WASHINGTON: After seeing promising results in Eastern Europe, Google will initiate a new campaign in Germany that aims to make people more resilient to the corrosive effects of online misinformation.
The tech giant plans to release a series of short videos highlighting the techniques common to many misleading claims. The videos will appear as advertisements on platforms like Facebook, YouTube or TikTok in Germany. A similar campaign in India is also in the works.
It’s an approach called prebunking, which involves teaching people how to spot false claims before they encounter them. The strategy is gaining support among researchers and tech companies.
“There’s a real appetite for solutions,” said Beth Goldberg, head of research and development at Jigsaw, an incubator division of Google that studies emerging social challenges. “Using ads as a vehicle to counter a disinformation technique is pretty novel. And we’re excited about the results.”
While belief in falsehoods and conspiracy theories isn’t new, the speed and reach of the Internet has given them a heightened power. When catalyzed by algorithms, misleading claims can discourage people from getting vaccines, spread authoritarian propaganda, foment distrust in democratic institutions and spur violence.
It’s a challenge with few easy solutions. Journalistic fact checks are effective, but they’re labor intensive, aren’t read by everyone, and won’t convince those already distrustful of traditional journalism. Content moderation by tech companies is another response, but it only drives misinformation elsewhere, while prompting cries of censorship and bias.
Prebunking videos, by contrast, are relatively cheap and easy to produce and can be seen by millions when placed on popular platforms. They also avoid the political challenge altogether by focusing not on the topics of false claims, which are often cultural lightning rods, but on the techniques that make viral misinformation so infectious.
Those techniques include fear-mongering, scapegoating, false comparisons, exaggeration and missing context. Whether the subject is COVID-19, mass shootings, immigration, climate change or elections, misleading claims often rely on one or more of these tricks to exploit emotions and short-circuit critical thinking.
Last fall, Google launched the largest test of the theory so far with a prebunking video campaign in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The videos dissected different techniques seen in false claims about Ukrainian refugees. Many of those claims relied on alarming and unfounded stories about refugees committing crimes or taking jobs away from residents.
The videos were seen 38 million times on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter — a number that equates to a majority of the population in the three nations. Researchers found that compared to people who hadn’t seen the videos, those who did watch were more likely to be able to identify misinformation techniques, and less likely to spread false claims to others.
The pilot project was the largest test of prebunking so far and adds to a growing consensus in support of the theory.
“This is a good news story in what has essentially been a bad news business when it comes to misinformation,” said Alex Mahadevan, director of MediaWise, a media literacy initiative of the Poynter Institute that has incorporated prebunking into its own programs in countries including Brazil, Spain, France and the US
Mahadevan called the strategy a “pretty efficient way to address misinformation at scale, because you can reach a lot of people while at the same time address a wide range of misinformation.”
Google’s new campaign in Germany will include a focus on photos and videos, and the ease with which they can be presented of evidence of something false. One example: Last week, following the earthquake in Turkiye, some social media users shared video of the massive explosion in Beirut in 2020, claiming it was actually footage of a nuclear explosion triggered by the earthquake. It was not the first time the 2020 explosion had been the subject of misinformation.
Google will announce its new German campaign Monday ahead of next week’s Munich Security Conference. The timing of the announcement, coming before that annual gathering of international security officials, reflects heightened concerns about the impact of misinformation among both tech companies and government officials.
Tech companies like prebunking because it avoids touchy topics that are easily politicized, said Sander van der Linden, a University of Cambridge professor considered a leading expert on the theory. Van der Linden worked with Google on its campaign and is now advising Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, as well.
Meta has incorporated prebunking into many different media literacy and anti-misinformation campaigns in recent years, the company told The Associated Press in an emailed statement.
They include a 2021 program in the US that offered media literacy training about COVID-19 to Black, Latino and Asian American communities. Participants who took the training were later tested and found to be far more resistant to misleading COVID-19 claims.
Prebunking comes with its own challenges. The effects of the videos eventually wear off, requiring the use of periodic “booster” videos. Also, the videos must be crafted well enough to hold the viewer’s attention, and tailored for different languages, cultures and demographics. And like a vaccine, it’s not 100 percent effective for everyone.
