Stockholm, 25 August 2022 (TDI): Google’s Jigsaw is set to begin an anti-disinformation initiative in a few EU nations.
Based on a study conducted by psychologists at two British universities, Google’s Jigsaw business division will launch a campaign next week. The campaign will combat disinformation about Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic.
Disinformation about Ukraine
In response to the start of the war in Ukraine, volunteers from around the world, including many countries, mobilized to provide humanitarian aid. However, all these efforts were hit by disinformation about Ukrainian refugees via social media platforms.
Along these lines, the dissemination of false and misleading information via social media networks in Europe and the United States has prompted several governments. The governments then advocated for new legislation to stop disinformation efforts.
Research
Psychologists from Bristol and Cambridge universities created 90-second videos to inoculate viewers against disinformation. These videos suggested the inoculation theory to decrease susceptibility to disinformation by alerting individuals about how they can be deceived.
Furthermore, five quick videos were created by researchers to immunize viewers against five common forms of manipulation. These manipulations include; false dichotomies, incoherence, scapegoating, emotionally manipulative language, and hominine attacks.
These are among the few disinformation campaigns that have been successful across political and conspiratorial divides all across the world.
Google: Disinformation Campaign
In cooperation with local non-government institutions, fact-checkers, academicians, and disinformation specialists, the initiative aims to increase resistance to anti-refugee propaganda.
Moreover, by the end of August, the Jigsaw division will execute a pre-bunking advertising campaign based on their investigation of the social media sites. The social media sites include; Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter.
Our new research with @Cambridge_Uni & @BristolUni shows that #prebunking can help build resilience to misinfo, at scale, on platforms. The team produced 90-second videos to “inoculate” viewers against manipulation techniques like scapegoating. Read more: https://t.co/6mYMBlGvBU
— Jigsaw (@Jigsaw) August 24, 2022
The campaign will also target consumers in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland.
About Jigsaw
Google founded the technological incubator Jigsaw LLC (formerly Google Ideas). It previously operated as an independent company of Alphabet Inc. but is now managed by Google as of February 2020.
The company is based in New York City and is committed to comprehending worldwide issues and implementing technology solutions, from “countering extremism,” internet censorship, and cyberattacks, to safeguarding information exchange.
