get these nets
Veteran
webinar from October 2020, cued
article about the new study
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A team of Howard University researchers wants to know how disinformation impacts Black people
Nov. 2020
At first glance, the record of Russia’s disinformation attack on the 2016 presidential election in the United States appears to be a confusing tangle. A wide array of fake Americans on social media pushed wildly divergent messages. Fake Black activists decried police brutality. A phony Christian compared Hillary Clinton to Satan. Fake Republicans talked up Donald Trump. Fake accounts told Bernie Sanders’s progressive supporters to vote Republican in the general election.
Many experts have now settled on some version of the theory that overall, the cacophony of voices represented Russia’s attempt to salt the pre-existing wounds of a politically and otherwise divided country to benefit Donald Trump and hurt his opponents. In this broad effort, Russian operatives targeted Black Americans more than any other demographic group, according to the US Senate Intelligence Committee.
In 2020, disinformation purveyors were again targeting potential Black voters. That’s probably because shifts in Black turnout in a few key areas in states like Michigan or Wisconsin can have a big impact. While both 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and President-elect Joe Biden won a similarly large share of the Black vote, Biden won more votes in Midwestern cities with large Black populations, including Milwaukee and Detroit, helping him notch an Electoral College victory.
The power of the Black vote is a political reality lost neither on presidential campaigns nor those behind disinformation campaigns. Seemingly small changes in Black turnout here or there can theoretically change who ends up in the White House.
Howard University was awarded a $250,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support groundbreaking research on how digital manipulation and disinformation on the internet impacts Black communities. The grant is part of a series of investments by the Knight Foundation to support research on the rules, norms and governance of the internet and social media platforms.
Under the leadership of researchers Bahiyyah Muhammad, Ph.D.; Roger Caruth, Ph.D.; Ravi Perry, Ph.D.; Brandon Hogan, Ph.D.; and Keesha Middlemass, Ph.D., the research team will investigate how technology and misinformation on social media is used to misinform members of the Black community in Washington, D.C. The idea for this research came after reports of continuing Russian interference in U.S. elections and amid the growing spread of misinformation on social media.
“As an interdisciplinary team of scholars and digital informers, we are excited to partner with the Knight Foundation to engage in this innovative study about politics, misinformation and democracy. We are overjoyed for this opportunity to interact with the Black community in Washington, D.C., as the 2020 election unfolds,” said Caruth.
The funding will focus on engagement with Black and marginalized communities in and around the nation’s capital. This interdisciplinary, collaborative effort hopes to combat misinformation about politics and democracy while safeguarding these communities against cyber manipulation.
The Knight Foundation awarded $1.7 million in grants to several institutions, including universities and independent research organizations, to generate conversations about technology, free speech online and the impact of digital platforms on democracy. Howard University was one of 20 institutions selected to receive grant funding. The research team will uphold Howard’s core values of truth and service as it examines social media, disinformation and politics in Black communities and will propose remedies on how to combat misinformation
article about the new study
======================
A team of Howard University researchers wants to know how disinformation impacts Black people
Nov. 2020
At first glance, the record of Russia’s disinformation attack on the 2016 presidential election in the United States appears to be a confusing tangle. A wide array of fake Americans on social media pushed wildly divergent messages. Fake Black activists decried police brutality. A phony Christian compared Hillary Clinton to Satan. Fake Republicans talked up Donald Trump. Fake accounts told Bernie Sanders’s progressive supporters to vote Republican in the general election.
Many experts have now settled on some version of the theory that overall, the cacophony of voices represented Russia’s attempt to salt the pre-existing wounds of a politically and otherwise divided country to benefit Donald Trump and hurt his opponents. In this broad effort, Russian operatives targeted Black Americans more than any other demographic group, according to the US Senate Intelligence Committee.
In 2020, disinformation purveyors were again targeting potential Black voters. That’s probably because shifts in Black turnout in a few key areas in states like Michigan or Wisconsin can have a big impact. While both 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and President-elect Joe Biden won a similarly large share of the Black vote, Biden won more votes in Midwestern cities with large Black populations, including Milwaukee and Detroit, helping him notch an Electoral College victory.
The power of the Black vote is a political reality lost neither on presidential campaigns nor those behind disinformation campaigns. Seemingly small changes in Black turnout here or there can theoretically change who ends up in the White House.
Howard University was awarded a $250,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support groundbreaking research on how digital manipulation and disinformation on the internet impacts Black communities. The grant is part of a series of investments by the Knight Foundation to support research on the rules, norms and governance of the internet and social media platforms.
Under the leadership of researchers Bahiyyah Muhammad, Ph.D.; Roger Caruth, Ph.D.; Ravi Perry, Ph.D.; Brandon Hogan, Ph.D.; and Keesha Middlemass, Ph.D., the research team will investigate how technology and misinformation on social media is used to misinform members of the Black community in Washington, D.C. The idea for this research came after reports of continuing Russian interference in U.S. elections and amid the growing spread of misinformation on social media.
“As an interdisciplinary team of scholars and digital informers, we are excited to partner with the Knight Foundation to engage in this innovative study about politics, misinformation and democracy. We are overjoyed for this opportunity to interact with the Black community in Washington, D.C., as the 2020 election unfolds,” said Caruth.
The funding will focus on engagement with Black and marginalized communities in and around the nation’s capital. This interdisciplinary, collaborative effort hopes to combat misinformation about politics and democracy while safeguarding these communities against cyber manipulation.
The Knight Foundation awarded $1.7 million in grants to several institutions, including universities and independent research organizations, to generate conversations about technology, free speech online and the impact of digital platforms on democracy. Howard University was one of 20 institutions selected to receive grant funding. The research team will uphold Howard’s core values of truth and service as it examines social media, disinformation and politics in Black communities and will propose remedies on how to combat misinformation
