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Digital Planet: Inoculation videos against misinformation

Factual: Science & Nature

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30/08/2022 GMT

Inoculation videos against misinformation

BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Inoculation videos against misinformation

Could people be protected against misinformation online by watching videos?

Inoculation videos against misinformation.  Also Indonesian data breaches and could robotic dogs become a human’s best friend?

Inoculation against misinformation
Could people be inoculated and protected against misinformation online?  A new study published in Science Advances shows that short animated videos could protect people from harmful content.  Controlled experiments where people were shown how misinformation is spread e.g. using emotional language or scapegoating, appeared highly effective in helping people judge what might be fact or fiction on the web. Psychologists worked with Google Jigsaw and tested their experiments in real life by placing them in the ads section on YouTube videos. They saw a  5% impact in being able to spot misinformation and they also reduced sharing frequency.  

This “pre-bunking” strategy exposes people to tropes and explains how malicious propaganda is spread, so they can better identify online falsehoods. Researchers behind the Inoculation Science project compare it to a vaccine: by giving people a “micro-dose” of misinformation in advance, it helps prevent them falling for it in future – an idea based on what social psychologist’s call “inoculation theory”.  Lead author Dr. Jon Roozenbeek is live on the programme to explain why this works and Beth Goldberg from Google talks about their new project to reduce misinformation spread about refugees in central Europe.

Indonesian data breaches
There have been five major data breaches in Indonesia this month, three alone in the last fortnight; the personal data of more than 26 million users of state-owned telecommunication provider PT Telkom was allegedly leaked – but the company denied this.  Last week, foreign companies, including Microsoft and PwC, were also reportedly hit by a data breach. Astudestra Ajengrastri, Deputy Editor in the BBC Jakarta office, is on the show to explain why this is such a huge problem, how little is being done about it and why so many Indonesians seem indifferent to the breaches.

Robotic Dogs
Have you seen the video of a robotic dog firing a sub-machine gun?  It’s had well over 4 million views. It comes swiftly after reports of robotic dogs being used to patrol the US-Mexican border. But can robotic dogs become our virtual best friend despite them being used by the military and security services?  Reporter Dominic Watters looks at the tech and what these robots are truly capable of (walking on uneven surfaces still needs to be mastered) and could actually be used for the benefit of humankind – using their sensory systems to navigate dangerous terrains after natural disasters for instance?


The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager:  Steve Greenwood
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image credit: Screenshot of a video collaboration between Cambridge University, the University of Bristol, and Google Jigsaw)

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