Bloomberg looks at how nation-state-level propaganda is operated on the infrastructure of social media. The deeply interconnected world of modern online life is the perfect campaign ground for...
Bloomberg looks at how nation-state-level propaganda is operated on the infrastructure of social media. The deeply interconnected world of modern online life is the perfect campaign ground for surveillance, disinformation, and top-down control.
Only a few years after Twitter and Facebook were celebrated as the spark for democratic movements worldwide, states and their proxies are hatching new forms of digitally enabled suppression that were unthinkable before the age of the social media giants, according to evidence collected from computer sleuths, researchers and documents across more than a dozen countries.
Many of those findings are contained in a report released this week by a global group of researchers that uncovered evidence of state-sponsored trolling in seven countries, and Bloomberg reporters documented additional examples in several others.
(Here's the direct link of the PDF file State-Sponsored Trolling: How Governments Are Deploying Disinformation as Part of Broader Digital Harassment Campaigns)
I'm linking Reddit because I created a sticky of tools for seeing/combat political influence. I keep checking it to stay aware of ways it's being used because it makes me more conversational about...
Honestly, if you've ever worked in a data center, managed a mail or chat system, had any security visibility into connection logs, etc., state-sponsored attempts to decrease signal/noise ratio and...
Honestly, if you've ever worked in a data center, managed a mail or chat system, had any security visibility into connection logs, etc., state-sponsored attempts to decrease signal/noise ratio and otherwise interfere with the open Internet have been grossly evident since the early '00's.
This is not news to Facebook, Twitter, Google, et al. They made intentional decisions to prioritize growth over any reasonable semblance of user protection, and we've reaped the whirlwind. [Not to belabor the point, but unfettered capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction.]
A week or so ago, YouTube announced yet another campaign to push back agains bad actors, and all I could do was wonder how it would fail this time. For anyone still preaching that the “marketplace...
This is not news to Facebook, Twitter, Google, et al. They made intentional decisions to prioritize growth over any reasonable semblance of user protection, and we've reaped the whirlwind.
A week or so ago, YouTube announced yet another campaign to push back agains bad actors, and all I could do was wonder how it would fail this time.
For anyone still preaching that the “marketplace of ideas” will sort itself out, we are watching that premise fail literally all around us, literally all the time.
Not to belabor the point, but unfettered capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction.
I wish it could implode without taking the rest of us with it.
Well, I speculate that a slightly more likely future is mandatory social media participation and propaganda receiverhood, possibly via direct brain implant device, under hypertotalitarian...
Well, I speculate that a slightly more likely future is mandatory social media participation and propaganda receiverhood, possibly via direct brain implant device, under hypertotalitarian governments.
But on a more serious note, I guess that maybe the social media Internet's hierarchical, centralized structure is particularly amenable to propaganda campaigns. With the nation-state-level resources, the focus is on creating a few massively connected nodes, which has an advantage in taking over a network with scale-free characteristics. Those few "massively connected" nodes don't have to be physical ones; more likely they're botnet-like collectives under central control.
In related news, China's official news-propaganda agency, the Xinhua, is going in the direction of AI-powered automate newsroom. Fully automated news and opinion production could simply flood the network. Coupled with surveillance-based personal targeting, it could become... "Too powerful" doesn't cut it.
An AP writer is going to write one article… but what if you could write a hundred? Now, you’re not just a major player in the already-small number of players controlling a pretty big influence in a global conversation, but you’re the best player.
There's also the problem of perverse incentives. The few big companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Google, are not beholden to public good. Even if they "wanted" to, they couldn't have. Their internal structures and relationships with governments are not built to provide public good.
Its so frustrating to have seen this in real time. I remember when these companies were young and they had unofficial mottos like, “Don’t be evil.” Twitter is happily endorsing Nazi and white...
The few big companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Google, are not beholden to public good. Even if they "wanted" to, they couldn't have. Their internal structures and relationships with governments are not built to provide public good.
Its so frustrating to have seen this in real time. I remember when these companies were young and they had unofficial mottos like, “Don’t be evil.”
Twitter is happily endorsing Nazi and white supremecist accounts. Facebook told a policing subcontractor not to flag hate groups even though they violated Facebook’s terms. Google through YouTube finds it somehow impossible to give accounts like InfoWars a third strike despite its content being identical from video to video.
Google through YouTube finds it somehow impossible to give accounts like InfoWars a third strike despite its content being identical from video to video.
