Combating Misinformation In Times Of Uncertainty Foreign Press

If you have just a few minutes, here are the key points addressed in the article: As the U.S. awaits Donald Trump's return to the White House, uncertainty prevails with respect to his statements about mass deportations, cuts to social services, and drastic modifications to education and health policies. Given the context, it’s no wonder that some members of Hispanic and Latino communities in the country are feeling anxious. There is evidence — which became clear during the COVID-19 pandemic — that disinformation is designed to take advantage of our emotions. It also tends to spread farther and more rapidly during times of change and uncertainty.

When people have questions and there are gaps in information, the disinformers (those who profit from lies), take advantage, “magically” putting forth what appear often to be simple answers or solutions. Keeping this in mind, here are some tips to protect yourself from falling for or sharing false or alarmist content. Navigating the Information Deluge: Strategies for Discerning Truth in Times of Uncertainty In an era defined by rapid information dissemination, the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation poses a significant challenge, particularly during periods of uncertainty and change. The inherent human aversion to ambiguity fuels the search for answers, creating fertile ground for the spread of false or misleading narratives. The upcoming return of Donald Trump to the White House exemplifies such a period, with his pronouncements on immigration, social services, education, and healthcare generating widespread anxiety, particularly among Hispanic and Latino communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic starkly demonstrated how disinformation exploits emotional vulnerabilities, spreading more rapidly amidst uncertainty. As questions arise and information gaps emerge, purveyors of disinformation capitalize on these vulnerabilities, offering seemingly simple solutions that often lack factual basis. This article delves into strategies for navigating this complex information landscape and protecting oneself from the pitfalls of misinformation and disinformation. One crucial element in combating misinformation is transparency. Acknowledging the limits of knowledge and clearly distinguishing between what is known and what remains uncertain is paramount. Fact-checking organizations, like Factchequeado, exemplify this principle by emphasizing evidence-based analysis and transparently communicating their judgments.

While acknowledging uncertainty is essential, the manner in which it is conveyed is equally crucial. The format of information presentation significantly impacts comprehension and interpretation. The inherent human need for certainty often clashes with the reality of limited knowledge and the probabilistic nature of future predictions. Research reveals that specific formats are more effective in conveying uncertainty. While words are generally easier to understand than numbers, they lack precision. Numerical ranges, presented in brackets alongside the main value, offer a more accurate representation of uncertainty surrounding data.

Large numbers and specialized jargon can hinder comprehension and should be used judiciously. Verbal expressions of probability, such as "likely," are often interpreted subjectively, leading to cumulative misinterpretations. Repeating the claim that something is "likely" across various sources does not increase the actual probability of the event. The challenge of communicating uncertainty is further compounded by the public’s tendency to interpret verbal probability expressions cumulatively. Encountering repeated assertions that something is "likely" can lead to the erroneous conclusion that it is "very likely." This phenomenon underscores the importance of precise language and the avoidance of ambiguous terms. Moreover, studies indicate that expressing uncertainty through phrases like "the figures could be higher or lower" can diminish trust in the information and the communicator.

Similarly, when predictions presented with certainty prove inaccurate, trust is eroded. A high-level, evidence-informed guide to some of the major proposals for how democratic governments, platforms, and others can counter disinformation. The Technology and International Affairs Program develops insights to address the governance challenges and large-scale risks of new technologies. Our experts identify actionable best practices and incentives for industry and government leaders on artificial intelligence, cyber threats, cloud security, countering influence operations, reducing the risk of biotechnologies, and ensuring global digital inclusion. The goal of the Partnership for Countering Influence Operations (PCIO) is to foster evidence-based policymaking to counter threats in the information environment. Key roadblocks as found in our work include the lack of: transparency reporting to inform what data is available for research purposes; rules guiding how data can be shared with researchers and for what...

Carnegie’s Information Environment Project is a multistakeholder effort to help policymakers understand the information environment, think through the impact of efforts to govern it, and identify promising interventions to foster democracy. 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. Attempts by Russia, China, and other U.S. adversaries to spread dangerous false narratives need to be countered before they take root.

Dana S. LaFon is the 2023–24 National Intelligence Fellow at CFR. Disinformation campaigns can be a powerful tool to shape beliefs on matters of great geopolitical importance. Bad actors can deploy them against rivals to sow costly discord, create political uncertainty, and deepen divides within a community. Monitoring and “pre-bunking” even the most obscure claims is important because, if left unaddressed, their damage can be hard to undo, and in some cases, those false narratives can presage a real-life attack. There are three steps to building an effective disinformation campaign: 1) craft an influential false narrative around an egregious lie; 2) amplify the false narrative across various channels using influence principles; and 3) obfuscate...

A prime example is the Russian government’s false narrative that the United States has been developing bioweapons in Ukraine for years. Importantly, this narrative was among the earliest indicators that Russia intended to invade Ukraine. A 2022 Microsoft report [PDF] found that Russian disinformation operatives “pre-positioned” the false claim in November 2021, when it was featured on a YouTube channel operated by an American based in Moscow. When Russia invaded Ukraine three months later, Kremlin-operated news sites such as RT and Sputnik News referred to the pre-positioned report as an authoritative account that justified Russia’s invasion. This narrative has been debunked repeatedly, including by NewsGuard, a U.S.-based media watchdog whose analysts are specially trained to identify the spreading of false information. This disinformation campaign is similar to one the Soviet Union employed in 1980’s, which claimed that the United States developed HIV/AIDS as a bioweapon.

People Also Search

• Combating Misinformation in Times of Uncertainty - FOREIGN PRESS
• Social media trust: Fighting misinformation in the time of crisis
• Recommendations for countering misinformation
• How to deal with mis- and disinformation in times of uncertainty
• Managing Misinformation and Disinformation During Periods of Uncertainty
• Countering Disinformation Effectively: An Evidence-Based Policy Guide ...
• Communication in the Time of Uncertainty and Misinformation
• How the U.S. Can Counter Disinformation From Russia and China
• Combating information warfare: state and trends in user-centred ...
• Misinformation, Disinformation, and Fake News: Lessons from an ...