This report was compiled by Joseph Eyre. You can find Joseph on Twitter here.
For Houston Chronicle reporter Mike Glenn, it seemed an ordinary enough assignment. On a bright summer morning in 2016, the journalist headed to his city’s Islamic Da’wah Center to cover a protest organised by a Facebook group named ‘The Heart of Texas’.
The group’s stated aim was to campaign against the alleged ‘islamification’ of their community. Also present at the rally was a counter-protest, likewise organised on Facebook, this time by the ‘Save Islamic Knowledge’ group. So far, so 2016.
It wasn’t until Glenn started pursuing quotes for his report that his suspicions were raised. Despite his best efforts, he wasn’t able to find any of the organisers from either side. He found passionate supporters – some of the anti-islam protesters were armed with AR-15 rifles and sported shirts emblazed with confederate flags and ‘White Lives Matter’ slogans. But there were no organisers to be found. “What kind of group”, asked Glenn in his report, “is a no-show at its own event?”.
It was only later that the journalist found out the organisers for both the protest and counter-protest had a pretty good alibi. It would, after all, have been a long way to come from Russia. Both ‘The Heart of Texas’ and ‘Save Islamic Knowledge’ were, it transpired, run out of an inauspicious office block in St Petersburg, the former capital of the Russian empire.
While you’re here,
Why not take a moment to subscribe to The International’s free monthly newsletter? It takes seconds to sign up, and you’ll stay up to date with the stories shaping our world at a pace that won’t overwhelm.
The Texas protests are just one of countless examples when it comes to foreign interference in America’s controversial social issues. Disinformation purveyed by state and non-state actors is unfortunately far from a new phenomenon. However, the widespread use of the internet and social media has caused fundamental changes in the type, quantity and veracity of information sources and the ways in which people interact with them. In a rapidly changing world, with a dramatically altered media environment, effective and open political discourse faces a grave threat. If liberal democracies are to successfully manage the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic downturn, informed consensus, trust in science, and effective, open debate are going to be essential. Without a greater focus on media literacy education for all, these will become increasingly difficult to attain.
This form of hostile disruption has a long history but the medium over which it is conducted, and consequently its reach and the extent to which it can infiltrate our lives, has recently and dramatically changed thanks to the internet. In 2000, 7.07 million American households had access to broadband internet; in 2018 that number was 110.57 million, with 220.5 million individuals using Facebook.
Political Interference
In the last decade, we have seen confirmation of Russian interference in the democratic functioning of the US, and to a lesser extent, the UK and these appear to comprise a significant part of the ‘aktivnye meropriyatiya’ or ‘active measures’ carried out by Russian security services with the goal of shaping world events. The example from Texas is an alarming demonstration of how tangible an effect these practices can have on our democratic process, and indeed our daily lives.
Robert Mueller’s troubling account of “sweeping and systematic” meddling in the American political process, and his warning to congress that Russia is “doing it as we sit here” have been largely overshadowed by partisan conflict. Likewise, in the UK Boris Johnson remains committed to refusing the release of a report on Russian interference in the Brexit campaign produced by Parliament’s Intelligence & Security Committee.
Despite its proficiency, Russia is not the only source of the misinformation and disinformation circulating on social media. The proliferation of anti-science and politically extreme movements have been a key characteristic of the last decade, partly aided by Russia and other states, but also developing organically, as a byproduct of domestic discontent and increasing distrust in the political class. The anti-vaccine movement and Q-Anon conspiracy theory are some of the more alarming examples and both have received tacit endorsement by the president.
In recent weeks, the ecosystem of disinformation and conspiracy theories surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic has received unprecedented attention and support. The belief that 5G technology is responsible has led to dozens of cellphone towers and telecoms workers being targeted in the UK, Netherlands and Belgium. Likewise, a YouGov and Economist poll in March found that 13% of Americans believed the Covid-19 crisis was a hoax.
State sponsored disinformation is also circulating. An investigation by Bellingcat has shed light on a Chinese campaign to spread Coronavirus disinformation via social media and the EU’s European External Action Service has confirmed that China, Russia, Syria and Iran are aggressively spreading false information online.
Trust In The Future?
Despite increased awareness, it seems inevitable that the spread of disinformation will continue as the economic repercussions of the pandemic are felt more widely. As of April 2020, the US unemployment rate is at 14.7%, the highest rate since 1939. The IMF predicts real GDP contractions of 5.9% and 7.5% in the US and Euro Area, respectively. These figures indicate a downturn significantly worse than any since the Great Depression and, as is generally accepted, economic downturns are associated with increased support for extremist parties and ideologies.
While it may be unrealistic to hope for a stop to the practice of online disinformation, there is hope that we may become better-equipped to cope with it. A promising 2019 study carried out by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has challenged the current narrative that people no longer care about accuracy, instead finding that people “fail to implement their preference for accuracy due to attentional constraints.” The results provide strong support for scalable, effective and easily-implemented interventions by social media platforms and indeed we have seen increased activity by social media platforms in recent months to encourage accuracy. However, it’s clear that much work still needs to be done.
Those looking for case studies in how to deal with the disinformation crisis should look to Canada and Latvia. The latter, by virtue of proximity to Russia, has considerable experience in tackling this threat and a keen understanding of the importance of the ‘information space’ to societal integration. Latvia’s Ministry of Culture, with a stated aim of strengthening “a high quality and democratic informational space”, provides media literacy training for teachers, librarians and other youth workers, and utilises an international network of journalists, researchers, civil servants and NGOs to combat disinformation.
Canada likewise has experience in this area, and has been a historic leader in ‘media literacy.’ The Association of Media Literacy, organised in Toronto in 1978 by high school teachers and university researchers, succeeded in having media literacy officially adopted by the Ontario Ministry of Education (MOE). Developed out of the more benign desire to help culturally distinguish Canadians from the US, the MOE’s media literacy campaign set out the following definition and guidelines:
“The ultimate aim of media literacy is not simply a better awareness and understanding; it is critical autonomy … By working in the various media to communicate their own ideas, students will develop critical thinking skills and understand at first hand how media works are designed to influence audiences and reflect the perspectives of their creators.”
– The definition of ‘media literacy’, as set out by the Ontario Ministry of Education
While the threat is evidently grave, and even more so during this pandemic, it is not entirely new; governments need not look far for workable and scalable solutions that can span society. The UK government, for example, has recently published a White Paper on Online Harms which proposes the development of an online Media Literacy Strategy. This has received positive engagement from academic groups and other initiatives, such as the Foreign Office’s Open Information Partnership are seeking to create a network of organisations similar to those which Latvia has used to great success.
Responses to misinformation and disinformation are fortunately beginning to accelerate but the Covid-19 pandemic has left starkly visible the shortfalls and vulnerabilities that remain. At this critical juncture, with an upcoming presidential election and unprecedented economic and health crises, media literacy needs to become a greater priority in order to ensure the level of effective political discourse that is necessary to the functioning of liberal democracies.
Joseph Eyre is a staff writer for The International. You can find Joseph on Twitter here.