A never ending, exhausting game of Whack-A-Mole
The New York Times (11/19/18)
In Episode 1 of Operation InfeKtion, we reveal how one of the biggest fake news stories ever concocted — the 1984 AIDS-is-a-biological-weapon hoax — went viral in the pre-Internet era. Meet the KGB cons who invented it, and the “truth squad” that quashed it. For a bit.
Read the story here: www.nytimes.com/disinformation
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The Seven Commandments Of Russian Disinformation Fake News
The New York Times (11/20/18)
Episode 2, Operation InfeKtion: The Pizzagate Playbook — same tactics, new technologies. How the seven rules of Soviet disinformation are being used to create today’s fake news stories. Pizza anyone?
The Seven Commandments of Russian disinformation campaigns:
- Look for racial, economic, class, linguistic, ethnic, regional cracks in the target society to manipulate and exploit.
- Create a big, bold lie so outrageous no one can believe anyone would be so crazy to make such a thing up.
- Wrap that lie around a kernel of truth.
- Conceal your hand in the lie.
- Find a useful idiot; a patsy to push your lie.
- Deny, deny, deny.
- Play the long game. Poison can take a long time to work, so be patient and wait for it to take effect.
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How Disinformation Is Taking Over the World
“A functioning government would…”
The New York Times (11/20/18)
Episode 3, Operation InfeKtion: Governments from Pakistan to Mexico to Washington are woefully unequipped to combat disinformation warfare. Eastern European countries living in Russia’s shadow can teach us how to start fighting back, but only if our politicians decide to stop profiting from these tactics and fight them instead.