem is, if a small percentage of people go through that whole process, when we’re talking millions of people doing it, that’s a lot of people.

And at each level of this there are communities who produce content that reinforce those beliefs. It’s sort of an algorithmically mediated fractional distillation of the most extreme opinions society can hold.

As these views become more extreme the individual does not believe they are being pulled into conspiracy theories and extreme beliefs, but are coming closer to the truth, and that those outside of those beliefs are victims of forces trying to fool and manipulate them.

That means all the fact-checking websites and verification in the world isn’t going to help, because they fundamentally believe that the sources that provide them are untrustworthy, because they are aligned with those forces that are trying to fool and manipulate them.

So a legislative approach that focuses on deciding what is acceptable speech and what the truth is, merely acts to reinforce those beliefs, while also creating opportunities for bad actors to abuse those laws for their own ends.

What I believe we need to truly address this issue is first recognise that it is a social and cultural issue, and ask ourselves what steps we need to take to make society healthier. We also need to recognise the opportunities this creates, not just respond with fear & trepidation

Over the last decade through my work with Bellingcat, and even more decades of being extremely online, I’ve seen the amazing work that can be done by ordinary people from all kinds of backgrounds when they work together as a community.

Open-source investigation has democratised investigation, and has had a massive impact on a number of fields. If you look at the last couple of years, increasing numbers of organisation are adopting the use of open source investigation and evidence in their own work.

This includes some of those traditional sources of authority who have in the past acted as gatekeepers to information, but the rise of social media & our interconnectedness has created new opportunities for people to create and share information.

But what has been particularly effective are the efforts to develop communities, networks, and educational opportunities, something which I believe is core to addressing the challenges we face with disinformation.

I believe it will greatly benefit society if we are able to provide modern media literacy training to young people that reflects the information environments they operate in, and to equip them with the skills, knowledge, and methodologies to produce their own investigations.

I’ve been particularly inspired by the work of @studentvieworg, an organisation that teaches investigative journalism skills to young people, so they can investigate issues that impact them directly.
thestudentview.org

@studentvieworg This has resulted in a partnership between The Student View, Bellingcat, the PSHE Association, and Demos to develop a training programme and material for teachers to teach media literacy thestudentview.org/resources-hub/

@studentvieworg Our hope is that this can be expanded into a multi-year programme, that includes the setting up of pop-up newsrooms supported by local media, and teaching useful skills to the students for negotiating the increasingly complex and fragmented media environment.

@studentvieworg It’s also an opportunity to empower those students to have real impact on issues they care about, and to show them how evidence based investigations can result in real change.

@studentvieworg At university level, we hope to establish more cross-disciplinary, investigation teams, building on the success of projects like the Amnesty International Digital Verification Corps:
citizenevidence.org/2019/12/06/the…

@studentvieworg This leads to another important point - addressing disinformation needs proactive, not just reactive, measures. We can't just wait for false narratives to spread. We need environments where truthful information thrives from the start.

@studentvieworg Encouraging critical thinking and skepticism in a healthy, constructive way is essential. It’s about questioning and seeking evidence, understanding the difference between opinion and fact.

@studentvieworg Investing in building resilient communities is crucial. Support for local journalism, community projects, and educational programs that promote media literacy and awareness of disinformation tactics is needed.

@studentvieworg Collaboration between tech companies, governments, civil society, and educators is key. Each has a role in creating a more informed public and developing tools and policies that discourage the spread of disinformation

@studentvieworg The fight against disinformation isn’t just about combating lies, but fostering a society where truth and reason are valued and protected. It's about building a culture that celebrates knowledge and encourages open, honest discourse.

@studentvieworg Tackling disinformation effectively goes beyond fact-checking; it's about fostering grassroots movements, encouraging community engagement, and promoting a culture of critical thinking and truth-seeking.

@studentvieworg Empowering individuals at a local level can build a society that not only recognizes disinformation but also values and upholds the principles of truth and reason. You can read the full FT piece here ft.com/content/0b9469…

This 2019 chat of career aspirations of UK teens (11-16) freaked out a lot of people, but what this shows me is that young people want to be able to communicate and influence the world around them, so lets equip them with the tools and knowledge to do that in a positive way.