Report Released: Media Manipulation & Disinformation Online

The Data & Society Research Institute  released a report on May 15 entitled Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online.  This report details media vulnerability to radicalized online groups.  Findings in the executive summary include:

• Internet subcultures take advantage of the current media ecosystem to
  manipulate news frames, set agendas, and propagate ideas.
• Far-right groups have developed techniques of “attention hacking” to
  increase the visibility of their ideas through the strategic use of social
  media, memes, and bots—as well as by targeting journalists, bloggers, and
  influencers to help spread content.
• The media’s dependence on social media, analytics and metrics,
  sensationalism, novelty over newsworthiness, and clickbait makes them
  vulnerable to such media manipulation.
• While trolls, white nationalists, men’s rights activists, gamergaters, the “alt-
  right,” and conspiracy theorists may diverge deeply in their beliefs, they
  share tactics and converge on common issues.
• The far-right exploits young men’s rebellion and dislike of “political
  correctness” to spread white supremacist thought, Islamophobia, and
  misogyny through irony and knowledge of internet culture.
• Media manipulation may contribute to decreased trust of mainstream media,
  increased misinformation, and further radicalization.

The full report may be accessed HERE:

Data & Society is a research institute in New York City that is focused on the social and cultural issues arising from data-centric technological development. (from the site)