Stephanie LamyNov 9, 2022

Quite a few #disinformation researchers on #Mastodon now, from all different fields & instances.

Why not connect & share content!
Let's try this group thingy for #infoops #InformationOperations #HybridWarfare #InformationWarfare #infowar #SemanticOperations #misinformation #conspiracy #InformationManipulation etc, etc, etc.. (wow so many different #!)

You can follow &
Tag @disinformation to boost your toots.

Show threadStephanie LamyNov 9, 2022

And yes, I know, we as "#disinformation" researchers are a pedantic lot in terms of, well, "terms".

That could be the point of the group @disinformation, to share and compare approaches, taxonomy, methodology and ethics.

Could this be of interest to you? @marie_peltier @denkolesnyk @emmalbriant @TheoLenoir @Sina @claesdevreese @jfarkas et Al ...

Show threadDr. Emma L Briant🐕🇬🇧in🇦🇺Nov 9, 2022
@stephlamy @disinformation @marie_peltier @denkolesnyk @TheoLenoir @Sina @jfarkas @claesdevreese I appreciate you doing this, but I reject forcing us into a disinformation discipline because it ignores the rest of propaganda of which it is one part, a part that cannot be understood without conceiving and researching propaganda more broadly. This is shaping the field around a misunderstanding that’s conceptually misleading
Show threadDr. Emma L Briant🐕🇬🇧in🇦🇺Nov 9, 2022
@stephlamy @disinformation @marie_peltier @denkolesnyk @TheoLenoir @Sina @jfarkas @claesdevreese If there were to be a group, it would need to be a propaganda group, which could embrace propaganda scholars like me as well as disinfo scholars. A disinfo group cannot embrace what I study or even understand disinformation, as disinformation is a sub-type that excludes focus on the rest of propaganda.
Show threadDr. Emma L Briant🐕🇬🇧in🇦🇺Nov 9, 2022
@stephlamy @disinformation @marie_peltier @denkolesnyk @TheoLenoir @Sina @jfarkas @claesdevreese I would be really grateful if you did something broader that doesn’t exclude people in the discipline by definition.
Show threadSinaNov 9, 2022

@emmalbriant @stephlamy @disinformation @marie_peltier @denkolesnyk @TheoLenoir @jfarkas @claesdevreese

I find discussions about definitions fascinating and fully support anyone who wants to bring relevant people together. #disinformation or "foreign information manipulation and interference" #Fimi as I call what I am working on is so complex, connected to so many other relevant fields (like hate speech, conspiracies etc) and I think that is the exciting part about this.

However, it also means we sometimes have to use terminology that we don't 100% agree with to bring all of us together. I'm also not working on "disinformation" as it's commonly defined, but I'm happy to discuss this with anyone who works on the issue at large and wants to learn more, engage and share their views 

So, everyone, ask me what FIMI is 

Show threadStephanie LamyNov 9, 2022

@Sina asking what #FIMI is ;)

Is it in any way related to de Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer, Alexandre Escorcia, Marine Guillaume & Janaina Herrera's report on #InformationManipulations ?

@potemkinvillage

https://www.irsem.fr/institut/actualites/rapport-conjoint-caps-irsem.html

Rapport conjoint CAPS / IRSEM

Lancement du rapport conjoint CAPS / IRSEM « LES MANIPULATIONS DE L'INFORMATION Un défi pour nos démocraties »

Show threadSinaNov 9, 2022

@stephlamy @potemkinvillage

Yes indeed 😁 so the reason why I am not a fan of the concept of #disinformation so much is because the definition almost exclusively focuses on the content, leaving out the important focus on the manipulative tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) that such actors employ. So there's more that we are interested in than the content, right? We want to know about the fake accounts, fake websites and fake experts (and unfortunately mich more) that might be involved in such coordinated activities.

And that's why I think disinformation is only one aspect of the manipulation, in addition to all the other manipulative behaviour:

So, "FIMI is a pattern of behaviour that threatens or has the potential to negatively impact values, procedures and political processes. Such activity is manipulative in character, conducted in an intentional and coordinated manner. Actors of such activity can be state or non-state actors, including their proxies inside and outside of their own territory"

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/2021-stratcom-activity-report-strategic-communication-task-forces-and-information-analysis_en

Tell me what you think, looking forward to the discussion 

2021 StratCom activity report - Strategic Communication Task Forces and Information Analysis Division | EEAS Website

Foreign information manipulation and interference, including disinformation, has been identified by the EU as a serious threat to our security and democracy.

Show threadMike Miller, PhDNov 9, 2022
@Sina @stephlamy @potemkinvillage something else that I think disinfo research often ignores that propaganda research is (slightly better) attuned to, is power asymmetry. It's often assumed that disinfo serves powerful interests (state or corporate) even if, today, it's also generated by decentralized networks of actors. But disinformation is also a weapon of the weak. Indeed, for many subaltern groups, it's the only weapon they have.
Show threadStephanie Lamy
@mlmillerphd
Agreed. However, from my research, political minorities tend to have to invest a larger *rate of effort* (% of social capital) in order to capture and maintain attention & engagement around the inauthentic discourses and patterns they produce. Majority groups have the benefit of the "terrain" (due to business models). @Sina @potemkinvillage
Nov 10, 2022 at 3:35amWeb
Show threadMike Miller, PhDNov 10, 2022

@stephlamy @Sina @potemkinvillage

Indeed. To quote my dear professor, Fran Piven: "protest is also not a matter of free choice; it is not freely available to all groups at all times, and much of the time it is not available to lower-class groups at all."

- Piven and Cloward, "Poor People's Movements" (1979)

Show threadStephanie LamyNov 10, 2022

@mlmillerphd
(Untagging group & Sina).

Thank you for that quote, which really, really speaks to me.

I came to do what I do today through activism. First, humanitarian support for civil society in conflict zones (Libya Yemen), then advocacy and support for mothers victims of economic abuse (I founded a collective). The latter showed me just how much more of your time and effort you need to invest to get some attention. Thought it was just my imagination, and then studied it ;)

Show threadMike Miller, PhDNov 10, 2022
@stephlamy then you would like the book I quote above. Her big argument is that protest is a means of last resort precisely because it comes at such a cost (time, emotions, physical harm) and, more often than not, yields very little in terms of policy concessions. People with other means (financial, ideological, institutional) can exert pressure on formal political levers. People without means need to break the rules *in order to* grab and hold attention--if they can do that.
Show threadStephanie LamyNov 10, 2022

@mlmillerphd I'm googling the book right now.

And you are right about "breaking the rules". The first campaign the mothers wanted was this one (below). It caused an uproar because they shared the (Facebook) images of their ex's (who owed them thousands of euros in child support). Even though their faces were blurred, the very fact that women/mothers (without male caution) were demanding their due was shocking in France & generated a huge backlash (cost)
It was fun!
https://www.nouvelobs.com/rue89/rue89-nos-vies-connectees/20140113.RUE1294/pensions-alimentaires-impayees-elles-affichent-les-peres-indignes.html

Pensions alimentaires impayées : elles affichent les « pères indignes »

<p>40% des pensions alimentaires ne sont pas versées entièrement. Un projet de loi présenté le 20 janvier devrait donner aux mères concernées des garanties. En attendant, certaines prennent les devants.</p>

L'Obs