Will Big Tech SuperHeroes Save U.S. from Drowning in B.S.?

Each day we are subjected to a massive onslaught of misinformation, propaganda and outright lies originating from our two political parties, mainstream media, predatory capitalist corporations and a slew of other sources.

This is nothing new. Historically, the tools of disinformation, propaganda, "alternative facts", lies, misdirection, etc. have been in use since forever. All centers of power, religious, social, government, including the U.S. government, have used them when it suited their purposes.

The difference we face today is simply the medium or tools used to deliver the falsehoods and misdirection, i.e. social media, as well as the overwhelming volume or immenseness of the onslaught.

Fortunately, our world has not yet totally succumbed to this "Alternative Facts Cesspool" downpour.

With the help of the social media*giants, Google, Facebook, Twitter, we may still have time to turn the social media disinformation tools against the alternative facts / misdirection propagators

If, that is, they will turn on their awesome tech power brains and create a “tech” solution to do the “big lies” data sorting and lay bare those unadulterated truths we are all seeking.

If “they” will deal with the problem that their very existence has helped create, then hopefully, despite all the B.S. flying about, we will eventually find the nuggets of truth buried deep underneath.

As I see it, the big tech guys are all making big bucks. Now, they gotta help solve the big problem. So, Google, Facebook and Twitter – be the SuperHeroes we hoped you’d be! Save U.S. from drowning in B.S.

Here’s the story…

The Complicated Truth of Countering Disinformation, Christina Nemr and Will Gangware, warontherocks.com, 20 Sept 2019.**

A few mind boggling quotes from the article:

"...social media’s unprecedented ability to spread disinformation succeeds in part because of vulnerabilities in the way people process and evaluate information. In an information environment characterized by an oversaturation of content and algorithms designed to increase views and shares, narratives (true or not) can quickly go viral by appealing to our biases. This new, decentralized world of content creation and consumption is ripe for exploitation by nefarious actors who seek to spread doubt and untruths."

"To counter modern disinformation, then, we cannot focus solely on social media platforms or current technologies — we should also understand the psychological factors that underpin our identities and perceptions of the truth. Acknowledging the ways in which people are vulnerable to biased narratives is a key part of developing necessary multi-dimensional responses. Armed with this framework, stakeholders can then explore using disinformation tactics for the purpose of elevating credible information, supporting collaborative long-term research on psychological approaches, and creating public-private platforms to share key information across organizations."

"There are two constants in this complex information environment: the use of propaganda and disinformation as tools for influence and obfuscation, and the underlying psychological factors that make humans vulnerable to such narratives. What is subject to change, however, are the technologies by which such content is created and spread."

"Given these factors, it is important not to overstate the impact of technology, but rather to understand and address the interwoven complexities disinformation poses. In the near term, social media platforms are best positioned to lead counter-disinformation efforts, and these efforts should be made as transparent as possible in collaboration with government and other partners. However, all stakeholders should approach it as the multi-dimensional problem that it is, contending honestly with the cognitive limitations of people’s information intake and the ambiguous nature of what constitutes disinformation. Only then will we craft effective policies, regardless of the technologies involved."

Please go here for the whole thing...

The Complicated Truth of Countering Disinformation, Christina Nemr and Will Gangware, warontherocks.com, 20 Sept 2019.

*O.K., I know Google is not considered "social media" like Facebook and Twitter. Still, Google is a major player in all this disinformation mess stuff. So, they are in. Just like all the other "big tech" corps. As I see it, the big tech guys are all making big bucks. Now, they gotta help solve the big problem.

**Christina Nemr is Director of Park Advisors, overseeing counter-disinformation and countering violent extremism programming. She previously worked with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism. Will Gangware consulted for Park Advisors and previously worked with the NYPD Intelligence Bureau. This article contains select excerpts from a larger report on psychological and technological vulnerabilities to disinformation found here, https://www.park-advisors.com/disinforeport. Please go here for the full report:  https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5714561a01dbae161fa3cad1/t/5c9cb93724a694b834f23878/1553774904750/PA_WMD_Report_2019.pdf The views expressed in this article are those of the authors alone and do not reflect the views of Park Advisors or its clients.

