DISINFORMED
Transcripts available by clicking the name of the episode.
On our final episode of this season, Bridget sits down with Producer Mike to look back at where we've been and where we're going next.
Joy Buolamwini, Timnit Gebru, and Deb Raji, are Black female scientists who conducted groundbreaking research on gender and racial bias in facial recognition technology. So why did CBS completely erase their work in a story about racial bias?
You might know attorney and justice advocate Rabia Chaudry from the hit podcast Serial. Or her hit podcast Undisclosed, a true crime podcast that explores people who have been wrongfully convicted of crimes. Or maybe her other other hit podcast The Hidden Djinn. Rabia’s mission is to exonerate the wrongly convicted. Her work is incredibly important. But right now, another true crime podcaster is waging a coordinated harassment campaign against her. But this episode isn’t about him. Here’s how she continues to flourish and do her important work in the midst of it.
Last week, Facebook's Oversight Board upheld the decision to ban Trump from social media for now. Facebook has 6 months to decide if his ban will be permanent. Some may say banning Trump from social media is a free speech issue, but in an episode of DISINFORMED, Nora Benavidez, Pen America's director of Free Expression Programs says they're wrong
TikTok is a hotbed of viral misinformation about trafficking. Jessica AKA BloodBathAndBeyond is trying to change that.
The New York Post published a viral lie about Kamala Harris’ children books Superheros are Everywhere being included in “welcome kits” to unaccompanied migrant children. A climate where women in politics are disproportionately subjected to disinformation and lies harms us all. Here’s why.
Odds are, you’re probably not going to be kidnapped and sold into sex trafficking in a Target parking lot in broad daylight. On the fantastic podcast You’re Wrong About, Michael Hobbes and Sarah Marshall debunk the thinking that leads to moral panics. Michael explains what we’re all getting wrong about trafficking and why it matters.
A flurry of self proclaimed health and wellness influencers are using their social media platforms to push inaccurate information about vaccines causing miscarriages.
Sometimes called “The Manosphere,” a network of sexist, racist online communities are taking advantage of algorithms to indoctrinate young men into extreme ideology. Everyday Feminism creator Laura Bates researched these spaces for her book Men Who Hate: From Incels to Pickup Artists, the Truth about Extreme Misogyny and how it Affects Us All.
This week, Daunte Wright, an unarmed Black man, was shot and killed by police in Brooklyn Center, MN. Ashli Babbitt was shot and killed by police while storming the Capitol on January 6th. After Daunte Wright’s death, far right bad actors on social media used his death to push distortions about the Insurrection.
A Saturday Night Live skit about Black folks not wanting the COVID vaccine sparked a conversation about vaccine hesitancy. But making Black folks the face of vaccines hesitancy isn’t actually accurate.
Harassment online is nothing new, but we’ve seen waves of women in journalism being harassed on social media just for doing their jobs. Being targeted by an online harassment campaign can happen to anyone, whether you’re a public figure or not. Writer Lyz Lenz gives a practical crash course in how to prevent it.
TikTok star Addison Rae’s dance segment on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon sparked conversations about crediting Black creators online.
Georgia’s massive new voting law is a response to lies, distortions and disinformation about the 2020 election. Independent journalist Anoa Changa breaks down what this means for Georgians and what comes next.
This week, CEOs of Google, Facebook, and Twitter testified before Congress about misinformation on their platforms and Section 230. In this week’s episode, we heard from digital rights activist Evan Greer about why she fights to protect Section 230. Now, let’s revisit attorney Carrie Goldberg’s position on why she says Section 230 needs to be changed.
Musician and digital rights activist Evan Greer breaks down Section 230 and why she and other digital rights activists are fighting to preserve it.
Have you ever wondered about the origins of some of the digital symbols and icons we use in the world of technology? Bridget Todd shares the story of Susan Kare, the woman behind some of the most iconic designs woven into the fabric of what it looks like to use computers and the internet. And speaking of, what does needlepoint have to do with it? Listen to find out!
Archivist Sydette Harry wants to build a more accessible internet future, one where everyone can see themselves reflected.
To celebrate her birthday, Bridget honors one of her tech heroes, Estella Pyfrom, who brings technology to communities who need it most with Estella’s Brilliant Bus.
