Strategic Communication and Disinformation

Background. In a world where environmental impact plays a more important role than
ever in customers' purchasing practices, we can also detect a rise in green advertising that is
misleading.
Previous Research. Many studies have focused on analyzing how organizations use the
greenwashing method as a disinformation tool in their communication practices, rather than
actually changing their business model and products to be more environmentally friendly.
Previous research demonstrated that companies use up to 10 different methods of misleading
customers to believe that they are environmentally friendly. Previous research only focused on
product characteristics and not on analysing the communication style of companies.
Methodology. This paper, focused on analyzing the data and information communicated
through a fashion company’s advertisements, website and Sustainability Performance Report
through thematic content analysis.
Findings and Implications. This paper’s results confirm previous findings that the use
of ambiguous concepts is one of the key factors in misleading customers. On the other hand, this
study found that in contrast to previous studies, creating false certifications and labels is not a
main factor of misleadingness for the fashion industry. The main key factors of misinformation
in the fashion industry are the use of ambiguous and vague words, the omission of important
information, questionable leadership claims and the use of scientific terms. Other misinformation
types were found(ex: outright false claim, green imagery, etc), but they were not prevalent and/or
significant in the thematic content analysis. This paper found that misinformation in green
advertising is continuously changing and adapting to the response of consumers and proposes
four new types of misinformation: the use of Asterix, shifting the Blame to the consumer,
Comparing apples to oranges and Cherry picking information.
Future. This paper proposes further research to validate the four new types of
misinformation in the fashion industry, as well as further thematic analysis using different
fashion companies as their case study.

This book discusses post-truth not merely as a Western issue, but as a problematic political and cultural condition with global ramifications. By locating the roots of the phenomenon in the trust crisis suffered by liberal democracy and its institutions, the book argues that post-truth serves as a space for ideological conflicts and geopolitical power struggles that are reshaping the world order.

The era of post-truth politics is thus here to stay, and its reach is increasingly global: Russian trolls organizing events on social media attended by thousands of unaware American citizens; European social media users spreading fictional political narratives in support of the Syrian regime; Facebook offering a platform for a harassment campaign by Buddhist ultranationalists in Myanmar that led to the killing of thousands of Muslims.

These are just some of the examples that demonstrate the dangerous effects of the Internet-driven global diffusion of disinformation and misinformation. Grounded on a theoretical framework yet written in an engaging and accessible way, this timely book is a valuable resource for students, researchers, policymakers and citizens concerned with the impact of social media on politics.

The boundaries between the “online” and “offline” world have blurred. This is especially the case for today’s youth, for whom cell-phones, social media and digital technology have become an integral part of their daily lives.

From Online Battlefield to Loss of Trust? sheds further light on young people’s consumption of information and disinformation. The report is based on research conducted among 18-24 year olds residing in Central and Southeastern Europe for the purposes of Countering Disinformation in the V4 Region: Mapping Needs, Building Capacity and Generating Civic Activism, a project that’s financially supported by the US Department of State.

Having collected unique qualitative data from focus groups in eight European countries, the report also seeks to understand the complexities of the lives and thinking of today’s youth and its impact upon the political and social realities of our societies.

With enormous Filipinos staying connected online, Duterte Administration leveraged its mass support from Facebook's Duterte Die-hard Supporters (DDS). His rise in Philippine politics was viewed by the cyber troop as a changer to political and social landscape by alleviating poverty and decreasing crimes. This study analyzes the communication methods and strategies used by Mocha Uson upon the interactions intercepted by DDS and the public. The cyber troops (DDS) are used for quest of sustaining the authority of government despite its lacking political competence. Triggering debate and conflicting views, Uson's reinforcement of civil obedience prompts for the spread of disinformation.

It is not hyperbolic to claim that in recent years we have witnessed an explosion of new academic publications on conspiracies. Comprehensive volumes edited by Uscinski (2018) and Butter and Knight (2020) have covered the topic from multiple disciplinary and geographical perspectives. Philosophers have debated the nature of conspiracy theories (Coady, 2019), a stream of psychologically informed research has explored the causes of people's 'conspiracy beliefs' or 'conspiracy thinking' (e.g., van Prooijen & Douglas, 2018; Douglas et al., 2019; Walter & Drochon, 2020), and scholars of politics have dissected the effects of conspiracies on democratic life (e.g., Runciman, 2018; Rosenblum & Muirhead, 2020). One might rightfully ask: is there anything original and useful left to say about conspiracies?

