>>> GROWING FEARS ABOUT THE
CORONAVIRUS ARE GIVING FALSE AND
MISLEADING INFORMATION NEW LIFE
ONLINE, DRAWING MILLIONS OF
VIEWS ACROSS MAJOR TECH
PLATFORMS.
MOST CONCERNING IS THE WAY THESE
DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGNS AIM TO
UNDERMINE TRUST IN PUBLIC
FIGURES ASSOCIATED WITH THE
PANDEMIC.
BILLIONAIRE PHILANTHROPIST, BILL
GATES, AND DR. ANTHONY FAUCI ARE
TOP TARGETS FOR RECENT
CONSPIRACIES.
AN ANALYSIS FROM "THE NEW YORK
TIMES" SHOWS GATES BEING FALSELY
LINKED TO CORONAVIRUS’ ORIGIN
THEORIES MORE THAN 1.2 MILLION
TIMES ON TELEVISION OR SOCIAL
MEDIA BETWEEN THE MONTHS OF
FEBRUARY AND APRIL.
FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND GOOGLE
HAVE ALL TAKEN STEPS TO DELETE
THESE CONSPIRACY VIDEOS FOR
VIOLATING RULES OR TO INCLUDE
ADDITIONAL CONTEXT AROUND
MISLEADING INFORMATION.
BUT IN THE MIDST OF A PANDEMIC,
PEOPLE ARE CONSTANTLY SEARCHING
FOR GOOD, TRUTHFUL INFORMATION.
AND WITH THAT COMES AN
UNPRECEDENTED VOLUME OF NEWS
THAT IS LESS AND LESS BASED ON
REAL REPORTING.
HERE WITH ME, NBC NEWS REPORTER,
BRANDY AND RODNEY, AN EARLY INVESTOR IN FACEBOOK.
INVESTOR IN FACEBOOK.
HE’S THE AUTHOR OF "ZUCKED:
WEIGH UP TO THE FACEBOOK
CATASTROPHE."
THANK YOU BOTH FOR BEING HERE
AND COORDINATING BRICK WALL
BACKGROUNDS FOR THIS REPORT.
I WANT TO REPORT A CONVERSATION
THAT WE’VE HEARD SO MANY TIMES
AND IF PEOPLE HEAR IT THEY’LL
GET SICK OF IT.
THE DELIBERATE SPREADING OF
DISINFORMATION IS AT ITS ROOT
PROFITABLE.
IT MAKES A LOT OF MONEY AND THAT
IS STILL WHY YOUTUBE AND
FACEBOOK AND TWITTER CAN’T GET A
HANDLE ON THIS STUFF.
>> ALI, THE PROBLEM, VERY SIMPLY
PUT, IS THAT FACEBOOK AND
INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE ARE
COMPETING FOR OUR ATTENTION.
THEY’RE COMPETING AGAINST ANY
OTHER FORM OF MEDIA.
IN ORDER TO DO THAT, THEY NEED
TO USE EVERY TRICK THEY HAVE.
AND THEY HAVE LOTS.
THEY KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT US THAT
THEY KNOW WHAT KINDS OF THINGS
ANIMATE US EMOTIONALLY, AND FOR
MOST PEOPLE, THAT’S GOING TO BE
THINGS THAT TRIGGER FEAR OR
OUTRAGE.
AND THE BEST STUFF FOR DOING
THAT IS HATE SPEECH,
DISINFORMATION, AND CONSPIRACY
THEORIES.
SO THOSE WIND UP BEING THE JET
FUEL FOR THE BUSINESS MODEL OF
THESE INTERNET PLATFORMS.
AND EVERY TIME THEY TAKE
SOMETHING DOWN, IT IS NOT
BECAUSE THEY’RE TRYING TO
ELIMINATE HATE SPEECH OR
DISINFORMATION FROM THE PLMPL
PLATFORM.
IT’S BECAUSE THEY’RE TRYING TO
MAKE A POLITICAL PROBLEM GO
AWAY, BY ELIMINATING AN
INDIVIDUAL PIECE OF INFORMATION
OR AN INDIVIDUAL POSTER, AS
OPPOSED TO GOING AFTER THE CORE
ISSUE, WHICH IS THEIR BUSINESS
MODEL, WHICH PROMOTES THIS STUFF
AND REALLY DISTORTS PUBLIC
HEALTH AND DEMOCRACY AT THE SAME
TIME.
IT’S INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS.
>> BRANDNY, ONE OF THE PROBLEMS
THAT YOU AND I HAVE A LOT IS
WHAT DO WE TELL THE PUBLIC ABOUT
THESE CONSPIRACY THEORIES?
BECAUSE YOU DON’T WANT TO GIVE
THEM MORE OXYGEN THAN THEY
DESERVE.
BUT, IN FACT, PEOPLE NEED TO BE
WARNED.
THERE IS A "NEW YORK TIMES" BEST
SELLER LIST WRITTEN BY A
CONSPIRACY THEORIST WHO’S BEEN
TAKING AIM AT PEOPLE LIKE
ANTHONY FAUCI.
>> YEAH.