IN HONOR OF BRIDGET’S BIRTHDAY, PLEASE DONATE TO ESTELLA’S BRILLIANT BUS: TANGOTI.COM/BUS
Research is clear that Black women are disproportionately the targets of online harassment. And even though she’s rich and famous, the story Meghan Markle’s shared in her interview with Oprah is no different than the kinds of abuse that has been normalized against Black women for years.
Research is clear that Black women are disproportionately the targets of online harassment. And even though she’s rich and famous, the story Meghan Markle’s shared in her interview with Oprah is no different than the kinds of abuse that has been normalized against Black women for years.
Activist Emily Gorcenski uses her data science background to track and combat Nazis and white suprmacists. She explains why the dangerous work of resistance has often fallen to women.
Next week, we’ll hear from Emily Gorcenski, an activist who uses her data science background to fight Nazis (seriously!) This work isn’t easy and Emily faces transphobic attacks on her identity as a trans woman. This, unfortunately, isn’t an isolated thing. Just this week, Rand Paul and insurrection enthusiast Marjorie Taylor Green both attacked trans people to score ideological points. In this preview of our conversation, Emily explains how this is used as a deliberate strategy to cause harm to trans folks.
Meghna Mahadevan is Chief Disinformation Defense Strategist at United We Dream, the country’s largest immigrant youth led organization. She explains how dis and mis information is threatening immigrant communities and how immigrant youth are fighting for a more just digital media landscape.
Facebook’s hasty ban on all news content in Australia has already had far reaching consequences. Digital organizer and founder of OrganiseUs, Tabatha Fulker, explains the impact this is already having on digital activists in Australia.
Ifeoma Ozoma pioneered groundbreaking work to keep dangerous health misinformation off Pinterest, even before we were in a pandemic. But it came at great cost to her own health and safety.
In the episode that aired earlier this week, Pen America’s Nora Benavidez talked about how slowing down on social media is a concrete step anyone can take to curb disinformation. Even the most extremely online can get fooled into sharing inaccurate information online. On this short mini ep, host Bridget talks about the time she shared something dubious.
It's the first day of Trump’s second impeachment trial. And no matter what happens, it’s clear he used social media to threaten our democracy with disinformation. Nora Benavidez, civil rights attorney and director of Pen America’s US Free Expression Programs, explains how so many are getting it wrong when it comes to platforms and free speech and how we could all benefit from just slowing down online.
AOC took to Instagram Live to share her story of being in the Capitol complex during the insurrection. But now she's at the center of a coordinated right wing disinformation attack. Digital organizer Leslie Mac explains the double edged sword of being a political woman of color in the public eye comes disinformation campaigns and harassment.
The internet laughed at Rep.Marjorie Taylor Green's unfounded conspiracy theory that laser beams from space controlled by the Rothschild Banking Firm causes California's wildfires. Yes, she's ridiculous, but it also shows how dangerous it is when disinfo traffics in lies, distortions and bias about identity. Anti-semitic, racist disinformation can spread via memes and other online content. But science communicator and prolific TikToker Abbie Richards is fighting back.
In DISINFORMED episode 202, Shireen Mitchell explored how Black women were among the first to speak up about the threat posed by disinformation, including Shafiqah Hudson. In this "best of" episode from Season 1, we talk to Shafiqah about how she uncovered a coordinated network of bad actors pretending to be Black women on Twitter to spread disinformation and confusion. After tech leaders failed to act, Shafiqah worked to stamp them out herself.
Black women have been sounding the alarm about the threat posed by disinformation for years. But people with power weren’t listening. Shireen Mitchell, founder of Stop OnDISINFORMED: Black women tried to tell youline Violence Against Women, wants to know why.
Melissa Ryan, extremism and disinformation expert, joins Bridget to talk about how disinformation and conspiracy theories led to the riots at the Capitol and where we go from here.
Episode 200 - Introducing DISINFORMED
On the heels of the insecurtion at the Capitol, There Are No Girls on the Internet introduces Disinformed. In this new, limited series we’ll chronice how the spread of dangerous disinformation got us here. We’ll hear from the expert organizers, researchers, and culture-creators who’ve been leading the fight to stop it.