Responses to Social Media Propaganda Manipulation

The reverberations from the 2016 US presidential elections continue to be felt across
the world. In November 2016, the idea that one of the world’s most sophisticated
democracies could have been gamed by hostile states using social media platforms
seemed ‘crazy’ to more people than Mark Zuckerberg. But as more evidence
emerges – whether from FBI investigations, announcements by the intelligence
services, disclosures by whistle-blowers, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, or
examples of digitally distributed disinformation in other countries and around other
elections – an uncomfortable picture takes shape. Silicon Valley’s leading technology
companies and social media platforms have found themselves at the centre of a
perfect storm.

What have Internet companies done to combat the creation and spread of
computational propaganda on their platforms and services? What do the leading
players’ initiatives tell us about their coping strategies? How are their actions
supported by the companies’ terms and policies for users and advertisers? And have
there been any substantial policy changes as a result of the proliferation of
computational propaganda?

Topics:

An Overview of Major Platforms’ Responses to Computational
Propaganda
Platforms’ Terms of Service, User Agreements, and Privacy and
Advertising Policies
Profiles on social media companies such as Google, Facebook and Reddit.