Bane Of Disinformation: Battling infodemic in free societies

But threats to and  through  information  also  lurk  in  free  media  markets  where  the  value  of  qualitative  information  is  deliberately  inflated  by  the  planned  overproduction  of information. Freedom  of  information  and  media  diversity  are  thus  exploited  to  disturb  people in free media environments. Important social discussions or democratic processes,  such  as  elections,  can  be  undermined in this way.

This challenge is described    as    “disinformation    campaigns,”  i.e.,  the  deliberate  spread  of  false  information  to  achieve  a  political  goal.Misleading  a  political  opponent  with  disinformation  is  nothing  new:  Some  2,500  years  ago,  the  Greek  city-state  of  Athens is said to have lured the Persian King  Xerxes  into  the  Battle  of  Salamis  with  clever  disinformation  of  its  own  weakness,    thus    decisively    defeating    him.

But the digital revolution has revolutionised a central motif of information in recent years: From a principally prevailing  lack  of  information both  correct  and  incorrect  an  abundance  of  communication   and   information   signals has emerged.

Humanity  had  long  lived  with  information  scarcity.  Humans  always  had  too  little  knowledge  about  themselves  and other peoples, nature and the social environment.

But  new  information  signals are very important, as they expand our knowledge of the world. A better understanding of reality ensures survival, limits dangers and creates new opportunities. That has increased people’s interest  in  access  to  more  information  of-ten  to  the  chagrin  of  religious,  political  or   economic   authorities.

Inquisitiveness  can  endanger  their  power.  This  is  precisely why authoritarian or totalitarian  regimes  use  censorship  to  suppress  undesired information.The  view  of  the  world  was  to  be  manipulated  with  a  controlled  shortage  of  information.  That’s  why  censorship  is  still  part  of  the  toolbox  for  controlling  information  in  many  dictatorships  to-day.

Digital  technologies  have  revolutionized  communication  and  information:  The  principle  of  controlling  information  by  suppressing  it  has  become  impossible  in  free  media  systems.  For  just over 10 years, smartphones, the Internet  and  “social  media”  have  been  ubiquitous.   News   races   around   the   globe    in    real-time.    Demonstrations,    wars  and  any  kind  of  political  event  spread almost live through thousands of photos, videos and texts.What’s  more,  information  is  all-encompassing.

Traffic   information,   restaurant   ratings,   private   information,   personal  fitness  data  and  much  more  can  be  accessed  on  smartphones  or  on  smartwatches. The multitude of signals condenses  into  a  noise  of  information  for the individual. People in free media markets  have  solved  the  problem  of  information  scarcity  with  the  communications revolution.

There is no longer a shortage   of   quantitative   information.   On one hand, this generates huge opportunities to better understand the world. On the other, it has created an impossible-to-manage    information    overload.    People are now faced with the individual challenge of identifying the important and relevant signals.It is precisely this noise that modern disinformation  campaigns  take  advantage  of.  They  aim  to  distort  knowledge  about  reality  by  deliberately  overloading the information space.

Whether the information is true or untrue is less important.  Such  “successful”  disinformation campaigns can contain many different and contradictory pieces of information.  Crucially,  the  deliberately  amplified information noise inflates the value of   qualitative   information   and   real   facts. Be aware of which people or resources you pay attention to.

By making these choices,  you’re  not  just  silencing  the  noise  of  information.  You  deprive  the  disinformers  of  your  attention  and  dis-information  campaigns  of  their  viral  power.