Cameron Hickey, project director for algorithmic transparency at the National Conference on Citizenship, studies the spread of disinformation on TikTok and other social media platforms and believes all of these sites do some sort of algorithmic downgrading. Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube have also been accused of shadow bans. “Are they shadow-banning? I’m sure of it,” Hickey said. “How…
Category: News
TikTok Played a Key Role in MAGA Radicalization
Our team at the National Conference on Citizenship has been monitoring content on Parler continuously for the past few months, and what we saw generally mirrors what others have reported: The platform was a hotbed of misinformation, conspiracy theories, hate, and incitements to violence. There was also a lot of spam and junk. Parler was,…
The strange, violent death of Parler
And now the world is left to pick through Parler’s remains. “This was a platform that served for casual conversation, amplification and radicalisation,” says Cameron Hickey, director of algorithmic transparency at the National Conference on Citizenship, a non-partisan non-profit. But Parler wasn’t, Hickey argues, a platform where organisation took place. Wired UK | James Temperton,…
ProPublica’s Electionland: The State of Election Day 2020
One post said the incident “should scare voters,” suggesting local officials can’t be trusted to count the duplicates correctly. That and other examples were collected by Junkipedia, a repository that gathers misinformation online. Electionland from Propublica | November 2020, Caroline Chen, Jack Gillum, Derek Willis, Isaac Arnsdorf, Maryam Jameel, Jessica Huseman and Ryan McCarthy
Why are you “Diss-in’ Me,” or what I know about tracking Disinformation
As part of an effort to flag misinformation, or information that is uninformed and incorrect, and disinformation, information that is intentionally put out to deceive and manipulate an audience, I tracked tweets concerning themes of voter suppression, allegations of fraud, and discrediting absentee ballots. I used boolean searches, entering terms and specific locations where misinformation…
Social Media Experts Say Online Disinformation Damages Media, Voting Process
“The rise of QAnon is the single biggest change since 2016. It didn’t exist then, and even in 2018 was a marginal threat,” said Hickey. “This year it has overwhelmed us. A large and growing percentage of voters are engaging with this conspiracy and it has all kinds of problems including inciting violence, resistance to…
Fake News, Aziz Ansari & The Vote
Speakers at an October 16 Ethnic Media Services briefing shared their perspectives on the intent behind messaging that’s being fabricated to confuse and disenfranchise voters. “It doesn’t have to be false to be a problem,’ said Cameron Hickey, Program Director of Algorithmic Transparency at the National Conference on Citizenship (NCOC). In fact, fear mongering in conspiracy theories is designed…
Latinos de extrema derecha difunden desinformación electoral
Expertos comparan la desinformación con un virus real por ser contagiosa y peligrosa y tener una velocidad de propagación cuando se comparte que “pone en riesgo nuestra salud y bienestar, así como el futuro de nuestra democracia”. Así lo expresó Cameron Hickey, director del programa “transparencia algorítmica” en la Conferencia Nacional sobre Ciudadanía (NCoC en…
Inside the campaign to ‘pizzagate’ Hunter Biden
The claims have also spread far and wide on Facebook, especially on public pages and groups dedicated to the QAnon-linked SaveTheChildren conspiracy theory movement, according to posts viewed by NBC News, using a list maintained by Junkipedia, an organization that monitors misinformation. NBC News | October 2020, Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny
Disinformation and Voter Manipulation during the 2020 Election
“Viral misinformation is contagious, and it is dangerous just like an actual virus. This content spreads because people are sharing it with each other,” said Cameron Hickey, Program Director of Algorithmic Transparency at the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC). “And it creates significant problems that put our health and well-being at risk as well as…