Twitter release data on state-backed propaganda from Iran and Russia
https://about.twitter.com/en_us/values/elections-integrity.html#data As part of it openness and transparency policy, Twitter have released information and datasets indicating that thousands of sources from Russia were used during the USA election campaign to manipulate news sources. TechCrunch discusses and gives links to the datasets.
How students engage with the news
A report from the US based Project information literacy which has implications for librarians and educators concerned with information literacy and the fight against fake news. During 2017/18 a sample of 5,844 respondents returned an online survey administered at 11 U.S. colleges, universities, and community colleges. Topics discussed include competency in evaluating sources and use of […]
Open Observatory of Network Interference: Tor Project
A free software, Global Observation Network, for detecting censorship, surveillance and traffic manipulation on the internet. You can look at a map to see measurements of censorship, interference and blocking of social media Its blog has a series of links to recent reports and discussion on use of blocking in specific countries and during individual election […]
How many times a day do you check your phone?
According to the latest Ofcom communications report people in the UK now check their smartphones, on average, every 12 minutes of the waking day. Their press release also has a fascinating infographic comparing usage and consumption of media from 2008 and 2018 which shows startling changes over the last ten years. The full report covers […]
Trends monitor
Trends Monitor is a research project being undertaken by Media Matters for Democracy to identify and document potential manipulation of political hashtags and conversations on Twitter in Pakistan through ‘human-bots’, especially in the wake of General Elections 2018. Look at the website to view its findings on whether manipulation occurred.
How much fake news is there?
A frightening new report from the Oxford Internet institute has a Global Inventory of Organized Social Media Manipulation. It found evidence of formally organised social media manipulation campaigns in 48 countries, an increase of 20 in the last year. One fifth of the manipulation recorded was via messaging apps.
Social media, smartphone and internet usage
Social media, smartphone and Internet usage is rising in ‘developing countries’ while developed countries’ usage plateaus according to the latest report from the Pew research group. It records that from 2013-2017 usage and access has been increasing more rapidly in developing nations than elsewhere. However its survey also shows considerable digital divides between areas of […]
World laws on online speech
The Stanford Center for Internet and Society (CIS) has relaunched World Intermediary Liability Map. This free online resource helps students track changing laws affecting online speech and platform responsibility around the world. Intermediary liability laws provide internet companies like Facebook, Google, CloudFlare, or your local ISP, with information on the legal responsibility they may have for […]
Digital Terrorism and Hate online
A new report from the Simon Wiesenthal center finds the rise of alt-tech far-right digital websites and platforms. The report also has an accompanying Digital Terrorism and Hate ‘Report Card’ which evaluates the efforts of powerful online platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter in removing extremist content.
Fake news spreads faster than true
A team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) cross-checked the spread of 126,000 stories on Twitter against a database of stories fact-checked by six independent organisations, including Snopes, Politifact and Factcheck. They discovered that untruths were 6 times more likely to spread faster: view the findings in Science magazine . Other new resources concerning about fake news include […]
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