I MEAN, IN TERMS OF NOT GIVING
THEM OXYGEN, I THINK WE’VE LOST
THIS FIGHT.
I MEAN, WE ALL WATCHED THE
PANDEMIC VIDEO SORT OF BUBBLE
AND WE SORT OF HOPED WE DIDN’T
HAVE TO COVER IT.
BUT SOON, I WAS GETTING PEOPLE
LIKE AUNTS AND PEOPLE FROM BACK
HOME IN FLORIDA CALLING ME.
AND THAT’S WHEN I REALLY KNOW,
IT’S RACKING UP MILLIONS OF
PEOPLE.
SO BY THE TIME WE ACTUALLY GET
IN THERE AND SAY, LET’S TRY TO
DEBUNK THIS SO PEOPLE CAN HAVE
THE FACTS.
BECAUSE THIS ONE VIDEO MANY
PARTICULAR WAS REALLY, REALLY
EGREGIOUS.
THIS WOMAN WHO’S BEEN A BIG
FIGURE IN THE ANTI-VACCINATION
COMMUNITY FOR YEARS AND NOW HAS
A BOOK TO SELL WAS MAKING CLAIMS
THAT WEARING A MASK WOULD MAKE
YOU SICK AND BEACH SAND COULD
CURE YOU OF THE CORONAVIRUS.
SO BY THE TIME WE ACTUALLY GOT
IN THERE AND WE COULD WRITE
SOMETHING, IT HAD ALREADY BEEN
VIEWED, YOU KNOW, 8 MILLION
TIMES ACROSS MANY DIFFERENT
PLATFORMS.
AND SO THE IDEA THAT WE CAN
REALLY COMBAT THIS WITH THE WAY
THAT THE PLATFORMS ARE CURRENTLY
DOING, WHICH IS SEE SOMETHING,
JOURNALISTS WILL WRITE ABOUT IT,
THEN THEY’LL SAY, OKAY, WE’LL
TAKE IT DOWN, IT’S NOT WORKING.
>> ROGER, WHETHER IT’S
ANTI-VAXERS OR CLIMATE DENIERS,
WHITE SUPREMACISTS, THESE ARE
ALL MINORITIES WHO ARE EVALUATED
BY THE ALGORITHMS THAT YOU’VE
WRITTEN IN SUCH DETAIL ABOUT,
THAT INSTAGRAM USE AND FACEBOOK
AND YOUTUBE, BECAUSE THEY ARE
OPTIMIZED TO GET ATTENTION.
THEY ARE OPTIMIZED TO CREATE, AS
DEAN OBEIDALLAH WAS SAYING
EARLIER, THE -- FEAR, REALLY.
THE RESPONSES THAT MAKE YOU TAKE
ACTION.
>> SO, ALI, THE THING THAT WE’RE
GOING TO STRUGGLE WITH FOREVER
IS THAT OUR TENDENCY IS TO WANT
TO BELIEVE THAT FACEBOOK AND
YOUTUBE ARE SINCERE WHEN THEY
SAY THEY WANT TO GET RID OF THE
DISINFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE
PANDEMIC OR RELATIVE TO
POLITICS.
AND THE SAD TRUTH IS THAT, NO, I
DON’T THINK THEY DO.
AND EVERY TIME THAT THEY PROPOSE
SOMETHING, AS FACEBOOK HAS, WITH
ITS OVERSIGHT BOARD, THEY HAVE
ATTEMPTED TO PUT FORWARD A
BRIGHT, SHINING OBJECT THAT
WOULD DISTRACT US LONG ENOUGH TO
GET PAST WHATEVER POLITICAL
PROBLEM THEY WERE FACING.
AND THE THING IS, THEY
UNDERSTAND MANIPULATING
ATTENTION BETTER THAN ANYBODY ON
EARTH.
SO IT’S LIKE A MAGICIAN.
THEY CONSTANTLY SHOW US THINGS
ON THE LEFT HAND WHILE THEY’RE
DOING SOMETHING SNEAKY IN THE
RIGHT HAND.
AND AS BUSINESSES, I GUESS THIS
IS THEIR RIGHT.
BUT AS AMERICANS, WE SHOULD
INSIST ON SOMETHING MUCH, MUCH
BETTER THAN THIS.
AND THE ALGORITHMIC
AMPLIFICATION THAT IS THE WAY
THAT THEIR BUSINESS WORKS, THAT
IS THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM.
AND UNTIL WE STOP ALGORITHMIC
AMPLIFICATION, WE’RE GOING TO
HAVE TOO MUCH POLITICAL POWER IN
THE HAND OF ANTI-VAXERS AND
WHITE SUPREMACISTS AND CLIMATE
CHANGE DENIERS AND THE PEOPLE
WHO DENY THE PANDEMIC.
>> WELL, I ENCOURAGE MY VIEWERS
TO FOLLOW YOU BOTH ON SOCIAL
MEDIA, BECAUSE YOU ARE TRUSTED
VOICES AND YOU DO LET US KNOW
ABOUT THE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO
BE CAREFUL OF.
ROGER McNAMEE IS MOON ALICE ON