RESIST - Counter Disinformation

[Yokel]

The COVID-19 pandemic and other recent crises have shown that in many ways the West (defined by values - mostly relating to the importance of truth and the importance of the individual) to be under attack from regimes and leaders to whom these things are an anathema. Witness the constant attempts to undermine faith in our democratic systems, in the emergency services, in health services, in educational institutions, in our military capabilities, in industry.....

HM Government had produced a 'toolkit' - RESIST Counter Disinformation Toolkit

• Foreword
• What is disinformation?
• RESIST model: a quick guide
• Recognise disinformation
• Early warning
• Situational insight
• Impact analysis
• Strategic communication
• Track outcomes
• Annex A: Recognise disinformation: examples of disinformation cases and techniques
• Annex B: Early warning: further examples of media monitoring tools
• Annex C: Situational insight: example of a basic insight report
• Annex D: Impact analysis: further structured analysis techniques
• Annex E: Strategic communication: integration with OASIS and FACT
• Annex F: Track outcomes: template for capturing data on disinformation case
• Further resources

It can also be downloaded and viewed in PDF format.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

The COV!D-19 pandemic and other recent crises have shown that in many ways the West (defined by values - mostly relating to the importance of truth and the importance of the individual) to be under attack from regimes and leaders to whom these things are an anathema. Witness the constant attempts to undermine faith in our democratic systems, in the emergency services, in health services, in educational institutions, in our military capabilities, in industry.....

HM Government had produced a 'toolkit' - RESIST Counter Disinformation Toolkit

• Foreword
• What is disinformation?
• RESIST model: a quick guide
• Recognise disinformation
• Early warning
• Situational insight
• Impact analysis
• Strategic communication
• Track outcomes
• Annex A: Recognise disinformation: examples of disinformation cases and techniques
• Annex B: Early warning: further examples of media monitoring tools
• Annex C: Situational insight: example of a basic insight report
• Annex D: Impact analysis: further structured analysis techniques
• Annex E: Strategic communication: integration with OASIS and FACT
• Annex F: Track outcomes: template for capturing data on disinformation case
• Further resources

It can also be downloaded and viewed in PDF format.

Have you sent this to BBC News, Sky News, Channel 4 News etc etc?

 

[dogmeat]

The COV!D-19 pandemic and other recent crises have shown that in many ways the West (defined by values - mostly relating to the importance of truth and the importance of the individual) to be under attack from regimes and leaders to whom these things are an anathema. Witness the constant attempts to undermine faith in our democratic systems, in the emergency services, in health services, in educational institutions, in our military capabilities, in industry.....

HM Government had produced a 'toolkit' - RESIST Counter Disinformation Toolkit

• Foreword
• What is disinformation?
• RESIST model: a quick guide
• Recognise disinformation
• Early warning
• Situational insight
• Impact analysis
• Strategic communication
• Track outcomes
• Annex A: Recognise disinformation: examples of disinformation cases and techniques
• Annex B: Early warning: further examples of media monitoring tools
• Annex C: Situational insight: example of a basic insight report
• Annex D: Impact analysis: further structured analysis techniques
• Annex E: Strategic communication: integration with OASIS and FACT
• Annex F: Track outcomes: template for capturing data on disinformation case
• Further resources

It can also be downloaded and viewed in PDF format.

So you're saying don't use Facebook or Twitter?

 

[medwaymud]

Thanks for that - will get stuck in.

If it does not have a substantial amount to say about the foremost example of a nation (and ideology) that does not give a shit about the individual I will not be surprised.
Nor will I be surprised if it says little about actively encouraging manufacturing to return to the UK.
Nor if it says nothing about increasing import duties on those container ships offloading 24/7 in Felixstowe.
Nor if it says nothing about penalising China for the damage it has done to our Nation.

Disinformation will play a significant role in PRC getting away with this and becoming stronger and nastier.

Otherwise its just a Report saying China tells lies.
Well - we knew that.

 

[Yokel]

So you're saying don't use Facebook or Twitter?

I use neither! Some people are careful with what that say, others take advantage of the opportunity to spread simplistic messages that appeal to the readers' emotions at the expense of logic.