Google found that its campaign in Eastern Europe varied from country to country. While the effect of the videos was highest in Poland, in Slovakia they had “little to no discernible effect,” researchers found. One possible explanation: The videos were dubbed into the Slovak language, and not created specifically for the local audience.
But together with traditional journalism, content moderation and other methods of combating misinformation, prebunking could help communities reach a kind of herd immunity when it comes to misinformation, limiting its spread and impact.
“You can think of misinformation as a virus. It spreads. It lingers. It can make people act in certain ways,” Van der Linden told the AP. “Some people develop symptoms, some do not. So: if it spreads and acts like a virus, then maybe we can figure out how to inoculate people.”
Google to expand misinformation ‘prebunking’ in Europe
https://arab.news/cp62v
Google to expand misinformation ‘prebunking’ in Europe
- Prebunking “tutorial” videos aim to “make people more resilient to the corrosive effects of online misinformation”
- Approach trialled in Eastern Europe is “pretty effecient”, challenges remain
Canadian school boards sue Snapchat, TikTok and Meta for disrupting students’ education
- Lawsuits claim platforms like Facebook and Instagram are “designed for compulsive use, have rewired the way children think, behave, and learn” and teachers have been left to manage the fallout
TORONTO: Four of the largest school boards in the Canadian province of Ontario said Thursday they launched lawsuits against TikTok, Meta and SnapChat alleging the social media platforms are disrupting student learning.
The lawsuits claim platforms like Facebook and Instagram are “designed for compulsive use, have rewired the way children think, behave, and learn” and teachers have been left to manage the fallout.
Meta Platforms Inc. owns Facebook and Instagram, while Snap Inc. owns SnapChat and ByteDance Ltd. owns TikTok.
Rachel Chernos, a trustee for the Toronto District School Board, said teachers and parents are noticing social withdrawal, anxiety, attention problems, cyberbullying and mental health issues.
“These companies have knowingly created programs that are addictive that are aimed and marketed at young people and it is causing significant harm and we just can’t stand by any longer and not speak up about it,” Chernos said.
Dozens of US states, including California and New York, are also suing Meta Platforms Inc. for harming young people and contributing to a youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms.
The school boards in Canada suing are the Toronto District School Board, the Peel District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
They are seeking damages in excess of $4 billion Canadian ($2.9 billion) for disruption to student learning and the education system.
A spokeswoman for Snap Inc., Tonya Johnson, said Snapchat helps its users stay connected with their friends.
“Snapchat opens directly to a camera — rather than a feed of content — and has no traditional public likes or comments,” she said. “While we will always have more work to do, we feel good about the role Snapchat plays in helping close friends feel connected, happy and prepared as they face the many challenges of adolescence.”
Representatives of Meta and ByteDance didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Duncan Embury, a lawyer for the firm representing the boards, said there is a real addiction issue with the designed algorithms.
Embury said proper warnings are needed, age parameters need to change and there needs to be an increase in the level of resources school boards get to adapt to the new reality. He said the companies have knowingly and negligently designed their products to maximize the amount of time young people spend on their platforms at the expense of their well-being and education.
“There is an inability for students to focus,” he said.
The use of social media among teens is nearly universal in the US and many other parts of the world. Almost all teens ages 13 to 17 in the US report using a social media platform, with about a third saying they use social media “almost constantly,” according to the Pew Research Center.
In May, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy called on tech companies, parents and caregivers to take “immediate action to protect kids now” from the harms of social media.
This week, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that will ban social media accounts for children under 14 and require parental permission for 14- and 15-year-olds. It takes effect Jan. 1 and is expected to face legal challenges.
No money will be paid to the attorneys handling the Canadian lawsuits unless they win.
Middle East ‘poised to make its mark on global content landscape,’ says TV boss
- Ziad Kebbi, CEO of Dubai-based Blue Engine Studios, says its vision is to produce ‘compelling, high-quality content’ that ‘creates a deep connection’ with audiences
- The region ‘has the potential to follow in the footsteps of South Korea, Spain and India in becoming a global content hub,’ he adds
DUBAI: Last month, Dubai-based production company Blue Engine Studios unveiled Nabil Soueid as the new chairman of its board and majority shareholder, as part of its strategy to bolster growth and expand its production of diverse scripted, unscripted and short-form content for regional and international platforms.
