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Little Find

Online disinformation 101 – know what you’re up against

Can you inoculate citizens against false information? According to a study conducted in 2019 using online games, training people to think like a producer of disinformation helped them spot fake news later. So to arm yourself against potential trolls, put yourself in the shoes of an online manipulator.

Say you were to disrupt a mayoral election, how would you go about?  

Step 1: Create fake user accounts on social media, including some impersonating trusted figures. Use them to spread engaging visual content about the election.  

Step 2: Direct voters towards fake voting platforms (apps and webpages etc.), knowing younger voters may be more inclined to trust an online platform than the traditional ballot. Add confusion by communicating about a wrong election date. 

Step 3: Appeal to emotions. Spread rumors accusing a candidate of taking bribes or abusing kittens. Repeat the message over and over again so it sticks in people’s minds. 

Step 4: Involve the media. Even if a journalist does check and debunk inflammatory claims about the targeted candidate, by the time the fact-checked article is published, the rumors will have had time to warp voters’ perceptions. 

You may not be able to turn all Internet users into cybersecurity experts, but exposing trolls’ methods and patterns in this way will at least give individuals a modicum of protection against disinformation. 

To go further

“Can you outsmart a troll (by thinking like one)?”

Claire Wardle, (TED-Ed, October 2020). 

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Tagged with: content, online, information, rumors
Florence Meyer
Published by Florence Meyer
Executive coach, change management expert, and author. Constantly on the lookout for the latest management and leadership trends.