TEDx Talks - Rethinking how we fight disinformation | Inês Narciso | TEDxUnited Lisbon International School
The speaker differentiates between organic and intentional disinformation, emphasizing that organic disinformation often starts with genuine belief but can evolve into intentional disinformation for personal gain. The focus has traditionally been on digital literacy and fact-checking, which are important but insufficient. A broader societal approach is needed, similar to Portugal's non-criminal approach to drugs, involving community leaders and social security to address the root causes of disinformation. The speaker stresses the importance of building bridges and understanding the motivations behind beliefs, rather than isolating individuals. This involves promoting tolerance literacy and creating narratives that resonate with people's experiences, rather than simply countering false narratives. Politicians are urged to address underlying social issues like inequality and injustice, which make people susceptible to disinformation. The conclusion calls for understanding and addressing the human stories behind societal problems, rather than adopting a combative approach.
Key Points:
- Differentiate between organic and intentional disinformation; organic can evolve into intentional for personal gain.
- Traditional focus on digital literacy and fact-checking is important but insufficient; broader societal approach needed.
- Promote engagement over isolation by building bridges and understanding motivations behind beliefs.
- Address underlying social issues like inequality and injustice to reduce susceptibility to disinformation.
- Create resonating narratives that account for people's experiences, rather than just countering false narratives.
Details:
1. 🌱 Understanding Disinformation: Organic vs. Intentional
1.1. 🌱 Understanding Disinformation: Organic Disinformation
1.2. Intentional Disinformation: Strategic Manipulation
2. 🔄 Evolution of Disinformation: From Belief to Business
- The shift from organic to intentional disinformation lacks solutions for those in the middle, representing a missed opportunity to address this demographic.
- A select group, identified as 'the dozen,' are notably responsible for a large portion of vaccine-related disinformation, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions.
- Understanding the business dynamics of disinformation can aid in developing strategies to counteract its spread effectively.
- The dual perspective approach often used in disinformation analysis fails to address intermediary stages, indicating a gap in current methodologies.
3. 💡 Combating Disinformation: Literacy, Fact-Checking, and Forensics
3.1. Disinformation Dynamics
3.2. Countermeasures Against Disinformation
4. 🔎 The Middle Group: Digital Activists and Noise Makers
- Institutions face threats from hostile organizations and countries, requiring a criminal perspective to trace financial flows.
- Techniques such as influence operations, foreign information interference, and coordinated inauthentic behavior are analyzed for their disruptive potential.
- Countries use forensic methods to understand election manipulation tactics.
- The 'middle group,' comprising a large number of digital activists and noise makers, poses a significant challenge due to their substantial disruptive activity.
- Digital activists often use coordinated inauthentic behavior to amplify their message, requiring targeted forensic analysis to mitigate their impact.
- Noise makers contribute to foreign information interference, often without direct financial motivation but with significant influence on public discourse.
5. 🌍 Society's Role: A Comprehensive Approach to Disinformation
- In 2014, European countries recognized that solely relying on law enforcement and intelligence services was ineffective in combating disinformation.
- A comprehensive 'whole of society' approach was needed, acknowledging that prison sentences and police raids were insufficient deterrents.
- Efforts required the involvement of social security, education, schools, community leaders, and religious figures to address the root causes effectively.
6. 🤝 Building Bridges: Engaging Over Isolating
- Portugal's non-criminal approach to drugs offers a model for addressing disinformation by focusing on engagement rather than isolation. This approach can be adapted to tackle misinformation by understanding and rehabilitating rather than punishing.
- Engaging with individuals who hold opposing views, such as vaccine skeptics or those with anti-immigrant sentiments, is crucial. This involves active listening and dialogue to truly understand their perspectives and address underlying concerns.
- Prioritize tolerance literacy over merely digital literacy to significantly reduce polarization. This means educating people on understanding diverse viewpoints and fostering discussions that prevent reliance on disinformation.
- Create alternative narratives that provide a sense of purpose and identity for marginalized groups without them resorting to misleading or harmful narratives. This can be achieved by integrating inclusive community programs and support systems.
- Recognize and address the underlying motivations such as social injustice and economic inequality that make individuals more susceptible to disinformation. This can involve policy reforms and community initiatives to tackle these root causes.
7. 🌟 Crafting New Narratives: Addressing Societal Issues
- Politicians need to address deeper social issues rather than simply labeling narratives as false or misleading. It's crucial to go beyond surface-level dismissals and engage with the underlying beliefs that drive public perception.
- Understanding why certain narratives, such as immigrants committing more crimes, are believed by the public is essential. This involves examining the root causes and societal structures that perpetuate these beliefs.
- Instead of building counter-narratives, there should be a focus on creating new, resonating narratives that incorporate scientific truths and reach out to people. These narratives should be empathetic, relatable, and fact-based to effectively engage the audience.
- Lessons from the war on drugs and the war on terror indicate that a combative approach to societal problems is ineffective. Historical evidence suggests that aggressive tactics fail to address underlying issues and often exacerbate them.
- Societal problems should be addressed by understanding and incorporating deep human stories and elements. This approach involves integrating personal experiences and broader human truths to create narratives that resonate on an emotional level.