Combating Disinformation
Online sources from which to learn what to watch out for and how to protect yourself against information warfare
“There is truth and there are lies. Lies told for power and for profit. And each of us has a duty and responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders – leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation — to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.”
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
President of the United States
The cyber-world is a magnificent and truly unique setting.
While it certainly would be an easy and pleasant task to write about the uncountable good things about the internet and its corollary the world-wide-web (WWW) that is not my purpose today in producing this important and eminently useful and vital list of online resources—the information, knowledge, and tools—that anyone can use to help secure themselves and those who they interact with online from becoming the unrealized and often-times unwitting targets of unscrupulous entities who seek to confuse, disrupt, manipulate, or otherwise subvert anyone that they can interact with, by and largely via social-media platforms of which Substack has shown itself to be one such useful platform for malicious actors.
What follows is a list of websites/webpages that contain reliable, trustworthy, and useful information to help counteract disinformation and to learn how to tell the difference between dis-information and mis-information.
The titles are hyperlinked directly to the websites, below the titles I have provided each one with a brief quote to provide some sense of each pages’ contents and some idea of how much material each page contains.
In the context of the current information war we are all struggling with both online and off-line this is important information and more than worthwhile as something to be shared with as many people as possible. So please I strongly encourage everyone to either cross-post, restack, or share this newsletter wherever you can.
Tactics of Disinformation (10 pages, downloadable PDF)
A concise, focused PSA graphic bulletin published by The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
Disinformation actors use a variety of tactics to influence others, stir them to action, and cause harm. Understanding these tactics can increase preparedness and promote resilience when faced with disinformation.
COUNTERING DISINFORMATION IN THE UNITED STATES CSC White Paper #6
(42 pages, downloadable PDF) Published by the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC)
This “white paper specifies 7 recommendations to diminish the prevalence of and build greater individual and societal resilience to disinformation and malign foreign influence.”
In its March 2020 final report, the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission called on the U.S. government to promote digital literacy, civic education, and public awareness in order to build societal resilience to foreign malign cyber-enabled information operations. As the scourge of disinformation swept across the globe and expanded its scope beyond elections, the Commission decided to conduct a deeper examination of cyber-enabled disinformation and propose steps that the United States could take to begin building greater resilience to disinformation, particularly from foreign actors. While many facets of the Commission’s original strategy of “layered cyber deterrence” can be applied in the context of combating cyber-enabled disinformation, further action is needed from policymakers and lawmakers to enable the United States to better prevent, withstand, and respond to disinformation.
The white paper is the result of research and deliberation by Commission staff and commissioners and specifies seven recommendations to both diminish the prevalence of disinformation in the information ecosystem and build greater individual and societal resilience to disinformation and malign foreign influence:
Tools That Fight Disinformation Online powered by the RAND institute (23 webpages)
A RAND Institute publication there are eighty (82) individual resources listed at this URL. Note: not all individual resources’ details page have an operative link, and in those cases the resource in question might have reached its sunset or has relocated.
The above titled webpage is a product of “A RAND Initiative to Restore the Role of Facts and Analysis in Public Life” titled as “Countering Truth Decay”
How to Stop Disinformation: We all have the power to counter and interrupt disinformation (~10 webpages)
This is an “Explainer” published by The Union of Concerned Scientists and is easy to read and in spite of the number of pages is actually less than 1200 words long (that is slightly less than two printed pages of text in total) that are broken up into five short focused parts.
First, the bad news. No amount of finger-pointing is going to help convince someone who’s fallen into the disinformation trap that they’re wrong.
Presenting facts and evidence to counter a lie doesn’t often work, either.
What actually works
Now, the good news: Once you've identified disinformation, there are evidence-based ways to protect yourself and the communities you belong to from disinformation.
Using these tips, you can stop disinformation’s spread, minimize its damage, and respond to it effectively.
Sharing is not caring
When you encounter a piece of disinformation, the most important thing you can do is to stop it from spreading.
That means: Do not share disinformation
If you see disinformation on Facebook, don’t share, comment on, or react to it. If you’re on Twitter, resist the temptation to retweet, quote tweet, or share a screenshot.
Why? Even if you’re pointing out that it’s wrong, spreading the disinformation helps further the goals of the bad actors behind it. [Emphasis added, RJR]
How? Algorithms. When you share, react to, click on, or otherwise engage with disinformation on social media, even to mock or debunk it, you’re telling a social media algorithm that the item is popular. This encourages the algorithm to spread it and similar content more widely, so it appears more often and in more people’s feeds.
And when a lie is repeated and seen multiple times, people unintentionally begin to accept it as truth due to their increased familiarity with the false claim, a phenomenon known as the illusory truth effect.
The United Nations—Countering Disinformation (5 webpages, with a link to a downloadable PDF page)
A report produced and published by the United Nations. The webpage titled above provides some good concise descriptions of a few key terms relating to disinformation and in the second opening paragraph is a text link to the report itself which is 19 PDF pages long.
The UN General Assembly has expressed concern over the proliferation of disinformation and has welcomed the efforts of the Secretary-General to promote international cooperation in countering disinformation. In response to that, the Secretary-General has submitted a report based on information and best practices shared by States, UN entities and others on countering disinformation.