The business launched in late 2021 with the aim of targeting pan-Arab digital media, linear TV and the expanding streaming market. It was co-founded by CEO Ziad Kebbi, along with industry veteran Hani Ghorayeb who left the company last month shortly before Soueid was appointed.
“Nabil brings a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of the television industry, both regionally and globally,” Kebbi told Arab News.
As the company works to bring “incredible stories to life through our distinctive approach to content production” and carve out “a unique position” in the market, Soueid’s insights will be valuable, he added.
In late 2021, the company formed an exclusive partnership with Dutch media conglomerate Talpa Concepts, developing what it describes as a robust format catalog that includes the recent global game show sensation “The Floor.”
Now, Blue Engine Studios is entering a new phase that involves “sharpening our focus on innovative television programming,” said Kebbi.
“Our vision for Blue Engine Studios is to be at the forefront of producing compelling, high-quality content that not only entertains but also creates a deep connection with our audiences across different platforms, tapping into both regional sensibilities and global storytelling techniques.”
The media landscape has become more cluttered in recent years, he added, and to stand out, streamers must “deliver unique, quality content, provide exceptional user experiences and, perhaps most importantly, create an emotional connection with their audiences through stories that resonate.”
This is why the company has adopted a collaborative approach, working with local, regional and international streaming services, Kebbi said.
“We aim to create content that aligns with their brand and audience, while maintaining the integrity and uniqueness of our creative vision.”
Soueid noted that audiences in the Middle East are diverse and there is demand for both local and international content.
“Content consumption in our region is multifaceted,” he said. “While there’s a significant appetite for local content that resonates culturally, international formats adapted for regional audiences, like ‘The Voice,’ have also been very successful.”
In response to this audience demand, international streaming services such as Netflix have made significant investments in the region, through training programs and funding.
This “interest in developing the talent pipeline in the region is a positive sign” that “signals growth in the regional talent pool, opening up opportunities for local storytellers and creators to showcase their work on a global platform,” Kebbi said.
In addition, governments in the region are investing in the media and entertainment sectors to further support the development and growth of talent. Last month, for example, MEFIC Capital, in collaboration with Roaa Media Ventures, launched the Saudi Film Fund with an initial capital injection of SR375 million ($100 million), 40 percent of its funding coming from the Kingdom’s Cultural Development Fund. The aim of the fund is to bolster international partnerships with major studios and deliver content that reflects Saudi culture and values.
“Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 has been a catalyst for talent development and production in the Kingdom,” said Kebbi. This focus on media and entertainment “has given rise to a new generation of creators and an infrastructure supportive of high-quality production,” he added.
With shows from around the world such as “Squid Game,” from South Korea, and “Money Heist,” from Spain, increasingly making their mark on the global stage, Hollywood is perhaps no longer quite as dominant a force in quality content as it once was.
In fact, the era of “peak TV” might be over, according to 17 entertainment-industry executives, agents and bankers who recently spoke to Reuters.
“I think there will be a significant retrenchment in the quantity of content and the amount spent on content,” one veteran TV executive told the news agency.
Could this present producers in the Middle East with the perfect opportunity to step up their presence on the international stage? Kebbi certainly believes so.
The region “is poised to make its mark on the global content landscape,” he said. “With strategic investments, nurturing of local talent, and stories that resonate universally, the region has the potential to follow in the footsteps of South Korea, Spain and India in becoming a global content hub.”
Instagram’s political content limit could ‘fuel censorship of pro-Palestine voices’
- Accessing political content now requires users to go into their settings and actively opt in via their preferences
- “Social media is an essential platform for people to bear witness and speak out against abuses,” HRW says
LONDON: Meta has found itself again under scrutiny after it quietly rolled out a new feature on Instagram that automatically limits users’ exposure to what it considers “political” content.
The tech giant is being accused of censorship during a global election year, with rights groups telling Arab News that the move risks fueling systematic censorship of pro-Palestinian content.