In short: Vids of disturbing content, made by bots, of disturbing, explicit content (think Mickey Mouse Masturbating) are being recommended by the algorithm, even making their way into Youtube...
In short: Vids of disturbing content, made by bots, of disturbing, explicit content (think Mickey Mouse Masturbating) are being recommended by the algorithm, even making their way into Youtube Kids.
Welp, there goes my dream of being a journalist. And yeah, social media is one of those things that doesn't seem to operate within the realm of "what's good for everyone"
Welp, there goes my dream of being a journalist. And yeah, social media is one of those things that doesn't seem to operate within the realm of "what's good for everyone"
Bloomberg looks at how nation-state-level propaganda is operated on the infrastructure of social media. The deeply interconnected world of modern online life is the perfect campaign ground for surveillance, disinformation, and top-down control.
(Here's the direct link of the PDF file State-Sponsored Trolling: How Governments Are Deploying Disinformation as Part of Broader Digital Harassment Campaigns)
I'm linking Reddit because I created a sticky of tools for seeing/combat political influence. I keep checking it to stay aware of ways it's being used because it makes me more conversational about it to know what they're doing/attempting: https://old.reddit.com/r/NewsofSeattle/comments/8z4gkl/ways_to_seecombat_political_influence/?st=jjw9lyib&sh=dd3202fd
Honestly, if you've ever worked in a data center, managed a mail or chat system, had any security visibility into connection logs, etc., state-sponsored attempts to decrease signal/noise ratio and otherwise interfere with the open Internet have been grossly evident since the early '00's.
This is not news to Facebook, Twitter, Google, et al. They made intentional decisions to prioritize growth over any reasonable semblance of user protection, and we've reaped the whirlwind. [Not to belabor the point, but unfettered capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction.]
A week or so ago, YouTube announced yet another campaign to push back agains bad actors, and all I could do was wonder how it would fail this time.
For anyone still preaching that the “marketplace of ideas” will sort itself out, we are watching that premise fail literally all around us, literally all the time.
I wish it could implode without taking the rest of us with it.
Great read. I wouldn't be surprised if, as a civilization, we decide to abolish or criminalize social media one day in the not too distant future
Well, I speculate that a slightly more likely future is mandatory social media participation and propaganda receiverhood, possibly via direct brain implant device, under hypertotalitarian governments.
But on a more serious note, I guess that maybe the social media Internet's hierarchical, centralized structure is particularly amenable to propaganda campaigns. With the nation-state-level resources, the focus is on creating a few massively connected nodes, which has an advantage in taking over a network with scale-free characteristics. Those few "massively connected" nodes don't have to be physical ones; more likely they're botnet-like collectives under central control.
In related news, China's official news-propaganda agency, the Xinhua, is going in the direction of AI-powered automate newsroom. Fully automated news and opinion production could simply flood the network. Coupled with surveillance-based personal targeting, it could become... "Too powerful" doesn't cut it.
There's also the problem of perverse incentives. The few big companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Google, are not beholden to public good. Even if they "wanted" to, they couldn't have. Their internal structures and relationships with governments are not built to provide public good.
Its so frustrating to have seen this in real time. I remember when these companies were young and they had unofficial mottos like, “Don’t be evil.”
Twitter is happily endorsing Nazi and white supremecist accounts. Facebook told a policing subcontractor not to flag hate groups even though they violated Facebook’s terms. Google through YouTube finds it somehow impossible to give accounts like InfoWars a third strike despite its content being identical from video to video.
I miss the "don't be evil" days
I remember a younger me legitimately thinking, “Google would never be evil.” Oh sweet, summer me.
:(
You think infowars is bad, try Elsagate.
Aaand I’m screaming.
I’m shocked (shocked) that YouTube’s algorithms failed.
What's that about? What's the spark notes?
In short: Vids of disturbing content, made by bots,
of disturbing, explicit content(think Mickey Mouse Masturbating) are being recommended by the algorithm, even making their way into Youtube Kids.Edit: Stupid me, saying disturbing content twice.
The fuck? Really?
Yep. This medium article is a pretty good explanation.
I guess I should have known about this. I remember seeing some questionable vids come up on the YouTube Kids account for the kids I sit for.
Welp, there goes my dream of being a journalist. And yeah, social media is one of those things that doesn't seem to operate within the realm of "what's good for everyone"
Journalism has never been more important.
I don't know about criminalization but it's become more and more evident that it needs to be regulated.