Fake News
How To Spot Fake Images
With deepfake images recently making the news by fooling many people, we look at the issues around fake images and how to spot them. Recent Examples The emergence of AI has led to an increasing output of highly convincing fake images/manipulated images/deepfake images (and deepfake videos). Motivations for making these images vary, e.g. entertainment (fun…
Read MoreGoogle To Run Fake News Information Adverts
Following an experiment by Bristol and Cambridge Universities, Google has announced that it plans to run adverts on YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook, educating users about how to spot disinformation and misinformation. ‘Pre-Bunking’ Experiment The University experiment which led to Google’s decision to run adverts was based on the idea of ‘pre-bunking’ from ‘Inoculation Theory.’ …
Read MoreSpotting Fake Reviews And Dubious Ratings On Amazon
Following Amazon suing the admins of more than 10,000 Facebook groups over an alleged co-ordinated fake reviews campaign, we look at how to spot fake reviews and dubious ratings on Amazon. Why Use Fake Reviews? On the site of one of the world’s largest retailers and the top online marketplace, large numbers of positive reviews…
Read MoreWhere Do People Get Their News From?
With young people now unlikely to read newspapers or watch the TV news, and following the latest Ofcom report, we look at which channels people get their news from. Decline of Printed Newspapers Newspaper readership has been declining for many years but the drop in readership during the pandemic years has been much more pronounced,…
Read MorePro-Kremlin Trolls Targeting Media Website Comments
The results of new research suggest that the comments section for stories on prominent media websites across many western countries are the focus of major Kremlin-based activities to try and influence public opinion. Multiple Outlets, Many Countries The Open Source Communications Analytics Research (OSCAR) programme at Cardiff University’s Crime and Security Research Institute has reported…
Read MoreDistrust or Mistrust Disinformation or Misinformation?
The new Online Media Literacy Strategy from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) is aimed at supporting 170+ organisations to improve media literacy rates in the UK, and thereby help young people to spot disinformation. As an aside, misinformation is information that is simply wrong, inaccurate or misleading (without necessarily having any intention…
Read MoreCombatting Fake News
The spread of misinformation/disinformation/fake news by a variety of media including digital and printed stories and deepfake videos is a growing threat in what has been described as out ‘post-truth era’, and many people, organisations and governments are looking for effective ways to weed out fake news, and to help people to make informed judgements…
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