Disinfo Docket 8 January

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Highlights

1. How to deal with mis- and disinformation in times of uncertainty (ICFJ Knight Media Innovators, 6 January)
2. Our Partnership with Meta Is Ending (FactCheck.org, 7 January)
3. With Trump on his way back to the White House, Meta drops its fact-checking program (Poynter, 8 January)

"When the poison of the far-right leads to serious threats to Jess Phillips and others, then in my book a line has been crossed"

PM Keir Starmer responds to Elon Musk's attack on the UK government's response to grooming gangs

Follow live: https://t.co/OXYEAVJA6r pic.twitter.com/CnjRN4zO9E

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) January 6, 2025

1. Academia & Research

1. Tracking Deployment of Russian Surveillance Technologies in Central Asia and Latin America (Recorded Future, 7 January)

New Paper Alert! How can AI innovation improve social outcomes? @ds_wats0n Luciano Floridi and I @oiioxford introduce “Sociotechnical Pragmatism” - a robust stance for policymakers seeking to reap the benefits of AI while managing the riskshttps://t.co/TDxiQwMjj7

🧵 1/10

— Jakob Mökander (@jakobmokander) January 7, 2025

Meta announced that it will end its fact-checking program & replace it with a community-driven system similar to that of X.@JonKBateman & Dean Jackson's report offers an evidence-informed guide for democratic actors to combat media disinformation.https://t.co/yj3BotDnfR

— Carnegie Endowment (@CarnegieEndow) January 7, 2025

2. Platforms & Technology

1. White House Launches “U.S. Cyber Trust Mark”, Providing American Consumers an Easy Label to See if Connected Devices are Cybersecure (The White House, 7 January)
2. Musk's 'disinformation' endangering me, says Phillips (BBC, 7 January)

WATCH - Ros Atkins on...Elon Musk's political interventions (BBC Verify, 7 January)

Meta

1. Meta to get rid of factcheckers and recommend more political content (The Guardian, 7 January)
2. Meta’s Insane Pandering Retreat from Fact Checking Speeds Race to the Bottom (Real Facebook Oversight Board, 7 January)
3. Meta eliminating fact-checking to combat "censorship" (Axios, 7 January)
4. Meta’s Fact-Checking Partners Say They Were ‘Blindsided’ by Decision to Axe Them (WIRED, 7 January)

🗣️ Our full statement in response to @Meta ending its third-party fact checking programme in the US: https://t.co/Lb23BhO1QC pic.twitter.com/IpRIu0sZ3Q

— Full Fact (@FullFact) January 7, 2025

3. Russia & Ukraine

1. Endgame: What battlefield developments and the balance of power reveal about the future of the Russia–Ukraine war (Meduza, 7 January)