The Perils of Trying To Curtail Hazily Defined 'Disinformation'
A government-supported organization's controversial ratings of online news sources illustrate the challenge of deciding what qualifies as disinformation.
A government-supported organization's controversial ratings of online news sources illustrate the challenge of deciding what qualifies as disinformation.
Reason is listed among the "ten riskiest online news outlets" by a government-funded disinfo tracker.
Alarmists are unfazed by the lack of evidence that "foreign influence campaigns" have affected public opinion or voting behavior.
Deepfakes aren't nearly as dangerous as the tried-and-true technique of saying something misleading with the imprimatur of authority.
Plus: House votes to rescind IRS funding, the FDA is putting unnecessary strings on pharmacies filling abortion pill prescriptions, and more...
People in power lean on private businesses to impose authoritarian policies forbidden to the government.
Thanks, but we lived through the lies of their administrations that they used to sell us war and intrusive government meddling in health care.
Journalists who sound the alarm about Russian propaganda are unfazed by the lack of evidence that it has a meaningful impact.
Livestream with Nick Gillespie, Robby Soave, and Zach Weissmueller
Department of Homeland Security
While the Department of Homeland Security pressured tech companies to censor their users' posts, it also branded election deniers as potential terrorists.
The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI regularly report misinformation and disinformation to tech companies for potential removal.
Regular people are not so terminally online.
Amidst official hysteria over “misinformation,” the president continues to willfully misrepresent the facts on firearms.
A new Cato report sheds light on "jawboning," or attempts by state actors "to sway the decisions of private platforms and limit the publication of disfavored speech."
Plus: Don't cry for the failure of Homeland Security's disinformation board, states discover supply-side solutions to labor shortages, and more...
People believe and say things that aren't true all of the time, of course. But efforts by public officials to combat them may well make things worse, not better.
And The Washington Post's wildly one-sided account of Jankowicz's fall was an exercise in government PR.
A "disinformation" board sounds like something from a dystopian novel.
Plus: ruminations on public health, misinformation, and media literacy
This “unprecedented crisis for democracy” is neither unprecedented nor a crisis for democracy.
Department of Homeland Security
Plus: perpetual "scope creep" of the welfare state
The board's head says she is dedicated to "protecting free speech," but she has also expressed direct opposition to "free speech absolutists."
The existence of politically biased websites is not a crisis.
Government will happily suppress misinformation in favor of misinformation of its own.
Aaron Reynolds is just trying to make people laugh, but his content may have been flagged on Instagram for interfering with the election.
Aaron Reynolds, the creator of "Swear Trek" and "Effin' Birds," talks about living and dying by Instagram's algorithms.
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The House Intelligence Committee is mulling ways to stop an "infodemic." Is this really a task we want the government to tackle?
How a scary name for an arbitrary group of firearms distorts the gun control debate
Vladimir Putin's Foreign Ministry
Another bogus scaremongering study by anti-technology activists
Politicians have an enormous incentive to "strategically spread false information" otherwise known as "lie."