In his report, Countering disinformation for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the Secretary-General describes the challenges posed by disinformation and the responses to it, sets out the relevant international legal framework and discusses measures that States and technology enterprises reported to have taken to counter disinformation.
How Can Government Fight Back Against Disinformation? (4 webpages)
A publication published at Government Technology (govtech.com), a private sector professional publication that focuses on the intersection of Government and technology.
An article authored by Jule Pattison-Gordon that is focused on:
In the midst of an election year, evolving AI has in part led to a massive spike in deepfake-powered disinformation, but at a recent Brookings event, experts discussed how lawmakers and officials can play defense.
Countering Disinformation Effectively: An Evidence-Based Policy Guide: A high-level, evidence-informed guide to some of the major proposals for how democratic governments, platforms, and others can counter disinformation. (This is 130 page report “Policy Guide” composed of 12 chapters examines 10 different case studies and is accessible directly on the linked to website or can be downloaded directly from the main webpage)
This report is a publication of The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Summary
Disinformation is widely seen as a pressing challenge for democracies worldwide. Many policymakers are grasping for quick, effective ways to dissuade people from adopting and spreading false beliefs that degrade democratic discourse and can inspire violent or dangerous actions. Yet disinformation has proven difficult to define, understand, and measure, let alone address.
Even when leaders know what they want to achieve in countering disinformation, they struggle to make an impact and often don’t realize how little is known about the effectiveness of policies commonly recommended by experts. Policymakers also sometimes fixate on a few pieces of the disinformation puzzle—including novel technologies like social media and artificial intelligence (AI)—without considering the full range of possible responses in realms such as education, journalism, and political institutions.
This report offers a high-level, evidence-informed guide to some of the major proposals for how democratic governments, platforms, and others can counter disinformation. It distills core insights from empirical research and real-world data on ten diverse kinds of policy interventions, including fact-checking, foreign sanctions, algorithmic adjustments, and counter-messaging campaigns. For each case study, we aim to give policymakers an informed sense of the prospects for success—bridging the gap between the mostly meager scientific understanding and the perceived need to act. This means answering three core questions: How much is known about an intervention? How effective does the intervention seem, given current knowledge? And how easy is it to implement at scale?
Disarming Disinformation: Our Shared Responsibility (12 pages)
A United States Department of State webpage of which its Mission & Vision are described below:
Mission: To direct, lead, synchronize, integrate, and coordinate U.S. Federal Government efforts to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining or influencing the policies, security, or stability of the United States, its allies, and partner nations.
Vision: To be a data-driven body leading U.S. interagency efforts in proactively addressing foreign adversaries’ attempts to undermine U.S. interests using disinformation and propaganda.
Our shared responsibilities as found at the above linked to title page are detailed in regularly updated areas as follows: News Releases, Reports, Statements, Past Products, Resources, Counter Disinformation Dispatches, with additional resources from Allies and Partners.
Disinformation is one of the Kremlin’s most important and far-reaching weapons. 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.
Truth disarms Russia’s disinformation weapons. The Kremlin creates and spreads disinformation in an attempt to confuse and overwhelm people about Russia’s real actions in Ukraine, Georgia, and elsewhere in Europe. Because the truth is not in the Kremlin’s favor, Russia’s intelligence services create, task, and influence websites that pretend to be news outlets to spread lies and sow discord. Disinformation is a quick and fairly cheap way to destabilize societies and set the stage for potential military action. Despite having been exposed for engaging in these malign activities countless times, Russia continues to work counter to international norms and global stability.
Tackling Misinformation: A Three-Pronged Approach (2+ pages)
This is a short, but concisely written “perspective” that focuses on misinformation that was authored by “Claire Wardle, Ph.D., Professor of the Practice, Brown University School of Public Health” which is published online by the National Institutes of Health an official website of the U. S. Department of Health & Human Services. There are also several linked to PDF containing important and useful information.
The concluding remarks also provide a basic simple summary of the page. This is well worth reading!
Rebuilding trust in our institutions, including in healthcare, journalism, and government, is going to take time. Misinformation is always going to be a feature of our information ecosystem. There’s no silver bullet, but it requires a combination of these three tactics:
Answering people’s questions or concerns effectively—from foundational questions such as, “How does a vaccine actually work?” to timely questions, such as, “Why am I hearing of more athletes having heart attacks?”
Building resilience to false and misleading information. This can be done using health literacy and information techniques, like prebunking (actively warning people about specific falsehoods they are likely to encounter).
Responding quickly to misinformation with accurate information shared by trusted voices.
Our information ecosystem improves when science and health communicators consistently invest in approaches to combat misinformation. These techniques allow communicators to respond effectively to their audiences’ needs and assist them in making informed health decisions that help them stay safe and healthy
If you learned anything new or of interest to you or if you think someone you know whether it be an individual or a larger audience might benefit from reading my writings, then please take the time to cross-post, restack, or share this essay or any of my other writings. The more people know about what is happening with our Democracy the better are our chances of defending our freedoms and civil rights against the scourge and destitution of the MAGA-Republican movement and its defacto dictator convict-Trump.
Thank you for reading.
Robert J. Rei, Fall River, MA
"There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self." -Aldous Huxley
I would like to see individuals barred from immigrating to the United States if they are known disinformation trolls or have worked for a troll farm.
Great resource! Don’t forget Barb McQuade’ book on Disinformation too: “Attack from Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America”.