In recent months we have talked about cyber attacks and online fraud and how harmful they are for network users. Today I would like to talk to you about an equally subtle threat that we erroneously tend to underestimate, disinformation. The term refers to the intentional dissemination of inaccurate or distorted information with the intent of influencing the group ‘sentiment’ of individuals on specific topics. There are different types of disinformation, in fact we use the term “Disinformation” to refer intentionally fictitious information designed to deceive the recipient of a campaign. The term Mal-information, on the other hand, is used to indicate the disclosure of information based on real events, but exploited ad hoc in order to damage the objective of a campaign. There are different ways to organize disinformation companions, for example it is possible to decontextualize a content or to propose legitimate contents by relating them to events unrelated to it and instrumental to the objective of the campaign.
For example, we could take pictures of events with large turnout of the public and pass them off as relating to recent No-Vax rallies with the intent to demonstrate high adhesion. Another way of doing misinformation is to manipulate the content of a news item to deceive the reader, typically mixing real information from reliable sources with false information introduced in order to deceive the reader. Finally, it is possible to spread completely fake content. Precisely during the pandemic we were unknowingly more exposed to disinformation campaigns conveyed through social networks and the main instant messaging applications such as WhatsApp.
These campaigns represent a threat to national security as they are capable of destabilizing the political and health context of our country. According to the Intelligence Report presented to Parliament in March, the pandemic has seen a worrying, and expected, surge in disinformation and fake news. Behind these campaigns, malevolent actors operating on behalf of hostile governments in an attempt to derive a long-term strategic advantage from the pandemic.
To better understand what were the main topics of the disinformation campaigns that interested us, I suggest reading the monthly report drawn up in the latest report by the Italian Digital Media Observatory (IDMO), an international hub supported by the European Commission, according to which Covid- 19, politics and climate change were the main disinformation topics in our country in November. Contributors to the report are those who verify the news, the so-called fact-checkers, such as BlastingNews, Bufale.net, Facta, Open, Scoreboard. Out of a total of 198 fact-checking articles, as many as 115 (58%) are related to disinformation regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, which is not surprising given the surge in cases around the world and in line with what is happening in other European countries.
Figure 1 – Rapporto IDMO
“The Italian Digital Media Observatory, connected to the European Digital Media Observatory network, is coordinated by Luiss and with Rai, Tim and other partners, studies online communication to combat disinformation. Active since 2021, it has promoted assemblies in schools, online podcasts with Saviano and Angeli, European debates and a report on the false news underway on Covid and the environment. ” explains Gianni Riotta, director of the School of Journalism at Lab Luiss and IDMO coordinator.
Among the most popular fake stories in November in the European Union are the following:
- old photos and videos of demonstrations and celebrations, taken out of context and accompanied by false captions, to show huge demonstrations in Austria against the lockdown and other restrictive measures linked to the pandemic;
- the pandemic has been planned and it would be shown that a document containing a calendar of when the new variants of Covid-19 will be released. The document contains the logos of the WHO, the Gates Foundation, the Johns Hopkins University and the World Economic Forum;
- Thomas Jendges, managing director of Chemnitz Clinic, committed suicide leaving a letter in which he speaks of vaccination against Covid-19 as a “genocide”;
- the Italian Institute of Health has revised down the estimate of the number of people who have died from Covid-19, from more than 130,000 to less than 4,000.
Probably many of you have received and will receive messages with the aforementioned stories, information shared by friends and acquaintances on social networks such as Facebook and Whatspp. It is important not to share and inform senders that they are sharing false information.
How to recognize disinformation?
The first thing to do is to identify the source of the information and who is spreading it. For news published online, the fact that they are easily found through search engines is no guarantee of the quality of the information. It is important to understand if the news is published by an accredited newspaper or by a blog or simply a message on a social platform (eg Facebook or Twitter). Very often for disinformation campaigns tools are used that automate the dissemination of information, bots, which manage a plethora of accounts on the main media. These accounts are typically newly created and are often active on a regular basis over a 24-hour period.
It is therefore good practice to analyze how long the social media profile that spreads the news has been active and how often it publishes content. Always check if the information relating to the managers of the site on which the news appears is shown. Another aspect to be carefully evaluated is the format in which the information is disseminated? The news is conveyed through a combination of multimedia content that includes text, images, video, and audio. Often in disinformation campaigns we observe the use of text that does not correspond to the image or video proposed, in this case we speak of de-contextualization of the media content. Sometimes, however, the images / videos are deliberately made to spread false news.
It is a good idea to use search engines such as Google to search for the images accompanying the news and to trace the origins. Often it turns out that the images are related to different events from those narrated in the message that reaches us. In the aftermath of the outbreak of the pandemic, some images were being made of people destroying 5G antennas. The disinformation campaign aimed to link 5G technology to Covid. A search of the images on the net then showed that the same were related to street demonstrations in Hong Kong over a year earlier and that they had nothing to do with Covid. Another fundamental aspect is to determine the author of the content, of the news and statements reported therein. Always check if the narrative is supported by scientific data and verifiable sources.
Figure 2 – Recognizing and fighting disinformation – Source EU
In the face of information that reaches us through the aforementioned channels, it is good practice to pause before sharing, verifying facts and news and reporting any disinformation content to the platforms. There are a few simple rules, but the battle against disinformation cannot be won without the contribution of all of us.
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