Each month, our experts at Cyabra list some of the interesting articles, items, essays and stories they’ve read this month. Come back every month for the current misinformation, disinformation, and social threat intelligence news.
Disinformation Campaigns Against Women Are a National Security Threat, New Study Finds
“A study conducted by Demos in 2020 noted that gendered disinformation isn’t just false information—it also uses “highly emotive and value-laden content to try to undermine its targets,” and ”seeks impact primarily at the political level, though can also cause serious harm at the personal level,” leading to hate campaigns that come with terrifying, and sometimes lethal, consequences for women in politics.”
Reddit says hackers accessed employee data following phishing attack
“A post by Reddit CTO Christopher Slowe, or KeyserSosa, explained that on February 5 the company became aware of the “sophisticated” attack targeting Reddit employees.”
Social Media And The Evolving Threat Landscape
“While we can hope that social media companies will start feeling some sense of obligation in preventing imposter profiles, it most likely won’t occur without additional laws or regulations. […] Cybersecurity professionals’ scope of responsibility is expanding. They need to start focusing on threats as they evolve, which include reputational risk.”
Why social media is at the forefront of protective intelligence
“Law Enforcement used surveys to identify real world examples where social media was used to prevent or thwart pending crime in the USA, such as by stopping active shooters, in tracking gang behavior, mitigating threats towards school students and enacting arrest warrants.”
‘De-influencing’ Is Going Viral. What Does This Mean for the Future of Influencers?
“The hashtag #deinfluencing has racked up more than 76 million views on TikTok, sparking a bigger conversation about overconsumption. In the videos, creators are telling the truth about everything TikTok made them buy —and more often than not, urging people to think long and hard before they fall victim to the hype.”
Chatbots trigger next misinformation nightmare
The big picture: Generative AI programs like ChatGPT don’t have a clear sense of the boundary between fact and fiction. They’re also prone to making things up as they try to satisfy human users’ inquiries.
UNESCO Conference Tackles Disinformation, Hate Speech
“UNESCO has warned that despite their benefits in communication and knowledge sharing, social media platforms rely on algorithms that “often prioritize engagement over safety and human rights.”
