Will platforms preserve misinformation data?

Another week of quarantine is over, readers. The latest news on COVID-19 includes preserving misinformation data, censored posts in Vietnam, and Canada's openness to a disinformation-spreading law. Meedan is also contributing to some of the evolving discourse. We announced this week our Global Misinfodemic Report on COVID-19 in emerging economies. Read more about what we're up to here and stay tuned for exciting updates soon! Don't forget to share the Checklist with friends and family so everyone cay stay up to date on global misinformation news. Enjoy!

Here's your weekly roundup!

Researchers want social media companies to preserve coronavirus misinformation data (The Verge)

In order to better study how online information impacts public health, a group of signatories — including Access Now, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and EU DisinfoLab — are urging tech companies to preserve data on the misinformation they're removing from their platforms. The letter encourages keeping accounts, posts and videos, as well as information on the removal process for each post — such as distinguishing whether it was removed automatically or with the help of human review. 

"Some of that information could be included in public transparency reports, and other pieces could be released specifically to researchers. 'It will ​be crucial to develop safeguards to address the privacy issues raised by new or longer data retention and by the sharing of information with third parties,” says the letter. “But the need for immediate preservation is urgent​.'" —The Verge 

We Can't Let the Virus Infect Democracy (TIME)

Meedan board member Maria Ressa discusses the current risks to democracy during the COVID-19 pandemic. As press freedoms are cut and executive powers expand as a response to the virus in many nations, Ressa writes that the need for independent press is more important than ever. 

"All around the world, leaders are gaining more power. That’s what this pandemic demands: a coordinated whole-of-nation approach with a powerful conductor at its center. We have to be careful, though, that the measures we are taking to tackle this global crisis don’t bring about another one: the death of democracy as we know it." — TIME 

Facebook agreed to censor posts after Vietnam slowed traffic (Reuters)

Facebook’s local servers in Vietnam were taken offline early this year, slowing local traffic to a crawl until it agreed to significantly increase the censorship of “anti-state” posts for local users. In Vietnam, despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, the ruling Communist Party retains tight control of media and tolerates little dissent, ranking 175th of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index.

“Facebook’s compliance with these demands sets a dangerous precedent. Governments around the world will see this as an open invitation to enlist Facebook in the service of state censorship.” — Amnesty International 

How Not to Lose the COVID-19 Communication War (Slate)

Is focusing discussions on accuracy the wrong way to be going about communicating science during the pandemic? That's what the authors of this Slate article argue. Striving only for accuracy can be reductive in an information environment in which scientific findings are characterized as partisan and are moving faster than ever, the authors argue.

"Science that was considered correct at the outset will likely turn out to be incorrect or incomplete, making it difficult to draw a bright line between misinformation and science that is legitimately contested. Further, just as the public health questions that arise during a pandemic go far beyond numbers such as death rates to include matters of social inequity and ailing health care infrastructure, the communication issues that complicate an infodemic are much broader than the mere existence of falsehood."— Slate 

Chinese Agents Helped Spread Messages That Sowed Virus Panic in U.S., Officials Say (New York Times)

Fake text messages and social media posts that said President Trump was 'locking down the country' alarmed millions of Americans in recent weeks, and now U.S. officials say the misinformation campaign was aided by China, noting a convergence with Russian tactics.

"Chinese operatives helped push the messages across platforms, according to six American officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to publicly discuss intelligence matters. The amplification techniques are alarming to officials because the disinformation showed up as texts on many Americans’ cellphones, a tactic that several of the officials said they had not seen before.

That has spurred agencies to look at new ways in which China, Russia and other nations are using a range of platforms to spread disinformation during the pandemic, they said." — New York Times 

Canada's federal government is open to new law to fight pandemic misinformation (CBC)

As governments around the world consider emerging tactics for misinformation, Canada's federal leaders are the latest to mull what kind of regulation might be appropriate given the harm that health misinformation can cause. The legislation being proposed would involve making it an offence to knowingly spread misinformation that could harm people. 

"'This is not a question of freedom of speech. This is a question of people who are actually actively working to spread disinformation, whether it's through troll bot farms, whether [it's] state operators or whether it's really conspiracy theorist cranks who seem to get their kicks out of creating havoc,' [said Canadian NDP MP Charlie Angus].

Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer criticized the idea of using legislation to curb misinformation. 'We're concerned when this government starts talking about free speech issues,' Scheer told reporters at a news conference Thursday. 'They've got a terrible history over the past few years of proposing ideas that would infringe upon free speech.'" — CBC News 

Meedan partners with Omidyar and other major funders to combat COVID-19 misinformation 

Why We’ve Invested in Fighting Disinformation and Dangerous Speech on WhatsApp and Other Encrypted Messaging Platforms
Omidyar Network

"Meedan, for example, is a technology nonprofit that builds software and designs human-powered initiatives for newsrooms, NGOs, and academic institutions. Since last year, we have supported the organization in studying databases of encrypted messages to better understand the dynamics of content, especially dangerous content, on WhatsApp and Telegram. Their researchers are identifying how mis/disinformation, hate speech, and calls for violence move within the encrypted platforms and how they compare to what is posted on open platforms to better quantify and qualify the problem. And in doing so, Meedan is testing legal and ethical frameworks to support additional, privacy-respecting research on these platforms in the future."