Ronald
CABC creates PSA to warn us about the rise of Bots and their role on Social Media.
Pete is just an ordinary guy who gets his news and information from social media.
In this mockumentary, we meet Pete and his new-found friend Ronald, who Pete met online. Thing is Pete doesn’t realise Ronald is actually a bot.
It might seem obvious to us, but in a digital landscape where bot accounts on Facebook and Twitter appear as human as anyone, it’s not that hard to be fooled. And sadly, Pete doesn’t realise that he’s being duped by a bot into thinking the information he’s getting is factual and accurate.
Bots are all over social media, we can’t escape them. But we can be aware and discerning about who we follow, and what information we share, especially facts about Covid-19 and the vaccine. Follow only credible news sources that have research-backed evidence about a news story.
Watch Pete and Ronald’s story here, a cautionary tale about who you allow into your social media space.
Stand up against mis & disinformation
join the conversation.
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Social Media Knows It ALL:
How does your phone know that you need new shoes, how does it know that you have no time to go to shopping and them you would rather buy it online? Why are there so many shoe sales all of a sudden? Understanding how algorithm manipulators exploit our cognitive vulnerabilities empowers us to fight back. Read more here
Bot Sentinel – Dashboard
Bot Sentinel was created to fight disinformation and targeted harassment through tracking all Twitter accounts using a machine learning and artificial intelligence model. The aim is to allow Twitter users to engage in online conversations without the interference of bots that manipulate and change the conversation. The bot accounts are then added to a public database that the public can browse and use to make informed decisions.
See more here
Are you a bot?
Asked the bot to verify if they have gotten through to another bot or a believer. How do you know who you are engaging with online? Can you tell who is a bot or who isn’t?
Read more here
Know Your News
Know News is a dynamic fake news detection tool developed by Media Monitoring Africa. The tool helps you to “easily see if a news site offers credible news or should not be trusted and is un-credible/dodgy. If you care about sharing news that is credible download and use this extension to help you identify if the site you are browsing contains credible news or un-credible/dodgy news.” Access the tool here