Ces dernières années, les fausses nouvelles sont sur toutes les lèvres à tel point que de nombreuses voix redoutent que la désinformation sur les médias sociaux nuise à la société. À l'heure où beaucoup d'inquiétudes apparaissent au niveau du débat public, cet article aborde ce phénomène sous l'angle des croyances religieuses et du pluralisme linguistique en se concentrant sur le secteur de la téléphonie mobile en forte expansion en Afrique. Sur la base d'une approche descriptive, nous présentons les conditions et les mécanismes qui permettent de donner corps à ces fausses informations au Bénin. A l'aide d'une méthode plus descriptive que théorique, cette contribution met en relief le rôle de WhatsApp dans la prolifération des fausses nouvelles. Cette étude nous permet ensuite de relier l'essor des infox sur WhatsApp à la vitalité de la tradition orale, source essentielle de connaissances en Afrique. Abstract In recent years, the word fake news has been on everyone's lips to such an extent that many voices fear that misinformation on social media is harming society. At a time when many concerns are emerging in the public debate, this article approaches this phenomenon from the perspective of religious beliefs and linguistic pluralism in Africa, focusing on the rapidly expanding mobile phone sector in Africa. On the basis of an in-depth analysis, we describe the conditions and mechanisms that make it possible to give substance to this misinforma tion in Benin. Following a more descriptive than theoretical approach, this contribution highlights the role of WhatsApp in the proliferation of misinformation. T his study then allows us to link the rise of WhatsApp news t o the vitality of the oral tradition, an essential source of knowledge in Africa.

Propaganda has become so complex and yet so ordinary that there is a risk of overlooking little, yet important details. As a person who has been examining and fighting disinformation for years, I believe we need to pay attention to the following “trifles” or risk getting lost in the dark and smoky room of propaganda.

This past year has shown that the sanitary risks of SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic are equally matched, if not exceeded on long run, by infodemia effects. Disinformation, fake-news are widely considered an existential threat to open, democratic societies, straining the limits of institutions to cope with socio-political tensions. As such, acknowledging the significance of this phenomenon, this paper address the phenomenon of disinformation, challenging the prevalent current paradigm based on cognitive, linguistic approach, by offering a new perspective grounded on the role of fictional stories for individual and collective sense making. We advance a new interpretation upon the mechanisms behind disinformation consumption using the role of an immature ego structure, thus explaining the demanding side of disinformation. The utility of this new interpretation ranges from the reconsideration of mental irrationality in sense-making, or proposal of new tools for recognizing those predispose to consume disinformation, to a more comprehensive approach to strategic communication.

EVENT Report: The Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) organised their fourth annual workshop on "DRUMS: Distortions, Rumours, Untruths, Misinformation & Smears" as a three-part webinar series on 1st, 2nd and 4th December 2020.
The webinar series explored trends and issues in information manipulation – disinformation, misinformation and online falsehoods – that bedevilled the world in 2020. These trends and issues affect national security by influencing the processes and outcomes of elections and political discourse, public health and safety, and trust in
media sources and national institutions. Expert speakers at the webinar series also examined governments' and civil society's efforts, and digital
campaigns to counter the information disorder.

In the world of disinformation, propaganda operations the debates about to counter the threats are ongoing with intensity not seen since the Cold war. Every expert has an opinion, think-tanks emerge, and strategies are implemented with mixed, often purely technical, or legislative, or digital kinetic responses. Filters, Technology, & Laws (FTL) are band aids but have not led to changes in radical behavior or deradicalization. Social media once hailed as the new holy grail is less holy. Governments and society lack innovative approaches. Many solutions are on the market, all valid but lack the sustainability. Policy, governments and even industry and corporations lack the intellectual capabilities to react and defend against the disinformation dark arts eroding values of society. State and non-state-actors have perpetually achieved reflexive control firmly over their victims.

The operational xxxx xxxxx provides an operational overview of a decade long proven silent success story how to counter influence operation shaping the narratives. The commentary serves as a briefer for government agencies and civil society.

Hungary is reconstructing its political history, one monument at a time.  Granted, the practice of erecting memorials to a particular regime or ideology is hardly new. But Hungary’s brick-and-mortar revisionism is exceptional — and exceptionally troubling — for its apparent repudiation of democratic values and its implicit defense of authoritarian rule. Indeed, it resembles a classic disinformation campaign, including the outright denial of established historical truths and claims of victimhood at the hands of demonized aggressors. Orban’s mythmaking is not just a threat to Hungarians. As Hungary cozies up to Russia, bullies Ukraine, and earns E.U. censure for its retrograde policies on immigration, freedom of speech, and judicial reform, U.S. foreign policymakers had better pay attention. The decline of liberal democracy in the heart of Central Europe undermines the power of transatlantic institutions to protect U.S. interests.

