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Weapons of mass information

28 Mar 2021

The old adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity doesn’t count for these times, when powerful governments, businesses, and celebrities can be taken down with one piece of bad press. We are surrounded today by various forms and formats of media, so much of which we encounter subconsciously. Each medium wields great power in shaping opinions and perceptions, thus forming the “truth” that becomes the foundation of what one believes. That’s why the drastically different milieu of superfast information that we now experience in whole new ways has profound implications. The business of information is as old as civilisation itself, but the information revolution brought on by the advent of modern technology has also given rise to an entire economy, now centred around disinformation. Disinformation is the more sinister form of misinformation, manipulated and weaponised to intentionally deceive and cause deliberate harm – and even though it’s risen in this age of new media, mainstream media themselves are prime purveyors. Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, for instance, has been criticised for its role in the disinformation campaign surrounding the legitimacy of the US election, thus aiding the events that eventually resulted in a siege on the US capitol. True independence has eluded mainstream media in general; the relationships between politicians and media houses have always been significant to building narratives and opinions. This column last week referred to scripted narratives, which are sine qua non in furthering an agenda or a spin, whether the media is considered traditional or new.  The thing about the advanced technology that works behind new media is that the algorithms generate echo chambers that amplify individual perspectives, constantly pushing information that affirms one’s beliefs. Where credibility is concerned, formal sources are less problematic than informal ones, but part of the disinformation business is also making it harder to differentiate between the two. A lot of the conversation around misinformation and disinformation lies in the context of ideological and political issues. But businesses may face an equally swift fallout from fake news that can directly and immediately damage reputation and market behaviour.  Businesses must therefore be cognisant of the real risk of fake news – whether the source becomes a misunderstanding or a more sinister organised effort by competitors or disgruntled stakeholders. Businesses that don’t take care to build trust and transparency can lose narrative control, leaving themselves especially vulnerable to a campaign of misinformation. Information is critical to life; it connects us and it even saves lives – as it has in the past year as we waded through Covid-19. The pandemic however was also the best example of an infodemic – where the indiscriminate onslaught of information left people confused and bewildered at times.  Across the world, there is an ongoing campaign of misinformation surrounding Covid-19 vaccines, creating hesitancy in the vaccine drives that are essential to slowing the pandemic down. The culture of disinformation requires humans to become more sophisticated and judicious in how they access and consume media. We live at a time when an entire industry subsists on creating the next great viral post – and the successful ones know exactly how cleverly that message must be structured and optimised to blow up and multiply across platforms. The entire proposition is based on speed of multiplications; any system of checks and balances must thus fundamentally be able to keep up with that pace.  Moreover, the framework of repercussions for wrongful information is weak at best, and cannot battle the pace and impact of the fake news fallout. The counterbalance requires brutally accurate fact checking and swift, empowered takedowns, but Sri Lanka is far from ready.


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