Sweden Creates Agency to Combat Fake News Ahead of Election

[jmbar2]

Source: Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Sweden, which is holding a general election in September, has joined France in creating an agency to combat disinformation.

The mission of the Swedish Psychological Defense Agency is to “defend our open and democratic society and free opinions by identifying, analyzing and responding to inappropriate influences and other misleading information directed at Sweden or Swedish interests.”

The agency, which started up Jan. 1, has departments that respectively “identify, analyze and respond to the impact of undue information influence and other misleading information” and “to develop and strengthen society’s overall capacity for psychological defense."

The government authority, which didn't name any countries it suspects of participating in disinformation campaigns, said it "will provide support to the population, agencies, municipalities, the media, voluntary defense organizations and civil society in general, as well as working for increased coordination between these actors.”

Read more: https://www.barchart.com/story/news/6849365/sweden-creates-agency-to-combat-fake-news-ahead-of-election

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We need something like this in the US.

[Firestorm49]

1. Makes perfect sense, but we're too far down the road to Fascism to expect honesty to prevail.

[global1]

2. If We Had A Similar Agency Here Do You Think.....

People would trust it?

Just one comment by Fox News could shoot it down before it would even get started.

[jmbar2]

3. Smart people would trust it

And talk to the dumb ones.

Over time, I think the disinformation epidemic we are currently experiencing will burn itself out. In its late stage, the "firehose of falsehoods" collapses on itself as it makes people feel stupid.

[global1]

6. So Over Time - The Antivax & Antimask Movement Will Burn Itself Out?.....

And the MAGA's will stop watching Fox and turn to CNN & MSNBC?

Tucker Carlson will convert?

Climate change will stop dead in its tracks?

Conspiracies will be a thing of the past?

[jmbar2]

8. Well, consider this...

When is the last time you heard people seriously discussing

- The Tea Party
- Obamacare = death panels
- Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve
- The Moral Majority
- But her emails
- Pizzagate
- Obama's birth certificate
- False flags

Etc

False information has a limited lifespan. As a nation, we are now much more educated on recognizing and calling out false information.

[summer_in_TX]

12. Specific false information may be largely replaced

by more current disinformation. The new and shiny is what gets attention. But if you survey those who have been subjected to that disinformation, I'll bet you will find that they still believe those untruths. They just haven't needed to think about it in awhile.

Same with our own knowledge and beliefs. I haven't needed to think about the first lunar landing in a long time. But my belief about what happened was formed a long time ago and if I need to reach for it, it is intact. Yes, we really did accomplish human beings setting foot on the Moon and taking "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

[moreland01]

4. Sometimes

it feels like we're living in a real-life Gotham City. The press has allowed lies to permeate our newsfeeds. The Government is not trusted to combat the lies. Therefore, nobody feels like they have a truly trustworthy source for information. And we see each other's leaders as rotten to the core.

Dems think of Joe Biden has a calm, grandfatherly like, old school legislator who could get good things done if Congress did their part. The right thinks of him as evil.

Climate change is going to get us all killed if we're not already wiped out by a deadly virus. And there's nothing that can be done about it because . . .we're living in Gotham!

Just my feelings.

[jmbar2]

5. It's helpful to understand some of the dynamics of lying and possible responses.

Teri Kanefield has written extensively on this. If you are not reading her blog, you are missing out on some great analysis. Here is a good one on lying:

https://terikanefield.com/republican-lies/

Also, Timothy Snyder, Yale historian, has written a great book- The Road to Unfreedom - that lays out the history of the "firehose of falsehoods" strategy, as developed by the former Soviet Union to keep people in the dark about what was really going on.

Putin has continued the strategy, taking it into the digital age. Steve Bannon put it on steroids with Cambridge Analytica.

Ultimately, in a free information environment, it cannot compete if we actively work to support Truth.

[summer_in_TX]

13. The military use counter-propaganda to handle disinformation.

Psychologist Julie Hotard finds that is about the only thing that has been effective. She advocates for NGOs and nonprofits, not the government, to take on the work of counter-propaganda.

I think our own talking points telling the truth would also be a help, where all our representatives has a particular focus each day. Part of the counter-propaganda effort.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016309688

It would take coordination and an ability to focus and plan, which would take time away from other pursuits. A source of serious funds and having dedicated personnel would help. BTW, @anotheracronym and @RealityTeam11 are two organizations she cites as working on counter-propaganda (a.k.a. truth-telling).

[jmbar2]

14. Good info - thanks

We also need to individually debunk on various media streams. I do a lot of that on another forum.

[summer_in_TX]

15. I've been doing a lot of debunking too.

But I have a feeling that the constant messaging of talking points repeated/rephrased by many people may be more effective. I get told that they don't trust my sources pretty often.

Not that I'll stop. I recently ran across Lead Stories. I like their format better than sites like Snopes. Very catchy visuals, and easy to share links on social media. But I want to figure out how to do the other too.

[jmbar2]

16. I sat through all of the Jan 6 commenmoration speeches by our Senators this week

The saturation of messaging - from Merrick Garland, to the all day coverage of Jan 6, strategic news releases from the Jan 6 committee, and upcoming public hearings will accomplish a lot of what you are saying. Consistent messaging, ongoing, through multiple channels.

After the all day coverage of the Jan 6 anniversary, the provocative posts dropped way off on StockTwits, which is where I do a lot of my debunking. That place is a cesspool of disinformation, much of it from foreign sources, seeking to inflame the incels that have started daytrading during the pandemic.

Sometimes the best thing I do is just quickly label a post as disinformation, and/or ask if they are being held in a Gulag and forced to write crap all day. I'm also pointing out when they are clearly bots, by showing how many times they are posting. I don't argue with them. Just expose them and move on to the next.

Thanks for being another debunker. It's kind of fun if your on a target forum anyway.

[summer_in_TX]

18. That's great!

You are doing it more systematically than I am, and I see I could learn a lot from how you do it.

In fact, others could too.

Is there an article on how to go about it? Or would you consider doing a post and linking to it here?

I may be too busy to do much yet (too many volunteer responsibilities), but I sure want to do more, especially after I free up more time in just a few months.

Also, is there a community from which to learn more on this topic? People to follow on Twitter?

[TomWilm]

7. I am afraid it might get the opposite effect ...

... when such a tool got into the hands of a new TFG type president.

And it is extremely difficult to make "official" declaration of truth. In the EU this is done very badly by
EUvsdisinfo.eu, which is mostly used to scare people with misunderstood gossip.

[AZLD4Candidate]

9. IT won't work here. Those that claim "fake news" for anything that makes their side look bad

Get their news from online Cracker Jack boxes. . .Fox, Newsmax, OANN, Breitbart, Daily Caller, Drudge, Free Republic, AM Radio, and QAnon.

They only do confirmation bias.

[BigmanPigman]

10. I remember when France did this.

Why can't we do that here is what I said then and again now.

[FakeNoose]

11. If the agency doesn't have the teeth to shut down disinformation, it's just wasting time

I hope Sweden realizes this, and I hope they give this new agency the ability to "kick down doors" and shut off the sources of the disinformation and propaganda.

The USA could and should do this, but we'd have to fight the Facebooks before we can fight the groups Facebook is shielding. It seems a daunting task, and maybe it's an impossible dream.

At least Sweden is trying, and I give them credit.

[Marthe48]

17. Can they create an agency to make people listen?

n/t

[JI7]

19. I think it might take lawsuits to make a difference

social media is worse than Fox News. And it's full of trash.