Judit Szakács - The business of disinformation
Disinformation is not
always ideologically motivated. On the contrary, most fake news websites serve
primarily to make money. The disinformation economy relies heavily on Facebook
and Google Ads, a report on five eastern European countries shows.
Many stories have been
written about the Macedonian teenagers who
earned a pretty penny writing and disseminating fake news
stories during the US presidential elections in 2016 (and about whether
there may be more to their story). Academic literature into
the fake news phenomenon also abounds. Yet research into the commercial aspect
of disinformation has largely been lacking.
Since February 2019,
the Center for Media, Data and Society at Central European University has been
mapping individuals and companies running or owning disinformation websites in
five central and eastern European countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary,
Moldova, Romania and Slovakia. The goal is to collect data on independent (i.e.
not mainstream), local disinformation websites in each country, explore their
ownership and management, their sources of funding, the revenue they generate
and their links to other entities such as businesses or political parties.
From zombies fighting
in the Ukrainian army in Donbas, to migrants picnicking on a grave in a
Hungarian cemetery, to George Soros giving people €7 to take their pets to a
protest in Romania, there was no shortage of disinformation to be found in any
of the countries studied. Outlandish conspiracy theories, magic cures and
incendiary attacks on politicians contribute to a lively disinformation
business in each of the countries.....https://www.eurozine.com/the-business-of-disinformation/
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