Analisi per Intellego sul Report “PROSPETTIVA 2030 IDEE E RIFLESSIONI PER IL DECENNIO FUTURO” sulla “La Disinformazione nel campo dell'Intelligence economico-finanziaria” pp 26-32 https://www.amistades.info/post/prospettiva-2030-idee-e-riflessioni-per-il-decennio-futuro
https://cf2a937a-f672-4af3-b812-0cbf3f8b2c8d.filesusr.com/ugd/1e8357_1754771df2a2423eba3c73f4c36de6bf.pdf 

SUMMARY

Nello scenario odierno la supremazia globale sta cambiando gli strumenti degli attori in campo.
Gli strumenti di natura strategico-militare, necessari nel 20° secolo, nell'attuale millennio hanno trovato poco spazio, con l'ascesa di strumenti non convenzionali e non militari che, grazie all'innovazione tecnologica, hanno ottenuto un eccezionale sviluppo. Il controllo dei flussi dell'informazione e la guerra per ottenere informazioni confidenziali, a oggi, sono strumenti fondamentali non solo per gli Stati che operano nello scacchiere globale ma anche per gli attori non statali e per le imprese che operano a livello globale.
Nel controllo dell'Informazione e dei suoi canali, lo strumento della disinformazione, come mezzo offensivo, viene sfruttato con l'obiettivo preciso di diffondere false notizie e dati manipolati, con il fine di influenzare l'opinione pubblica o un preciso decisore politico.
In questo settore l'Intelligence economico-finanziaria, sviluppata anche da imprese multinazionali, sta sviluppando un forte interesse, considerando gli insegnamenti della scuola francese della École de Guerre Économique, riguardante la sua applicazione in campo geoeconomico.

Ecuador es uno de los países de América Latina más golpeados por la propagación comunitaria del coronavirus. Las secuelas sociales, económicas y políticas que han dejado las medidas de aislamiento y distanciamiento social adoptadas por el Gobierno para frenar la
expansión de la pandemia serán difíciles de superar en el corto plazo y plantean un reto para quien asuma las riendas del país en 2021. El capítulo a continuación analiza los actores, la gestión, los temas y los problemas encontrados durante los tres primeros meses de la pandemia con miras a aportar una idea general sobre su desarrollo.

SYNOPSIS The recent SingHealth hack and the fake news phenomenon are likely harbingers of an emergent inflection point in contemporary war: CyWar. The aim of CyWar is to secure command of a State's "hard" and "soft" cyberspace. It behooves States to be ready to cope with the rising CyWar challenge.

SYNOPSIS The recent SingHealth hack and the fake news phenomenon are likely harbingers of an emergent inflection point in contemporary war: CyWar. The aim of CyWar is to secure command of a State's "hard" and "soft" cyberspace. It behooves States to be ready to cope with the rising CyWar challenge.

Hungary is reconstructing its political history, one monument at a time.  Granted, the practice of erecting memorials to a particular regime or ideology is hardly new. But Hungary’s brick-and-mortar revisionism is exceptional — and exceptionally troubling — for its apparent repudiation of democratic values and its implicit defense of authoritarian rule. Indeed, it resembles a classic disinformation campaign, including the outright denial of established historical truths and claims of victimhood at the hands of demonized aggressors. Orban’s mythmaking is not just a threat to Hungarians. As Hungary cozies up to Russia, bullies Ukraine, and earns E.U. censure for its retrograde policies on immigration, freedom of speech, and judicial reform, U.S. foreign policymakers had better pay attention. The decline of liberal democracy in the heart of Central Europe undermines the power of transatlantic institutions to protect U.S. interests.

Misinformation and disinformation online is one of the great problems of our time. The digital era has enabled new and increasingly complex communication systems to flourish. Information flows across vast distances instantly and people are more interconnected than ever before. This also means that information which is inaccurate, misleading or objectively false can also travel at unprecedented rates, and often travels faster and farther than objectively truthful content. This information contaminates the online landscape and impacts people’s ability to discern accurate and truthful content. Misinformation and disinformation is often more sensationalized, which often leads to it being engaged with more often on platforms, this can in turn cause it to become favoured by algorithms. These algorithms tend to prioritize popular content to maintain users on platforms longer and exposes them to more advertisements, in order to gain advertising revenue.
This research used interviews, a survey and an extensive literature review to understand the spread of misinformation and disinformation in Canadian society today, and to map this using a systems approach. Following this, strategic foresight tools were used to generate potential future scenarios with the goal of making strategic recommendations for the current context.