Global call outs for social media platforms to address disinformation
In this issue of Checklist, we highlight global voices calling for responsible and effective measures by social media companies in combating misinformation circulating on their platforms.
Hey Checklisters!
We hope you are settling well into the new year with rekindled spirits and hopes.
In this issue we bring you three major call outs against lukewarm responses of tech platforms against mis/disinformation on social media. The most talked about letter from fact-checkers to YouTube, Twitter hashtags against Twitter in Brazil and Maria Ressa’s warning of US Capitol attack like incidents in the Philippines are the voices demanding critical attention toward the tech world’s misinformation problem. We are also happy to share the news of Omidyar Network’s continuing support of our work in strengthening global journalism and fact-checking.
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An open letter to YouTube’s CEO from the world’s fact-checkers (Poynter)
More than 80 fact-checking organizations and groups have sent an open letter to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki urging the platform to do more to address misinformation and disinformation, stating that the current measures in place are proving insufficient. The letter asks YouTube to commit to meaningful transparency and independent research on misinformation on the platform, provide context and offer debunks in videos distributing disinformation and misinformation, take action against repeat offenders whose content is constantly flagged, limiting its recommendation algorithms from spreading false content, and do more to tackle falsehoods in non-English-language videos.
“ YouTube is allowing its platform to be weaponized by unscrupulous actors to manipulate and exploit others, and to organize and fundraise themselves. Current measures are proving insufficient. That is why we urge you to take effective action against disinformation and misinformation, and to elaborate a roadmap of policy and product interventions to improve the information ecosystem — and to do so with the world’s independent, nonpartisan fact-checking organizations.” — IFCN signatories
In Brazil, hashtags that accuse Twitter of omission in the fight against disinformation add up to 87,000 mentions (Aos Fatos)
The hashtags #TwitterApoiaFakeNews and #TwitterOmisso surpassed, 87 thousand mentions on Twitter, according to the monitoring site Get Day Trends. With their use, users have accused the platform of being lenient with disinformation in Brazil, because it does not provide a channel for reporting misleading posts about Covid-19 and grants verification seals to profiles that disseminate false information.
“As of March 2020, Twitter has a policy to handle misleading information about Covid-19. It does not provide for acting on all untrue or questionable content about the pandemic, but on Tweets that may expose people to more risk of contracting or transmitting the disease. Our approach to disinformation goes beyond keeping or taking content and accounts offline. Twitter has the challenge of not arbitrating the truth and giving people who use the service the power to expose, contrast and discuss perspectives. This is serving the public conversation. We take specific criteria into account when taking action ranging from flagging a Tweet as misleading to permanently suspending an account.” — Twitter
Ressa warns: PH polls could see repeat of US Capitol attack if disinformation not stopped (Rappler)
Press freedom and democracy icon Maria Ressa warned senators that the Philippines could potentially undergo post-election violence like the attack in the United States Capitol in 2021 if the government will keep allowing lies to fester on social media. Ressa made this grim warning ahead of the May presidential elections in her testimony before the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes on Wednesday, January 12.
“So think about it like this: How many times have Filipino politicians, candidates who have lost elections, said that they were robbed? That’s kind of pretty normal in the Philippines. But now, put it in the age of disinformation, if you have an expert who knows how to do this, it can lead to violence. So disinformation is directly connected to elections, which is directly connected to national security” — Maria Ressa, Nobel laureate and founder of Rappler
Keeping Misinformation, Hate, and Violence from Going Viral (Omidyar Network)
Omidyar Network commits $10 million toward making private messaging more trustworthy. The press release mentioned its long-standing partnership with Meedan and announced a new grant of $500,000 to support our work in the field.
“One of our longest-running partnerships related to this work is with Meedan, a technology nonprofit that builds software and initiatives to strengthen global journalism, digital literacy, and accessibility of information for the world. Today, we are announcing a new grant of $500,000 to support the scaling of Meedan’s Crypto Chat project and Digital Health Lab misinformation response, both of which we supported in earlier stages. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Meedan brought together a team of scientists to form Health Desk, a team tasked with supporting fact-checking organizations and journalists combatting health misinformation about COVID-19. More than 1.5 million people visited health-desk.org in 2021.” — Omidyar Network
What’s new at Meedan
Open positions at Meedan
Meedan is inviting applications for the full-time positions for our work in the North Africa/Western Asia region (NAWA) and in the Philippines. Do share the information widely. Interested applicants may click on the relevant job description page for application instructions.