Cuckoo in the nest

While deception is often thought to be unique to social systems, its origins are in biology as an evolved survival tool, to aid both prey and predators.

Dark ads and democracy

Political inaction and big-tech’s reluctance to protect users from ad-powered misinformation campaigns leave Australians vulnerable to a murky world of digital misinformation going into the Federal election.

Fact!

Many lament social media companies dropping independent fact-checking but perhaps ‘false-checking’ is a more honest and achievable target.

Draining the swamp

Delia Rickard’s report on social media regulation calls for tougher action by government, regulators and tech platforms, but the reluctance of government and companies to address the issue may be the largest hurdle to overcome.

Don’t be fooled

The upcoming federal election will see an influx of deepfakes, doctored images, and tailored narratives that blur the line between fact and fiction.

Analysing social media ‘clusters’

Analysing social trends, disaster responses or customer insights using large language models to organise short text clusters just got easier thanks to a new project at Sydney University.

The fact of the meta

A new Australian survey finds that people who rely on social media for news tend to have less regard for traditional civic values than those who rely on newspapers and non-commercial broadcasters such as the ABC.

The year of fake news

Mis- and disinformation have once again been named the top global risk of the immediate term in the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Risks Report 2025.

Freedom of speech v freedom from deception

Disinformation threatens Australian democratic processes and the failure of the proposed Disinformation and Misinformation bill highlights the urgent need for balanced regulation ahead of the 2025 elections.

Meta-reality

Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that Facebook will replace fact checkers with “community notes” has as much to do with Meta’s embrace of AI as the re-election of Donald Trump.

Countering disaster disinformation

Disinformation can make it hard for people to distinguish and act on accurate advice. And this can mean life or death when it comes to natural disasters like bushfires.

Making Meta pay

Big tech companies would have to either do deals with news organisations to help fund journalism or pay a charge to the Australian government, under a new plan announced by the Albanese government.