Instagram users discovered the feature, which was first announced on Feb. 9, was implemented on Friday without directly notifying them.
Accessing political content now requires users to go into their settings and actively opt in via their preferences.
Meta’s definition of political content is ambiguous, describing it as likely to mention “government, elections, or social topics that affect a group of people or society at large.”
Meta referred Arab News to a little-noticed statement from February without providing further detail. In explaining the decision, the company said that it wanted to make its platforms “a great experience for everyone.”
“If you decide to follow accounts that post political content, we don’t want to get between you and their posts, but we also don’t want to proactively recommend political content from accounts you don’t follow,” it said.
“Under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), companies have a responsibility to avoid infringing on human rights, identify and address the human rights impacts of their operations, and provide meaningful access to a remedy to those whose rights they abused,” Rasha Younes of Human Rights Watch told Arab News.
“For social media companies, including Meta, this responsibility includes aligning their content moderation policies and practices with international human rights standards, ensuring that decisions to take down content are transparent and not overly broad or biased, and enforcing their policies consistently,” Younes said.
The update applies to Explore, Reels, and in-feed recommendations and suggested users that Instagram shows to users.
Meta said that users would still be able to see political content from the accounts they currently followed.
It also stated that accounts flagged by Meta for posting political content could appeal the decision that prevented them from being recommended into the feeds if they believe that it was applied incorrectly.
The announcement of the policy change was also posted on Threads by Adam Mosseri, Meta’s head of Instagram.
Explaining the company’s decision, the American-Israeli businessman said: “Our goal is to preserve the ability for people to choose to interact with political content, while respecting each person’s appetite for it.”
This recent policy is part of Meta’s larger strategy to cut off its services from political and news content, signaling a significant shift in how the company views its role in the information ecosystem.
The company plans to remove the news tab from Facebook in Australia and the US by early April.
“One of the top pieces of feedback we’re hearing from our community right now is that people don’t want politics and fighting to take over their experience on our services,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during Facebook’s earnings call in January 2021.
However, the implementation of this recent policy has sparked outrage, particularly in light of the war in Gaza.
“Instagram’s move to limit ‘political content’ on the platform risks fueling censorship of content in support of Palestine, at a time of unspeakable atrocities and repression already stifling Palestinians’ expression. Social media is an essential platform for people to bear witness and speak out against abuses,” Younes said.
Earlier in December, Human Rights Watch accused Meta of participating in a wider wave of online censorship, specifically targeting content in support of Palestine and Palestinian human rights, against the backdrop of the war.
The report documented 1,049 cases in which peaceful pro-Palestine content was taken down or suppressed.
Younes recommended that Meta, “improve transparency around requests by governments’ Internet referral units, including Israel’s Cyber Unit, to remove content ‘voluntarily’— that is, without a court or administrative order to do so — and about its use of automation and machine learning algorithms to moderate or translate Palestine-related content.
“It should carry out due diligence on the human rights impact of temporary changes to its recommendation algorithms that it introduced in response to the hostilities between Israel and Hamas since Oct. 7.”
EU mulls removal of Iranian firm linked to internet blackout from censorship list
- ArvanCloud was sanctioned in 2022 for its role in censorship Internet in the country
LONDON: The European Union is reportedly contemplating the removal of ArvanCloud from its roster of human rights sanctions.
The company was sanctioned in 2022 due to its involvement in Iran’s internet censorship.
According to Iran International, citing a source close to the matter, the decision to lift the sanctions appears to be driven by claims from ArvanCloud's supporters abroad.
These supporters allege that the company played a significant role in providing millions of Iranian citizens with access to a free internet during the Woman, Life Freedom protests in 2022-2023.
During the nationwide demonstrations, which called for fundamental economic, social, and political changes, ArvanCloud was accused of assisting the Islamic Republic in censoring the internet, given its close ties to Iran’s intelligence services and top officials.
Consequently, the company, along with some of its executives, was also sanctioned by the US.
Subsequently, ArvanCloud announced the termination of its contract with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This development precedes the EU’s annual review of its list of individuals and entities found to be violating human rights in Iran.
