Kevin Roose and Kate Conger, June 5th 2019, New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/05/business/youtube-remove-extremist-videos.html?searchResultPosition=2&login=email&auth=login-email YouTube announced plans on Wednesday to remove thousands of videos and channels that advocate neo-Nazism, white supremacy and other bigoted ideologies in an attempt to clean up extremism and hate speech on its popular service. The new policy will ban “videos alleging that a […]Read More

US yanks funds for anti-Iran Twitter feed after complaints Associated Press in the Washington Post, June 1st 2019 The State Department has suspended funding for an online project aimed at fighting Iranian disinformation after it tweeted harsh criticism of individual human rights workers, academics and journalists, some of whom are U.S. citizens. Facebook and Twitter […]Read More

The Week in Tech: Disinformation’s Huge Inaction ProblemJamie Condliffe, May 31 2019, New York TimesFacebook’s ‘many open questions.’ G.D.P.R. is one year old! Facebook Isn’t Deleting the Fake Pelosi Video. Should it?The Associated Press in the New York Times, May 30 2019When a doctored video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi began making the rounds on […]Read More

John Villasensor, Brookings Institution, Monday, June 3, 2019https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2019/06/03/deepfakes-social-media-and-the-2020-election/ What happens when you mix easy access to increasingly sophisticated technology for producing deepfake videos, a high-stakes election, and a social media ecosystem built on maximizing views, likes, and shares? America is about to find out. As I explained in a TechTank post in February 2019, “deepfakes […]Read More

Our Take Insight into the state of political affairs in Europe: ASD Senior Fellow Kristine Berzina appeared on Euronews’ Raw Politics to discuss the fallout from the recent Austrian political scandal and the latest developments related to the European Council Summit. Berzina highlighted the risks that working with far-right parties pose to more centrist parties […]Read More

Iran Facebook and Twitter Disable New Disinformation Campaign With Ties To Iran | Tony Romm | The Washington Post U.S. Cuts Funds for ‘Anti-Propaganda’ Iran Group that Trolled Activists | Julian Borger | The Guardian Healthcare Disinformation Facebook Pledged Crackdown on Vaccine Misinformation. Then Not Much Happened | Jeff Horwitz | Wall Street Journal  Weaponized Health Communication: […]Read More

Can the IC police foreign disinformation on social media? May 28 2019, FCW, https://fcw.com/articles/2019/05/28/warner-intel-misinformation-center.aspx An altered video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appearing to stutter and slur her words generated millions of views on Facebook and other social networks late last week and was retweeted by President Donald Trump. The social network appended an alert […]Read More

Jamie Condliffe, May 31 2019, New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/technology/facebook-disinformation-nancy-pelosi.html Almost everybody wants something done about disinformation. So why does it seem that nothing is changing? Recently, a fake video of Speaker Nancy Pelosi hit the web. It was slowed down and pitch adjusted so she appeared drunk or ill. Despite being fake, it was a totem […]Read More

US sets up $75 million grant to combat Iranian ‘disinformation’ in Syria Staff writer, Al Arabiya English, May 28 2019 http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2019/05/28/Report-US-strategy-in-Syria-includes-grant-to-combat-Iranian-disinformation-.html The United States State Department has set up a $75 million grant to be spent in Syria to combat ISIS and the “disinformation” carried out by Iran inside the country. According to the Department […]Read More

Tony Romm, May 29 2019, Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/05/28/facebook-twitter-disable-new-disinformation-campaign-with-ties-iran/?noredirect&utm_term=.0084234ad9db Facebook and Twitter each said on Tuesday they had disabled a sprawling disinformation campaign that appeared to originate in Iran, including two accounts on Twitter that mimicked Republican congressional candidates and may have sought to push pro-Iranian political messages. Some of the disabled accounts appeared to target […]Read More