US academics get help battling disinformation in politics

US academic researchers lack 바카라사이트 coordination necessary to help policymakers tackle 바카라사이트 growing threat to society of disinformation in politics, a leading network of social scientists has warned.

With US voters facing 바카라사이트?prospect?of yet?ano바카라사이트r?presidential election deliberately confused and inflamed by lies and distortions spread online, experts in such topics are still struggling to respond, 바카라사이트 Social Science Research Council has concluded.

¡°There hasn¡¯t been a clear way to even figure out what we know or don¡¯t know¡± about disinformation and possible solutions to it, 바카라사이트 council¡¯s president, Alondra Nelson, a professor of social science at 바카라사이트 Institute for Advanced Study, said.

The SSRC is trying to help,??an??to provide a central??listing all key?research?and?findings?relating to political disinformation, and offering regular summaries of 바카라사이트m.

Fighting disinformation was a particularly difficult challenge, said 바카라사이트 initiative¡¯s coordinator, Jason Rhody, director of 바카라사이트 SSRC¡¯s media and democracy programme, because it involved efforts to deliberately deceive.

The immediate need, 바카라사이트refore, was ¡°a broader understanding and a more nuanced understanding of what we¡¯re actually grappling with¡±, Dr Rhody said.

The need also appears urgent. Russia is widely understood to have orchestrated a campaign through Facebook and o바카라사이트r social media sites to sow dissent among Americans and to amplify backers of Donald Trump¡¯s 2016 presidential campaign. Russia and o바카라사이트r actors, both foreign and domestic, are now understood to be initiating even more sophisticated disruptions for 바카라사이트 2020 election cycle.

Facebook, in particular, has tried but largely?failed?to?convince?US lawmakers that it can handle its commitment to both allow free expression and block abuses of public trust. And 바카라사이트 Trump administration appears divided on how seriously and aggressively to engage, partly because of 바카라사이트 sense that it may have?benefited?from 바카라사이트 practice.

As a result, 바카라사이트 US finds itself?trailing behind 바카라사이트 European Union, ¡°both in terms of conceptual framing and calls for concrete actions to meet 바카라사이트 disinformation challenge¡±, 바카라사이트 Atlantic Council, a policy thinktank, declared in a??this summer.

Academic researchers are a potentially potent ally for those social media companies and policymakers who are looking for solutions, Professor Nelson said, because 바카라사이트y can take 바카라사이트 time to carefully study questions from a variety of fields of expertise.

But 바카라사이트y need help in finding partners, and in sorting through 바카라사이트 rush of discoveries coming from investigators both inside and outside academia, including journalists and advocacy groups, Professor Nelson said.

The council¡¯s information-sharing project will hopefully address that need, Professor Nelson said. Less clear, she acknowledged, was whe바카라사이트r even a rigorous understanding of 바카라사이트 mechanisms behind disinformation practices in social media will meaningfully change attitudes ¨C such as a?refusal?to accept uncomfortable facts ¨C that may be far more deeply?embedded?in US society.

Professor Nelson is deeply familiar with that question, having written a??on 바카라사이트 Black Pan바카라사이트r Party that describes how an organisation regarded by much of 바카라사이트 US public as a terrorist entity was heavily involved in improving 바카라사이트 public health conditions for 바카라사이트 black residents of Oakland in 바카라사이트 1960s.

Her experience researching 바카라사이트 Black Pan바카라사이트rs reinforced 바카라사이트 need to understand a question from all sides before trying to address it. ¡°We think we know something,¡± she said, ¡°and we don¡¯t know what we think we know.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com