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Okay class. In week 2 of “Lies & Disinformation” @Georgetown, we took a look at the evolution of propaganda & influence from analog to digital, how advancements in technology, democratization of info from the Gutenberg Press, to radio and television, the internet changed the game https://twitter.com/olgs7/status/1271500145868365832
The first recommended reading was an audio clip @NPR on how new technology (printing press) helped Martin Luther change Christianity (h/t to @markondefense for that idea) https://www.npr.org/transcripts/502437123. @ICFJ also has a great overview on the history of info ops: https://www.icfj.org/news/short-guide-history-fake-news-and-disinformation-new-icfj-learning-module
In class, we covered how Gutenberg’s invention led to Luther’s 95 theses going “viral," but also to some extreme regulation like the death penalty in France for the use of the printing press in 1535 to “prevent the spread of misinformation and false news.”
To go along w/ the Gutenberg discussion, I read this prescient quote from Mark Twain in class, in which he notes that the invention led to great advancement, but also great evil. Ultimately, he concludes optimistically that the good of this "mighty invention" outweighs the bad
We covered the Great Moon Hoax, essentially “clickbait” about life on the moon from the New York Sun “penny press” in 1835. With the advent of radio, we looked at famous radio adaptation of “War of the Worlds” that allegedly led to mass panic.. or did it?: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/30/opinion/orson-welles-war-of-the-worlds-fake-news.html
When we got into the age of television, I played a clip from @MadMen_AMC for class to showcase how TV changed political advertising and ultimately influence as well. “It doesn’t cloud the mind…it’s catchy,” Don Draper says of the “fun” Kennedy ad.
As a teaser for week 3 of class (when we got into Russian active measures), students also watched this great video from @nytimes on “the KGB Spies who invented fake news” to get a sense of the long tail of history and techniques at play here: https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000006210828/russia-disinformation-fake-news.html
To step into the future, we read “The Future of Truth and Misinformation Online” from @JannaQ @lrainie at @pewresearch
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/10/19/the-future-of-truth-and-misinformation-online/ and read @Facebook IO write paper from 2017, which I contributed to along w/ @alexstamos @jenrweedon @Will_Nuland https://fbnewsroomus.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/facebook-and-information-operations-v1.pdf
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/10/19/the-future-of-truth-and-misinformation-online/ and read @Facebook IO write paper from 2017, which I contributed to along w/ @alexstamos @jenrweedon @Will_Nuland https://fbnewsroomus.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/facebook-and-information-operations-v1.pdf
Students also read “Fiction Is Outperforming Reality” from @PaulLewis @guardian which gets into divisive content, conspiracy @YouTube & features @gchaslot -- this kicked off a convo about algorithms, targeting, and the features, bugs of modern tech in IO. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/02/how-youtubes-algorithm-distorts-truth
At the end of class, we watched this 2011 clip @CBSNews on the Arab Spring, in which reporters talk about networked protest and "the Twitter/FB revolution" optimistically, before passing to @evgenymorozov who leaves a dire warning about “the dark side”
Fun personal story to go along w/ the previous clip: when I first considered going to grad school and visited @Georgetown many yrs ago, I got to sit in on @evgenymorozov's "Internet and Democracy" class with @SethGainer. So crazy that all these years later, I'm teaching my own.
