Friday, August 9, 2019

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 investigation shows Russian disinformation campaigns have global reach

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 investigation shows Russian disinformation campaigns have global reach
Excerpt: Since 2016, the US has become aware of Russian interference in online information, communications, and even elections—but we haven’t found a surefire fix for fake news. Europe caught on a bit earlier, but in the interest of undermining democracies, a simple piece of disinformation can unravel hundreds of years of progress. Before the United States figured out how to respond and while Europe was cautiously evaluating the online landscape, their adversaries were able to evolve and advance their disinformation techniques. Russia is not alone: there are other nations that would like to see democratic societies upended. Iran, North Korea, and China are learning from the Russians how to play the game of disinformation. Obvious methods to counter the possible influence of disinformation are education, finding trusted sources, and transparency. But even in a democracy, these are not always the first resort for those in powerful positions. Education empowers people to make up their own mind based on gathered information. Transparency gives them the tools to make decisions based on facts and not fiction. And finding trusted sources means first digging deep into their backgrounds, learning whether their methods of reporting are honorable, and establishing a consistent pattern of truth-telling. (The excerpt is from deep inside the article that tells not only who, but how this was determined. Very worth reading. BTW, Malwarebytes is an anti-virus/anti-malware company. Ron P.)

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