Thanks for that - will get stuck in.

If it does not have a substantial amount to say about the foremost example of a nation (and ideology) that does not give a shit about the individual I will not be surprised.
Nor will I be surprised if it says little about actively encouraging manufacturing to return to the UK.
Nor if it says nothing about increasing import duties on those container ships offloading 24/7 in Felixstowe.
Nor if it says nothing about penalising China for the damage it has done to our Nation.

Disinformation will play a significant role in PRC getting away with this and becoming stronger and nastier.

Otherwise its just a Report saying China tells lies.
Well - we knew that.

Russia and China, and probably others such as Iran, North Korea, the EU masters...

However - it is about dealing with disinformation. Any return of manufacturing the the UK and West in general will depend on trust in the integrity and quality of products, services, and the processes behind them. It is the existential issue for the West.

The advice is how to protect the truth from disinformation.

 

[FourZeroCharlie]

Avoid as you would a red-headed orphan anything that has 'Your' and 'Toolkit' in the title.

It will be batwank.

 

[Yokel]

It is an overused term I agree, but it appears to be stuff that needs to be put out there, for use by organisations etc that may be the victim of disinformation operations. Just look at the way certain less than entirely friendly regimes put effort into start conspiracy theories and trolling the social media platforms that so many get their 'news' from.

We have been very slow to start doing something about it..

 

[CutLunchCommando]

Seen this?

Join Us — Public Editor

www.publiceditor.io

 

[stickybomb]

Avoid as you would a red-headed orphan anything that has 'Your' and 'Toolkit' in the title.

It will be batwank.

And batwank, as we have discovered to our collective cost, should be avoided wherever possible.

 

[Danny_Dravot]

I ventured on to twatter over xmas leave - first time for a long time - I was truly astonished at some of the pish being spouted. Ppl genuinely believe the global conspiracies, fake news etc. There needs to be an info ops offensive to counter some of this nonsense.

 

[oldsoak]

We do seen to have become very naive.
Stuff that any sane individual would regard as tinfoil hattery is now on twitter and Facebook and therefore "true".

 

[AlienFTM]

We do seen to have become very naive.
Stuff that any sane individual would regard as tinfoil hattery is now on twitter and Facebook and therefore "true".

To quote Tonto, "What you mean We, White Man?"

 

[MoleBath]

So you're saying don't use Facebook or Twitter?

Or Mumsnet ?

 

[bob_the_bomb]

We do seen to have become very naive.
Stuff that any sane individual would regard as tinfoil hattery is now on twitter and Facebook and therefore "true".

As evinced by the ‘Trump Presidency’ and various COVID threads...

 

[Yokel]

We do seen to have become very naive.
Stuff that any sane individual would regard as tinfoil hattery is now on twitter and Facebook and therefore "true".

People tend to read things that are in line with their values and existing thoughts, and the nature of social media is that it appeals to the emotions.

I ventured on to twatter over xmas leave - first time for a long time - I was truly astonished at some of the pish being spouted. Ppl genuinely believe the global conspiracies, fake news etc. There needs to be an info ops offensive to counter some of this nonsense.

Absolutely! Moscow and Beijing, and others are busy doing their best to undermine trust in Western governments, political and judicial systems, and scientific and religious institutions.

 

[stickybomb]

Absolutely! Moscow and Beijing, and others are busy doing their best to undermine trust in Western governments, political and judicial systems, and scientific and religious institutions.

And it looks as though there may be an exciting new twist to 'fake news' thanks to the recent buffoonery on the part of our new found whoop of useful idiots on their 'Grand Day Out' in DC: fake leaks!

...those who took the laptops are now in a position to create messages or files containing any kind of content and then claim that they were retrieved from one of these devices. If such faked content is released to the public, how will the owners of those devices refute what that content purports to reveal? The possibilities for mischief and worse are endless.

Technical forensics may be of some limited assistance in showing that these files and messages were created after the occupation, but the bigger question is whether forensic evidence would matter in changing public perception. How easy will it be for bad actors to ignore the forensics or claim the forensics are themselves forged?