The Greatest American Hero Theme Song - Believe it or Not - Joey Scarbury -1981

Facebook Crime Scene

If we are to have a free and fair election again, we must do more to make it so.

Why? Because our social media has enabled “subversive manipulation to break our election laws".

Our technology has become a crime scene because, “What happens on Facebook stays on Facebook. Only you see your news feed which can include ‘lies in darkness, paid for with illegal cash.”

Thanks to my brother, Gary, for this Ted Talk by British investigative journalist and features writer, Carole Cadwalladr, explaining the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.:

Facebook's Role in Brexit - and the Threat to Democracy

Who Put the “Fake” in Your News Today?

I supposed the Russians will go down in history, or perhaps the Guinness World Records, as the first to manipulate the outcome of an American election through fake news reports and fake social media advertising. Reportedly, it only cost the Russians $100,000 in Facebook advertising to help put Mr. Trump into office.

If so, they join a throng of election fraudsters goin’ way, way back.

In the 1890s, Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal were at the top of the list. Back then, sensationalizing the news to drive up circulation, Yellow Journalism as was labeled, was the technique of choice. The fake news stories helped create the climate that led to the Spanish-American War, plus the terrible atrocities committed by the U.S. Army to put down the Cuban Revolution and what became known as the Philippine–American War.

Today, Fox News and, of course, the supermarket tabloids, including the National Enquirer, the Globe and the National Examiner, dependably rank high among publications proffering fakery about nearly every topic imaginable.

Our Mainstream Media are obviously not exempt from their own brand of fake news, either.

If you are not old enough to be among the aging Baby Boomers you may not know of Carl Bernstein’s famous article, The CIA and The Media.

Equal to, if not more important, than his work with Bob Woodward uncovering the Watergate scandal, the article was first published in Rolling Stone on October 20, 1977.

Bernstein was the first to reveal how the CIA used, manipulated and paid American journalists during the 50s and 60s. His work eventually led to the outing of Operation Mockingbird, the CIA’s program for manipulating the press to publish fake news about anything the CIA determined was to its advantage.

If I were to bet, I’d put my money on the CIA as still ranking among the leaders putting their version of fake into our "news" today.*

* If there is one organization which maintains journalistic standards and integrity it’s ProPublica.

The CIA and the Media
By Carl Bernstein 

"How Americas Most Powerful News Media Worked Hand in Glove with the Central Intelligence Agency and Why the Church Committee Covered It Up"

"After leaving The Washington Post in 1977, Carl Bernstein spent six months looking at the relationship of the CIA and the press during the Cold War years. His 25,000-word cover story, published in Rolling Stone on October 20, 1977, is reprinted below."

"In 1953, Joseph Alsop, then one of America’s leading syndicated columnists, went to the Philippines to cover an election. He did not go because he was asked to do so by his syndicate. He did not go because he was asked to do so by the newspapers that printed his column. He went at the request of the CIA."

"Alsop is one of more than 400 American journalists who in the past twenty‑five years have secretly carried out assignments for the Central Intelligence Agency, according to documents on file at CIA headquarters. Some of these journalists’ relationships with the Agency were tacit; some were explicit. There was cooperation, accommodation and overlap. Journalists provided a full range of clandestine services—from simple intelligence gathering to serving as go‑betweens with spies in Communist countries. Reporters shared their notebooks with the CIA. Editors shared their staffs. Some of the journalists were Pulitzer Prize winners, distinguished reporters who considered themselves ambassadors without‑portfolio for their country. Most were less exalted: foreign correspondents who found that their association with the Agency helped their work; stringers and freelancers who were as interested in the derring‑do of the spy business as in filing articles; and, the smallest category, full‑time CIA employees masquerading as journalists abroad. In many instances, CIA documents show, journalists were engaged to perform tasks for the CIA with the consent of the managements of America’s leading news organizations."

Please go here for the rest of the article.

Lies - The Knickerbockers - 1965