Disabling the Dictator’s Disinformation Playbook
Fueled by both social and broadcast media, authoritarian governments across the globe are playing by new rules.
Watching the destruction of Ukraine unfold in real-time is gut-wrenching, but at least the war is being waged out in the open. There is another less-observable battle, one for the hearts and minds of citizens across the world. Disinformation misleads, manipulates, and sometimes simply confuses people into submission on this battlefield. A disinformation playbook has emerged, fueled by both social and broadcast media, and authoritarian governments are following it.
“There is a concerted and focused push from a tide of dictatorial regimes.” Peter Pomerantsev explained last week on stage at SXSW. “Putin is an Avant guard for these dictatorships.”
Pomerantsev is the author of Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia, an inside account of the Russian media industry. He co-directs the Arena Initiative at Johns Hopkins University, a research project dedicated to overcoming the challenges of digital era disinformation and polarization. He says just putting out the facts and expecting people to believe them is a failed strategy. “The marketplace of ideas is a failure,” he says.
What does the disinformation playbook include? The GroundTruth Project has a concise breakdown:
“It’s not some grand conspiracy; it is just a group of dictatorial leaders sharing what works,” Pomerantsev says. “And frankly winning.”
Most people will remember this fake papal endorsement of Donald Trump in 2016. I remember seeing it myself on Facebook, and of course, I clicked. That same year, a very similar message appeared from supporters of then-candidate President Rodrigo Duterte. The video claimed that Pope Francis called President Rodrigo Duterte the “most popular leader” and a “blessing.” Thousands of people saw it before being debunked.
“We are talking about an international network of rising dictatorships,” Pomerantsev says. “We can’t just think of this in the anglosphere.”
Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube played a huge role in electing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, but those services have been cracking down on his mistruths. Until this week, Telegram was a safe haven for lies, such as this ditty linking COVID-19 vaccines to Aids. When the Brazilian Supreme Court wanted Telegram to remove misinformation from the service, it had to ban the service from the country entirely. It has since lifted the ban.
What can we do to stop misinformation?
Just putting the truth out there isn’t working. The problem isn't the message, it is the distribution platforms that scale and amplify it. As I wrote last week, Mark Zuckerberg spoke on the same stage as Pomerantsev but never mentioned anything about disinformation, democracy, or his company's role in shaping public opinion. That is a shame, because he may be uniquely capable of stopping this flood.
Pomerantsev says, “Open up the algorithm so we can see what is inside, so we can have a conversation about how to make your incredibly powerful machine good for democracy.”
Could it be that simple?
Let me know what you think in the comments or on Twitter.
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