All the while they're operating in the US, the FSB have no need to worry about looking like a fourth-rate clown act.

 

[oscar1whisky]

People tend to read things that are in line with their values and existing thoughts, and the nature of social media is that it appeals to the emotions.



Absolutely! Moscow and Beijing, and others are busy doing their best to undermine trust in Western governments, political and judicial systems, and scientific and religious institutions.

I rather suspect that UK, US and allies have been doing likewise, but not shouting about it.

 

[Cutaway]

To quote Tonto, "What you mean We, White Man?"

I say that to Lardbeast on a regular basis.

 

[Yokel]

War On The Rocks: THE NEED TO INNOCULATE MILITARY SERVICEMEMBERS AGAINST INFROMATION THREATS: THE CASE FOR DIGITAL LITERACY TRAINING FOR THE FORCE

The Case for Digital Literacy Training

In a world of claimed “alternative facts,” where even the very phrase “fake news” became twisted and weaponized, it is useful to start by defining the problem and its terms. A simple breakdown is offered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s resource for those who teach journalism:

• Disinformation: Information that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organization or country.
• Misinformation: Information that is false but not created with the intention of causing harm.
• Mal-information: Information that is based on reality, used to inflict harm on a person, social group, organization or country.

In military terms, information acts like a biological weapon. Like a virus, it can infect the host and spread, both harming the host and also using it a means to reach a wider community. Malicious information thus operates simultaneously at the level of the individual and the network, and it should be countered at both levels, too.

Through changing thoughts and beliefs, the viral spread of information can lead to real world actions that can rapidly scale, which is why it has quickly become a key weapon in the arsenal of everyone from terrorist groups to foreign spy agencies to politicians and celebrities. And this weapon can be wielded with both tactical and strategic effect, across any key issue. For example, in the ongoing competition with great powers that particularly plays out in gray zones, Russia has repeatedly targeted NATO forces on deployment in Eastern Europe with such online disinformation campaigns. In many ways, they are modern-day versions of KGB “active measures campaigns” from the Cold War and, just like those campaigns, would also be accelerated to larger effect if there were outright conflict.

Similarly, social media has also altered a host of other age-old defense challenges, and arguably made them far more difficult. American and allied militaries, for instance, have also experienced a rise in “honey pot” entrapment via social networks for use in espionage. So too, “insider threats” can now be cultivated from afar. Both Islamic and far right non-state extremists have already used social media to recruit and mobilize servicemembers to act contrary to the very fabric of the U.S. military’s values, policies, and regulations. And, finally, operations security issues are massively magnified in a world where almost anything can be posted online for literally anyone in the world to see, and then mine for data to exploit against that individual servicemember, their unit, or the larger force.

Weaponized information has also struck at the larger society that the U.S. military exists within, and thus here too hits the force itself. A pertinent and ongoing illustration of this challenge, and the high stakes, is what public health professionals call the “infodemic” of false information about COVID-19. The viral spread of false information about everything from the disease’s origin to simple best practices to protect against it has been one of the reasons that the pandemic has been so lethal, and has undermined force protection measures along the way. For example, the spread of various myths about masks have acted to reduce their use and, as a result, put servicemembers and their families at risk. This challenge may grow even more difficult with the combination of vaccines being a currently voluntary decision and COVID-19 vaccine disinformation campaigns starting to organize — anecdotally, a voluntary sign-up for the vaccine at a U.S. military post this last week saw only a third of the eligible active-duty servicemembers do so.

While it may be less pernicious than lost lives or battles, soldiers’ misuse of social media also causes an almost daily drumbeat of embarrassing episodes for the force, which then cause what feels like a never-ending series of headaches for leaders. Dealing with something said or done on social media that should not have been said or done on social media is now a regular challenge not just at the unit command level, but all the way up to the most senior levels of the Department of Defense. These episodes range from simple juvenile antics and mistakes, which become attached to the larger force because they are done by a servicemember online, to more serious examples like the recent case of a junior officer who made grossly inappropriate comments about the Holocaust on social media. One of us interviewed a now retired service chief and he commented that one of the biggest surprises he had in that most senior leadership role was “how much time” he ended up spending on social media-related incidents.