There has been a lot of commentary in the last week or two regarding the way social media have handled the bushfire emergency. Much has been well done and responsible but we have also seen a dark side emerge.
Typical of the dark have been the following.
Bushfires: ‘Twitter bots’ hijack online debate over causes
Concerns about bushfire misinformation on social media have heightened, with experts pointing to the use of “Twitter bots” and urging Australians to be more discerning in sourcing and spreading information.
Amid a plethora of fake and misleading posts and images relating to the bushfires, a Queensland academic has reported finding a high number of bot-like accounts using hashtags including #ArsonEmergency. The hashtag, apparently favoured by those seeking to emphasise arson over climate change as the cause of the bushfires menacing Australia, has been trending on Twitter.
Queensland University of Technology social media analyst Timothy Graham used a bot-detecting tool to examine 315 accounts using the hashtag, finding a “high number of bot-like and troll-like” accounts.
Dr Graham also reported a large number of suspicious accounts using other bushfire hashtags, such as #bushfireaustralia and #australiafire.
He said he was “confident” the findings represented a disinformation campaign but “less confident” it was on the scale of Russian inference during the 2016 US elections.
“I’m not sure whether it’s orchestrated or the extent to which this campaign is being co-ordinated,” he was quoted as saying by ZD Net. “But there does appear to be a particular focal point for spreading disinformation about arson in relation to the bushfires.”
More here:
This is also covered here:
Online fact-checkers confront deluge of bushfire misinformation
By Zoe Samios and Fergus Hunter
January 8, 2020 — 6.36pm
National news agency Australian Associated Press has been overwhelmed by an influx of dubious social media posts relating to the national bushfire crisis that it must fact-check on behalf of partner Facebook.
AAP chief executive Bruce Davidson said his fact-checking team had been working through "dozens and dozens" of suspect posts relating to the bushfires this week, with areas of concern ranging from misleading images to false political claims.
The surge in false and misleading posts on social media websites about the causes of the bushfires has led to concerns among politicians and academics, who have urged the public to be careful when reading online content.
"We are contracted by Facebook to look at a queue that is serviced by algorithms on Facebook that surfaces any potentially suspect posts," Mr Davidson said. "Right now it is all bushfires. There are dozens and dozens of suspect posts... Some are political, some are photos, some are scams."
Mr Davidson’s comments come as Communications Minister Paul Fletcher urged the Australian public to maintain a "healthy scepticism" about bushfire-related information they read online.
"Sadly we have seen this bushfire emergency lead to significant amounts of disinformation online – and this is a reminder that disinformation online is a significant problem," Mr Fletcher said.
He urged people to rely on news from government bodies and trusted media outlets during emergencies.
Online posts featuring misleading images, reports about the scale of the fires and its cause have been spread on social media platforms. On Wednesday the hashtag #ArsonEmergency was trending nationally, with users using it to critique the link between bushfires and climate change, a topic which raised concerns with social media analysts.
Lots more here:
What appears to be happening is that those (presumably covertly sponsored and paid for by emissions loving coal advocates etc) who want to prevent any policy change on ‘climate change’ are trying to suggest causes other than the combination of drought, extreme weather, lightning which tie back to the evolving climate situation which the Prime Minster said on Sunday this week we need to begin to adapt and really respond creatively to, while continuing to reduce our emissions.
The best information suggests arson is involved in well less than 5% of fires.
The truth about Australia's fires — arsonists aren't responsible for many this season
By Kevin Nguyen, Tim Brunero, Sarah Thomas, Daniel Keane and Nicole Mills
12 January, 2020
Only about 1 per cent of the land burnt in NSW this bushfire season can be officially attributed to arson, and it is even less in Victoria, the ABC can reveal.
The world has been shocked by the scenes of devastation as the unprecedented destruction of Australia's horror bushfire season rages on.
The disaster has sparked significant media speculation that many of the blazes were deliberately lit.
While it is true firebugs remain a legitimate and serious threat, we crunched the numbers provided by police and fire authorities around the country.
The results might surprise you.
NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) Inspector Ben Shepherd said earlier this week lightning was predominantly responsible for the bushfire crisis.
"I can confidently say the majority of the larger fires that we have been dealing with have been a result of fires coming out of remote areas as a result of dry lightning storms," he said.
In Victoria, where about 1.2 million hectares has burned, only 385 hectares — or 0.03 per cent — have been attributed to suspicious circumstances.
This state-by-state breakdown reveals the true impact of arson this bushfire season.
The full article is here:
Reading through all this I was struck that the ADHA campaigns regarding the #myHealthRecord are similar, but just at a lower level, while still containing a very healthy dollop of spin and deception etc. Of course this is not to leave out the lying anti-vaxxers who are also dangerous spinners and deceivers etc. It is no stretch to say that mis-information (deliberate or not) in the health sector can have serious, even lethal, consequences.
I really think we need to start to develop guidelines regarding truth and lack of spin in social media. Just how this can be done is well above my paygrade but I believe the damage being inflicted on our societies and democracies demands some real action. Forcing strong identification of posters on these media and removing all non-individual accounts may help? Suggestions welcome, as are suggestions on what to do about the dangerous abuse and villification that is being seen more regularly with some awful outcomes!
I would prefer not to be assaulted by spin and deception both from the ADHA, anti-vaxxers or some obscure climate change denying trolls. To me all are a real problem and the time is well overdue to reign these behemoths in!
What do you think?
David.
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