Disinformation in 2024: The perfect storm?

According to a poll conducted last May among 289 of them in 54 countries, two-thirds consider that “the inability to hold social media companies accountable” due to their inaction against misinformation and hate speech will constitute a more serious problem. In fact, both Meta and Twitter had (Day X) last year, Reduced or completely eliminated Their teams are dedicated to “moderation.”

The survey was conducted by the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE), a non-profit organization created last year in Switzerland. Selected researchers must have published at least one peer-reviewed article on a topic relevant to the problem of fake or misleading news, whether published with intent to harm (misinformation) or without malicious intent (disinformation).

More than half of these researchers (54%) believe that the situation will deteriorate in their country. A third cited social media companies as one of the most serious threats to dialogue, and another third cited politicians. And not just those living in authoritarian regimes: one concern is that politicians from more democratic countries are “borrowing” the communication strategies of those living in authoritarian regimes.

On three squares (72%) it is important to import a large plateau transparence, it is a large area of ​​​​theirs données afin de pouvoir mieux évaluer les modification efforts that are on the succès -Firstly.

This lack of platform transparency (Twitter was a rare exception for researchers, before it was acquired by Elon Musk) has often been singled out in recent years as an obstacle to better understanding this ecosystem of misinformation. This expanded access to data may be even more urgent, as AI risks increasing false or misleading information.