Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society: Audio Fishbowl - Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics

Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics

10/09/18 • 59 min

Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society: Audio Fishbowl

Is social media destroying democracy? Are Russian propaganda or "Fake news" entrepreneurs on Facebook undermining our sense of a shared reality? A conventional wisdom has emerged since the election of Donald Trump in 2016 that new technologies and their manipulation by foreign actors played a decisive role in his victory and are responsible for the sense of a "post-truth" moment in which disinformation and propaganda thrives. Network Propaganda challenges that received wisdom through the most comprehensive study yet published on media coverage of American presidential politics from the start of the election cycle in April 2015 to the one year anniversary of the Trump presidency. Analyzing millions of news stories together with Twitter and Facebook shares, broadcast television and YouTube, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the architecture of contemporary American political communications. Through data analysis and detailed qualitative case studies of coverage of immigration, Clinton scandals, and the Trump Russia investigation, the book finds that the right-wing media ecosystem operates fundamentally differently than the rest of the media environment. Authors Yochai Benkler, Rob Faris, and Hal Roberts present their years-in-the-making research on the media ecosystem, and discuss their findings with Martha Minow and Claire Wardle. More info on this event here: https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2018-10-04/network-propaganda

Previous Episode

"Click Here to Kill Everybody": A Book Talk with Bruce Schneier

Bruce Schneier, the author of Click Here to Kill Everybody in conversation with Abby Everett Jaques, MIT. From the description of "Click Here to Kill Everybody": Computer security is no longer about data; it's about life and property. This change makes an enormous difference, and will shake up our industry in many ways. First, data authentication and integrity will become more important than confidentiality. And second, our largely regulation-free Internet will become a thing of the past. Soon we will no longer have a choice between government regulation and no government regulation. Our choice is between smart government regulation and stupid government regulation. Given this future, it's vital that we look back at what we've learned from past attempts to secure these systems, and forward at what technologies, laws, regulations, economic incentives, and social norms we need to secure them in the future. More info on this event here: https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2018-09-25/click-here-kill-everybody

Next Episode

Software for Social Good

The Berkman Klein Center's geek team helps build amazing tools that help us study the Internet and advance the public interest. In this talk they discuss and demo some of the tools we produce, including TagTeam and Media Cloud. Learn more about this event: https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2018-10-02/software-social-good