What We Read This Week: Disinformation & Critical Thinking Round-up
Below are some of the most captivating, notable, surprising or thought-provoking articles we read this week.
How Narrative Laundering Undermines Critical Thinking | Psychology Today
"Narrative laundering is an emergent disinformation technique that is capitalising on the speed of information transfer through social media. It is employed for mass manipulation, relying on our psychological predispositions to believe what we read, to react emotionally, and to seek credibility through frequency rather than source. In other words, it’s a technique that’s being used to give credibility to disinformation and propaganda campaigns, by making them look ‘trustworthy.'"
- Reviewed by Gary Drevitch
These are the children of Generation Z – digital natives of the post-truth age, brought up using the internet, social media, tablets and mobile phones from infancy. Yet in Finland, a country famous for having one of the world’s finest and most equitable education systems, they are taught critical thinking from an early age to help resist the flood of fake news and conspiracy theories.
- Ian Birrell
Twitter pulls out of voluntary EU disinformation code - BBC News
"From 25 August, platforms with more than 45 million monthly active users in the EU - which includes Twitter - will have to comply legally with the rules under the DSA. The law will mean Twitter will have to have a mechanism for users to flag illegal content, act upon notifications "expeditiously" and put in measures to address the spread of disinformation."
- Francesca Gillett
What Is Old Is New Again: The Power of Asking Catalyzing Questions (td.org)
"In a recent blog, Kevin Eikenberry asked: “If you could give your leaders one realistic and not completely fictional superpower, what would it be?” His answer: The power of asking more and better questions."
- MJ Hall
Opinion | Fighting Disinformation as Einstein on Twitter - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
"Even outside of conspiracy theorists, there’s a segment of society today that questions the very need for experts when Google’s vast servers can store information for us. We no longer need to memorize the numerical value of pi or the capital of North Dakota."
- Benyamin Cohen
Slovakia risks succumbing to Russian disinformation, president warns – POLITICO
"Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová told POLITICO she is worried about the spread of disinformation in her country and that an upcoming parliamentary election could erode Slovakia’s support for Ukraine."
- Lili Bayer
"Next year’s elections in Britain and the US could be marked by a wave of AI-powered disinformation, experts have warned, as generated images, text and deepfake videos go viral at the behest of swarms of AI-powered propaganda bots."
- Dan Milmo & Alex Hern
Voicing Against Disinformation - Modern Diplomacy
"However, one of the main mechanisms that can be utilized against disinformation is reporting disinformation. This is similar to whistleblowing. Whistleblower is “an employee who alleges wrongdoing by their employer of the sort that violates public law or tends to injure a considerable number of people."
- Charani Patabendige