Iran has a history of blocking tens of thousands of websites since 2002, including prominent social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
The country is notorious for its strict internet censorship measures, which have included shutting down internet access for most Iranians during nationwide protests. These measures aim to prevent the dissemination of information online and obstruct communication among citizens.
ArvanCloud, which controls 49 percent of Iran’s cloud space market, continues to host many critical websites in the Islamic Republic, including those of the presidency, IRNA news agency, and the Ministry of Islamic Guidance.
Additionally, one of the company’s information centers is installed at Payam Airport, which belongs to the Ministry of Communications.
Doctors Without Borders rejects Israeli army claim of ‘terror activity’ at site of deadly attack in Gaza
- 2 family members of staff member killed and 7 others injured by Israeli forces in February
- Likely a tank shell ‘fired directly into the building,’ according to a media probe
DUBAI: Israeli forces have been accused of intentionally, and without provocation, attacking a Doctors Without Borders aid shelter housing 64 people in Al-Mawasi, Gaza, on Feb. 20 killing two relatives of a staff member and injuring seven others.
The attack came despite Israeli forces being informed of the precise location of the shelter, Doctors Without Borders, or the MSF, reportedly said. The Israeli army has claimed that there was “terror activity” at the site, which the MSF has rejected.
Sky News revealed the findings of its investigation into the incident on Wednesday, prompting the Israeli Defense Forces to initiate its own “examination” into the incident.
The news organization said it visited the site, and used on-the-ground footage, open-source techniques and interviews with witnesses and weapons experts to understand how the incident unfolded.
Witnesses told Sky News they heard loud noises that seemed to come from a tank track, while some also heard gunshots.
The evidence suggests the attack was initiated by a tank shell that entered through a window. “It’s difficult to draw definitive conclusions merely from imagery however I believe the damage is the result of a tank round being fired directly into the building,” said former British army artillery officer and director of Chiron Resources, Chris Cobb-Smith.
He dispelled any notions about it being an attack by Hamas, saying he was “unaware of any direct fire weapons of this caliber being operated by Hamas” and is “doubtful that anything of this size would have been able to be deployed and fired with the amount of IDF activity in the area.”
Witnesses and MSF members said they also heard gunfire before the building was hit.
Meinie Nicolai, general director of the aid organization, who visited the site soon after the attack, said bullets were fired at the front of the shelter.
The investigation further revealed that on the day of the attack, the Israeli army said on its Telegram channel that its forces were operating in northern, central and southern Gaza Strip and continuing “intensive operations in western Khan Younis,” but it did not mention the immediate area around the shelter.
Moreover, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee published an evacuation map on the same day of two neighborhoods further north in and around Gaza City, which did not cover the area where the shelter is located.
Emergency services arrived at the scene at least two-and-a-half hours after the attack due to security concerns, according to the investigation.
The injured were taken to the International Medical Corps Field hospital in Rafah, said the MSF.
“We are outraged and deeply saddened by these killings,” said Nicolai in February.
“These killings underscore the grim reality that nowhere in Gaza is safe, that promises of safe areas are empty and deconfliction mechanisms unreliable,” she added.
The IDF, which has launched its own investigation, said that it “fired at a building that was identified as a building where terror activity is occurring,” but did not provide any evidence.
The MSF said in a statement on Wednesday it “refutes any allegations of terror activity occurring in MSF-run structures.
“The shelter was used by humanitarian personnel and their family members, identified by an MSF flag, and notified to the Israeli authorities.”
In a statement, the IDF added: “After the incident, reports were received of the death of two uninvolved civilians in the area. The IDF regrets any harm to civilians and does everything in its power to operate in a precise and accurate manner.”
Under international humanitarian law, medical facilities and units must be respected and protected in all circumstances.
Oona Hathaway, an international law professor at Yale Law School, told Sky News that medical facilities are “presumed to be civilian objects and not subject to targeting during armed conflict.”
She added that if the IDF intentionally targets a civilian object, it counts as “potentially a war crime.”
Last week, the IDF launched an operation in and around Al-Shifa, saying senior Hamas operatives were based at the sprawling compound. Days of heavy fighting have followed, with the military reporting about 170 Palestinian militants killed and hundreds more arrested or questioned.