Disinformation Wire: The Roundup
Survey: 2/3 of Americans want action against disinformation....fake news and the Israel-Iran war....Russia's AI: more sophisticated than ever....our scoundrel of the week and more
Health issue: Disinformation causes “stress” and “anxiety” — and the other side’s to blame (not YOUR side, of course)
How worried are Americans about misinformation and disinformation? A major new study says that seven out of ten adults — 70% — call it a “major problem.”
Social media and politicians get lots of blame
The study by the Institute for Public Relations, or IPI (an independent, nonprofit research foundation) and Leger (a Canadian-owned market research and analytics company) surveyed 2,000 U.S. adults. Among their key findings:
74% think disinformation contributes to polarization
62% say it infringes upon human rights
49% say it influenced the outcome of the 2024 presidential election
Who’s to blame?
Not surprisingly, given the deep divides on political, social and cultural issues, who’s to blame for disinformation is in the eye of the beholder. Republicans, the survey says, blame Democrats, singling out former President Biden and former Vice Presidebt Harris, while Democrats say President Trump and social media platforms like X — owned by Elon Musk. Other platforms, notably Facebook and TikTok, were also singled out as disinformation distributors.
Stress and avoidance of news
Disinformation is also a health issue, the study says, with 50% says it causes stress and anxiety; more than two-fifths of Americans — 43% — avoid the news because of disinformation.
What to do?
Schools should teach students how to recognize and critically evaluate disinformation (79%)
Companies and brands should take a stronger role in combatting disinformation (67%)
The federal government should implement regulations to address disinformation (68%)
What kind of efforts should government business and media platforms take?
“At least two-thirds back efforts by social media platforms, government and businesses to stop the spread of disinformation.” But what kind of efforts? Tina McCorkindale, the IPI’s president and chief executive officer, says the survey reveals that people want “legal or financial penalties by the government, which is pretty severe.”
She points out that the numbers in support of this are high, meaning it’s not as divisive an issue as some might think. “Whenever we see something that's in the two thirds of respondents say X, then we know it's supported by both political parties.”
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Tons of Disinformation as Israel and Iran go to war — and Google’s new Veo-3 isn’t helping
Truth is the first casualty of war, the classic saying goes, and it’s certainly the case during these first few days of the war between Israel and Iran. GetReal, a California-based monitor of malicious digital content and deepfake protection, says there have been tons of fake videos, which it claims to have been generated by Veo-3, a Google product which makes stunningly realistic videos.
GetReal says: “One simple tip-off (for now at least) is that all of these videos are either exactly eight seconds in length or composed of short (eights seconds or less) clips composited together. Why eight seconds? This is the current maximum length that Veo 3 can generate a continuous shot. Other models have slightly longer limits but 8-10 seconds is typical.”
Of course, this eight-second limit doesn’t prove a video is fake. But it’s an awfully good reason to make anyone pause and make an attempt to verify that whet they’re seeing is true before re-sharing. But who does this? And that’s part of the problem.
I’m not going to show any of those videos, but I will share the below photo, which the Iranian government claims is an Israeli F-35 stealth fighter that was shot down.
Plenty of reasons to debunk this fake Iranian claim
Aside from the fact that the F-35 - Iran says - was “shot down” with its port wing missing, the rest of the plane survived a crash landing miraculously intact? The cockpit, relative to the size of the people, looks like it could seat a dozen! Aviation experts say numerous other elements appear inconsistent with the actual dimensions of the F-35, making it all but certain that the image is either AI-generated or has been digitally altered.
In fact, the official Iranian army Telegram channel claims that not one, but three Israeli jets have been shot down. No verifiable proof of this has been produced; the Israeli government denies the claim, though it said Wednesday that a drone was shot down.
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Russia’s AI: More Sophisticated Than Ever
Russia’s AI chatbots aren’t just spreading propaganda. They’re training Western AI systems to do it for them. Here’s what’s going on, via NewsGuard:
A Moscow-based disinformation network called "Pravda" (which is Russian for “truth, by the way) is spreading falsehoods across the web.
It’s not trying to influence people directly — it’s trying to influence AI chatbot results.
More than 3.6 million articles were published last year, finding their way into leading Western chatbots, according to the American Sunlight Project.
NewsGuard says "By flooding search results and web crawlers with pro-Kremlin falsehoods, the network is distorting how large language models process and present news and information."
Newsguard said it studied 10 major chatbots — including those from Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, You.com, xAI, Anthropic, Meta, Mistral and Perplexity — and found that a third of the time they recycled arguments made by the Pravda network.
It adds that the Pravda network - which launched in April 2022 following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine - has now grown to cover 49 countries and operates in dozens of languages.
This isn’t just disinformation, but a calculated campaign to weaponize the very systems shaping Western policy and perception.
This was all foreshadowed back in January in a talk by American fugitive-turned-Moscow-based-propagandist John Mark Dougan, who spoke a conference of Russian officials. "By pushing these Russian narratives from the Russian perspective, we can actually change worldwide AI," Dougan reportedly told them.
NewsGuard's findings build on a February report from the American Sunlight Project that warned that the network appeared aimed at influencing chatbots rather than persuading individuals.
"The long-term risks – political, social, and technological – associated with potential LLM grooming within this network are high," the ASP said at the time.
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Stat of the Week
From this week’s report on Disinformation by the Institute for Public Relations and Leger:
Quote of the Week
"The firehose of falsehood... is a propaganda technique in which a large number of messages are broadcast rapidly, repetitively, and continuously over multiple channels... without regard for truth or consistency." -Rand Corp.
Scoundrel of the Week
The “honors” go to Utah Sen. Mike Lee
Following the tragic shootings of Minnesota lawmakers on June 14, right‑wing social media accounts quickly spread false narratives about the suspect:
Claims circulated that the shooter was a “Marxist” or linked to left‑wing politics, despite authorities describing him as an evangelical Trump supporter
Republican Sen. Mike Lee amplified these false claims, stating (without evidence) that the gunman was motivated by liberal ideology.
FactCheck.org confirmed Lee’s claims were baseless, calling them “unfounded” and emphasizing there is no evidence linking the suspect to left‑wing affiliation
Why it matters: Within hours of the shootings, false narratives took hold online—shaping public perception and politicizing a tragedy before facts were verified.
This illustrates a common disinformation tactic: rapid-fire speculation after breaking news, framed to fit a desired political narrative.
Such disinformation can inflame public opinion, distort investigative efforts, and erode trust in official sources.
You’d think that someone in a position of prominence and responsibility — a United States Senator — would know better. But Lee, displaying a profound lack judgment and personal character, decided that he would stir the pot with falsehoods.
For this reason, Mike Lee, U.S. Senator from Utah, is my “Scoundrel of the Week.” Congrats, or something.
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Get in touch with me
Thank you for reading. I want to hear your thoughts and ideas. Let me know what’s on your mind. My email: DisinformationWire@yahoo.com
-Paul Brandus / Washington, June 18, 2025