Upgrade Democracy

India's media ecosystem is huge, diverse and struggling with disinformation. Meet AltNews, who are up for the challenge! AltNews is a media company focusing on countering disinformation in India. While employing classic methods of journalistic fact-checking, AltNews has earned a reputation for being more successful than others in uncovering and countering disinformation, not only from extremist groups but also from government branches. Despite government repressions, AltNews has been relentless in calling out disinformation in India's highly complex political and media landscape, which is why they were shortlisted for the Nobel peace prize in 2022. With their efforts, AltNews greatly contributes to holding public figures accountable, providing trustworthy information, and upholding basic human rights. To find out more about AltNews and their work, visit: ➡ https://lnkd.in/ePaf8cFr #PerspectivesOnDemocracy #CounteringDisinformation #Inspiration #AltNews #India

Sleeping Giants Brasil - Disrupting the Profitable Business of Disinformation Sleeping Giants is part of the global Sleeping Giants movement, founded in the U.S. in 2016, aiming to remove ads from websites that actively promote hate speech and disinformation. According to the organisation, they have prevented 71.6 million Brazilian real (approx. 13.4 million EUR) in ad revenue from being earned by websites that spread hate speech and/or false information online. 📢 Success Story: Their "Demonetise Jovem Pan" campaign after the Brazilian elections cut ad funding for a major far-right media outlet and helped preventing potential destabilising actions by that. As for its business model, Sleeping Giants Brazil relies on donations as well as subscriptions supported by their community. Amazing work, team! Learn more about them here: https://buff.ly/3VajKnf #SleepingGiantsBrazil #PerspectivesOnDemocracy #CounteringDisinformation

💡 Labelling for AI-generated content is coming to TikTok Content labelling on social media has been a hotly debated topic: What needs to be labelled, by whom, through which means, how visible, and when is it simply too much and only adding to people's confusion? Yet, it is also clear that disinformation risks to undermine trust in our information ecosystem. This can be amplified through content, which is auto-generated, manipulated, or created with the help of AI tools, without clearly indicating that this content has been manufactured. On that note it is laubable that TikTok has pledged to roll out labels for AI-generated content to all their users, globally. However, that alone will not curb the spread of disinformation on the platform -- that requires a slate of different tools. To quote Sam Gregory from WITNESS: This "is [not] a silver bullet, not now or when they are fully utilized and provided - they are a form of harm reduction that makes it easier to discern when and how AI was used." [...] "Malicious and deceptive creators and distributors will still find a way around them, but most of us will be happy to use them if they don't compromise our privacy or our ability to create." Yes to Content Credentials, they are one tool in our much needed, growing toolbox to fight back. No to this being the job done. More background on this development: https://buff.ly/3WB3o8x #AI #PlatformGovernance #ContentLabels #UpgradeDemocrocy

Moldova, "whose population is roughly equivalent to that of Paris or Chicago — has become ground zero in the battle between disinformation, much of it fueled by AI, and elections." Bordering Ukraine, with a sizable Russian-speaking minority, Moldova holds two critical votes in October: A presidential election and a referendum on joining the EU. Here is an insightful piece on how the country and its leadership are tackling the disinformation challenge and foreign interference in particular: https://buff.ly/3WH2W8L #MoldovaElections #EUintegration #PerspectivesOnDemocracy

Countering disinformation builds trust and community. Case in point: JamiiForums! JamiiForums is an independent social platform in Tanzania with over 660,000 registered users. Since 2022, it also runs a collaborative fact-checking section, JamiiCheck, where experts answer questions and users can contribute with their knowledge. This collaborative, trust-checking effort is making waves not just in Tanzania, and definitely one to pay close attention to! We applaud their community-based approach, the local context, and their proven success in building trust. Kudos to the team and keep going! More on their work in this interview by Virginia Kirst here: https://lnkd.in/eQ92Ea2n #PerspectivesOnDemocracy #CounterDisinformation #FactChecking #Inspiration #JamiiCheck

CrowdTangle is a crucial tool for analyzing social media data, provided by Meta, for researchers and journalists. Especially in a year with significant elections like the US presidential election in November, monitoring disinformation and propaganda on social networks is paramount. With CrowdTangle, researchers and journalists can identify affected topics, track the spread of disinformation, and assess its reach. However, Meta has decided to discontinue this service in August, just before the state elections in East Germany and the peak of the US election campaign. A successor, the Content Library, is planned, but journalists will not have access, severely limiting the ability to combat disinformation effectively. Now Mozilla has petitioned Meta, urging them to continue CrowdTangle at least until January 2025 and grant journalists and civil society organizations access to Content Library. Disinformation must not spread unchecked, and transparent access to data is crucial for our democracy. Here you find Mozilla's Petition: https://lnkd.in/eD2pihNf https://lnkd.in/gZ94XQTt

Worried about the influence of disinformation? Meet the initiatives that give us hope! Today's highlight: Mafindo, Indonesia's volunteer-driven hoax awareness powerhouse ✨ While social media penetration is comparatively high in Indonesia, media literacy levels trail behind, which makes Mafindo's work incredibly important. Leveraging a predominantly volunteer-based model, Mafindo aims to cultivate a community of social change agents by promoting critical thinking, hoax awareness, and fact-checking skills. By now, Mafindo has trained 1,000s of young people and women to discern hoaxes and act as influencers to encourage similar practices within their communities. Given Indonesia's status as one of the largest democracies globally, Mafindo's work is truely inspiring. And it remains crucial in upholding transparency, accountability, and informed public discourse in Indonesia and beyond. #PerspectivesOnDemocracy #CounteringDisinformation #Inspiration #Mafindo https://buff.ly/44hgXvr

India - a showcase for AI-use in election campaigns The Indian parliamentary elections have been underway since April 19 and will continue until June 1. Thus, the world's largest democracy is still in the midst of both campaigning and voting. What is clear already is that this election will also serve as a showcase for the application and abuse of artificial intelligence in campaigning. Parties are reaching out to potential voters through AI-generated phone calls and leveraging the opportunity to tailor their messages to the diverse languages and cultures of the nation. However, there are also egregious attempts at fraud. Just before the polls opened, two deepfake videos featuring prominent Bollywood stars began circulating. Anushree Majumdar from Digital Narratives Studio has provided an insightful look into the role of AI in the Indian elections for upgrade democracy. https://lnkd.in/ei_aCVfT

Have you seen this? 🚨 Checkfirst and RESET are inviting input to investigate the spread of Russian disinformation. The organisations noted that in recent weeks, many journalists, fact-checkers, and engaged citizens have received emails and messages urging them to verify the authenticity of content that could potentially be Russian propaganda. Frequently, these requests involve topics such as alleged graffiti tags in European cities, narratives about the Olympics, or suspicious videos mimicking designs from mainstream media. CheckFirst and Reset are looking to determine if this surge in requests is part of a coordinated effort to increase the visibility of such disinformation in the media. They are seeking your support: - Have you received similar requests to verify claims about the topics mentioned? - Do you have information about the sources of these requests? - Would you be willing to share your findings to assist in a collaborative investigation? Here you can find more information: https://buff.ly/3JCmSC5