Insights into Incitement Online
Posted on 28th May 2024
By William Bird and Thandi Smith There has, understandably been a significant focus on the threat posed by mis and disinformation in the lead up to the national elections on the 29th of May. The Real411 teams have been kept busy with all manner of content, from claims about rigging the elections to claims that people […]
READ MOREHow much disinformation is there?
Posted on 24th May 2024
By William Bird and Thandi Smith Over the last few weeks we have been accused of being CIA /Oppenheimer stooges, or and ANC deployees. We have also heard that we are either drowning in disinformation – where just about anything everything and mainstream media are lying to us to rig/steal elections or that there is […]
READ MORETime to get CRITICAL!
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By William Bird and Nomshado Nkosinkulu In this piece we look beyond the online harms to actions the public can take and specifically the issue of media literacy. Media and information literacy has been a staple programme of MMA for 26 years- but it has tended to focus on children being equipped with critical media […]
READ MOREArtificial Intelligence (AI) and Elections
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By William Bird and Thandi Smith Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been the buzz term of the year and understandably so as developments around it have been nothing short of astonishing. Just over a year ago it didn’t seem likely that AI systems would be able to generate life like video from text, yet Open AI has […]
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Disinformation on Covid-19 cures!
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One of the common trends over the past few weeks have been complaints about Ivermectin. It has been touted as a miracle drug, to cure Covid-19, or as an effective preventative tool to be taken prophylactically. Some complaints relate to content suggesting that it should be used with a range of other over-the-counter medications from […]
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Weekly trends
Posted on 6th Jul 2021
This week two cases point to the real-life, or at least outside of digital real-life, impact of disinformation. The first is about an advert in Cape Town so terrible that the case was actually reported to Real411. It was picked up by one of the amazing Real411 reviewers, Robyn Porteous, who decided to do something about it. The second case […]
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An exercise in hate
Posted on 30th Jun 2021
Over the past week, as we continued dealing with largely Covid-19-related disinformation (about how those who promote vaccines are guilty of a silent holocaust and other such denialists fodder), another set of complaints highlighted an even more crass expression of hate. #OperationDudula. In essence it was a plan to forcibly remove non-South Africans from Soweto. […]
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The decuplets
Posted on 22nd Jun 2021
It should have been a good story, a remarkable one even, a woman giving birth to a world record number of babies and they all survived. Instead, like the smell of fried fish, it clings, sullying more than just the media concerned. Some have said the story is indicative of the poor quality of our […]
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Deny, deny, deny
Posted on 17th Jun 2021
One striking aspect of disinformation is how seemingly patently unbelievable it is. Suggesting, for example, that Covid-19 isn’t real or deadly, or that the holocaust didn’t happen, are so far removed from reality it seems scarcely plausible that anyone would take them seriously. In previous pieces we have looked at the reasons that some people […]
READ MORERecent Posts
- Insights into Incitement Online28th May 2024
- How much disinformation is there?24th May 2024
- Time to get CRITICAL!
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Elections
- Real411 Reviewers16th Jul 2021
- Disinformation on Covid-19 cures!
- Weekly trends6th Jul 2021
- An exercise in hate30th Jun 2021
- The decuplets22nd Jun 2021
- Deny, deny, deny17th Jun 2021