Google Launches “Prebunking” Campaign In Europe To Stop Spread Of Fake News And Disinformation
The campaign will mainly target things that Google considers to be fearmongering, scapegoating, false comparisons, exaggeration, and missing context.
The following report was first published on February 18th, 2023, on winepressnews.com:
In a bid to stymie what they consider “fake news,” and mis- and disinformation, Google will now launch a new campaign in Europe called “prebunking” that is designed to educate the masses on what they consider trustworthy versus worth what is not.
Starting out in Germany first and then eventually in other places like India, Google will start playing short videos instructing the viewer on how to spot false information before they come across it. The campaign will operate on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Tik Tok, and others.
The campaign will mainly target things that Google considers to be fearmongering, scapegoating, false comparisons, exaggeration, and missing context.
Euro News wrote: You’ve probably already heard of debunking – revealing the inaccuracy of a claim – but what does prebunking mean exactly? Think of disinformation and fake news as a disease that spreads among the population. Researchers want to contain the spread of these false claims among the population by inoculating them like a vaccine does.
Sander van der Linden, a social psychologist at Cambridge University and the author of his new book “Foolproof: Why We Fall for Misinformation and How to Build Immunity,” says this prebunking will act as some ‘sort of herd immunity when it comes to false information,’ he said.
He told Euronews:
‘Pre-bunking is the opposite of debunking. It is a preemptive technique based on the idea of physiological inoculation.
“So, just as vaccines expose people to a weakened dose of a virus to try to trigger the production of antibodies to help prevent future infection, you preemptively try to refute a future falsehood or to take techniques that are used to dupe people online so they can build up mental antibodies and in the future they are partly immune to disinformation.”
An identical campaign was already launched last year for the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland, focusing on purported false claims about Ukrainian refugees causing a housing crisis in these countries. The video was seen over 38 million times in total between these three nations, Euro News says.
Translated from Polish to English, the narration said:
“The war in Ukraine continues not only on the ground, but also on your phone. To win this war, some will try and manipulate you by scapegoating Ukrainians and blaming them for your problems.
“If someone claims that complex problems are the fault of a particular person or group… it could be manipulation.
““Scapegoating” is one of the most widely used techniques to spread disinformation. Don’t let yourself be manipulated.”
Euro News says, ‘Researchers found that compared to people who hadn’t seen the videos, those who did watch them were less likely to spread false claims.’
Van der Linden however identifies what he sees as cons to this prebunking method, who noted that “the effects of prebunking wear off with time and the approach loses its effectiveness if social media users aren’t “boosted” regularly.”
“Sometimes I worry social media companies see this as an excuse to not take down content or not to pursue regulation.
“It shouldn’t be the case that it becomes a replacement for taking down harmful content or implementing measures that improve the algorithm or change the incentives on social media.”
Other ‘experts’ say that while prebunking is a useful tool, other things like the classic “fact-checking” should still be employed.
“Fact-checking is still absolutely necessary. They go hand-in-hand, and I worry that too much focus on prebunking, because it’s easy/scalable, will end in blowback,” Alex Mahadevan, director of MediaWise, a media literacy project launched by the Poynter Institute, said in a tweet.
Last year, in partnership with the World Economic Forum, Melissa Fleming, the Under-Secretary General for Global Communications at the United Nations, revealed that the UN worked with Tik Tok to artificially give verified “ticks” to select doctors to promote the UN’s message.
“We had another trusted messenger project which was called Team Halo, where we trained scientists around the world and some doctors on Tik-Tok, and we had Tik-Tok working with us,
“And these scientists who virtually had no following to start with, got ‘verified ticks.’ They started bringing people in their community into their labs, into their offices, and answering their questions and engaging with them.
“It really took off, and many of them became like national media go-to advisors. […] So it was a layered deployment of ideas and tactics […]
“People need to be inoculated themselves, and I think social media took off so quickly, that, I think people of all ages are very ill-equipped, especially in times of crisis when they’re feeling very engaged with what’s out there, and searching, and wanting to help, and wanting to share – really learning actually how to spot mis and disinformation, and how not to be part of the problem.”
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
Proverbs 16:27 An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire. [28] A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends. [29] A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good. [30] He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass.
“Prebunking” – a nice way of whitewashing “propaganda” and “brainwashing.” So before the information comes out Google will make sure you have already been thoroughly spoiled so you obey what they want you to think instead.
In truth, “prebunking” has already been around. As I have repeatedly said, if something is in the media, especially when everyone talks about it once, there is a reason for it; and they are trying to push something on the masses. And if the media continues to harp on something beforehand, then you KNOW it’s propaganda.
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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Talk about the blind leading the blind. Google is FULL of disinformation and they're going to tell US (as in you and me) what is disinformation? What a joke. Is there anyone in leadership these days that's sane? A big fat NO to that one.