Media and Digital Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer spoke to WPTV about malign foreign actors’ attempts to use local news outlets to spread disinformation ahead of elections.
Schafer told Contact 5 one technique foreign actors use is to tag legitimate or local news sites in posts and “piggyback” off those organizations.
“Because people tend to trust local news more than they trust national news or international news outlets,” Schafer said.
Since 2016, the spread of misinformation by foreign governments hasn’t slowed down. More countries are doing it now.
Schafer told Contact 5 four nations are planting misinformation on social media — Russia, Iran, China and Venezuela.