{"id":1757896,"date":"2022-12-01T08:47:50","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T13:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1757896"},"modified":"2022-12-01T09:01:35","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T14:01:35","slug":"feds-pay-journalism-group-5m-to-create-software-to-turn-people-into-anti-misinformation-bots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/feds-pay-journalism-group-5m-to-create-software-to-turn-people-into-anti-misinformation-bots\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds Pay Journalism Group $5M To Create Software To Turn People Into Anti-\u2018Misinformation\u2019 Bots"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffeds-pay-journalism-group-5m-to-create-software-to-turn-people-into-anti-misinformation-bots%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1757896&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The federal government has awarded $5 million to a group of journalists called Hacks\/Hackers to develop software that will encourage regular Americans to confront their friends over \u201charmful\u201d posts, and \u201ccorrect misinformation\u201d by replying with text suggested by the software.<\/p>\n<p>The group is also organizing <a href=\"https:\/\/newsq.net\/2022\/07\/29\/why-does-wikipedia-need-a-reliable-sources-list-on-vaccines-update\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wikipedia censors<\/a> to determine who is a \u201ccredible source\u201d on vaccines, and block anyone else from being cited on the online encyclopedia. <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220823173618\/https:\/www.hackshackers.com\/hh-is-hiring\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Job ads<\/a> for the project do not require that applicants have any expertise in medicine.<\/p>\n<p>That <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wikipedia:Vaccine_safety\/Reliable_sources#Perennial_sources\">list<\/a> is already taking shape on Wikipedia, with liberal outlets such as The New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, and The Atlantic all marked \u201creliable.\u201d Conservative sites, including The Daily Wire, Daily Mail, Epoch Times, and The Federalist, are all classified as either \u201cunreliable\u201d or \u201cconspiracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The group led by Hacks\/Hackers received $5 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop \u201cthe <a href=\"https:\/\/artt.cs.washington.edu\/response\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Analysis and Response Toolkit for Trust<\/a> (ARTT), a suite of expert-informed resources that are intended to provide guidance and encouragement to individuals and communities as they address contentious or difficult topics online,\u201d it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hackshackers.com\/hacks-hackers-partners-advance-phase-ii\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a>\u00a0on October 24.<\/p>\n<p>Users are encouraged to paste in their friends\u2019 Twitter and Facebook posts, and the tool will tell them how \u201charmful\u201d they are. Then it\u00a0\u201csuggests relevant responses through tailored response examples or templates\u201d that the user should copy and paste as a reply, according to a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qye0Fk3gcp8&amp;list=PLGhBP1C7iCOlKk7pNWHP6BN7irpwy9z9Y&amp;index=15\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">video<\/a> demonstrating the software.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery day there are motivated citizens, like librarians, health communicators, and amateur volunteers, who engage with the misinformation that is posted by their peers and make efforts to share reliable information to empower their communities,\u201d the video said<\/p>\n<p>ARTT says it uses psychology techniques to change people\u2019s views\u2013though when purveyors of \u201cmisinformation\u201d do similar, the ARTT tool calls it \u201cpsychological manipulation tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another ARTT <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=K_3tnct4zDg&amp;list=PLGhBP1C7iCOlKk7pNWHP6BN7irpwy9z9Y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">video<\/a> said that while social media platforms have made efforts to combat misinformation, influencing people\u2019s views is more effective when it comes from friends than from social media companies directly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s why we want to focus on these peer connections when it comes to having these conversations online \u2026 Instead of coming to you from the platform, it\u2019s actually coming to you from a friend,\u201d the video said.<\/p>\n<p>Project materials suggest the view that journalists should help enforce that others only echo \u201cauthoritative guidance\u201d from governmental and quasi-governmental bodies like the World Health Organization (WHO), which served as an advisor on the project.\u00a0 The group also indicates that the vaccine issue is just a pilot project for using the software on other topics.<\/p>\n<p>Curtis Houck of the Media Research Center, which monitors bias in media, said journalists like those behind the project \u201cwant to remove dissenting views from the internet and leave the rest in a state of reprogramming. For a profession that\u2019s allegedly taught to oppose a herd mentality, they sure seem hell-bent on creating manufactured consensus.\u201d The NSF, for its part, is acting like \u201ca weapon to be wielded against the American people,\u201d he told The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n<p>Hacks\/Hackers did not return a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>The ARTT funding is part of NSF\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.nsf.gov\/funding\/initiatives\/convergence-accelerator\/updates\/nsfs-convergence-accelerator-releases-2022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Convergence Accelerator<\/a> program, which has a focus on \u201cTrust &amp; Authenticity in Communication Systems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cModern life depends on access to communications systems that offer trustworthy and accurate information. The Convergence Accelerator is funding tools and techniques to help the nation effectively prevent, mitigate and adapt to critical threats to communication systems,\u201d NSF said, noting that it is \u201cvery hands-on with our funded researchers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In September 2021, the Convergence Accelerator awarded <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.nsf.gov\/funding\/initiatives\/convergence-accelerator\/portfolio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$21 million<\/a> to 28 groups including Hacks\/Hackers as well as to others like \u201cCourse Correct: Led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this team creates a dynamic misinformation identification dashboard, empowers journalists to identify misinformation networks, correct misinformation within the affected networks, and test the effectiveness of corrections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It also went to \u201cExpert Voices Together: Led by George Washington University, this team is building a rapid-response system to assist journalists, scientists, and other experts whose work is being undermined by coordinated online harassment campaigns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In August 2022, 12 teams including Hacks\/Hackers went on to a more heavily-funded Phase II, at a combined $60 million.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPhase II of the ARTT project is led by Hacks\/Hackers, a non-profit organization focused on journalism and technology, and the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science &amp; Engineering at University of Washington. Throughout Phase I, a variety of organizations including Wikimedia DC, MuckRock Foundation, and Social Science Research Council collaborated and partnered in the project,\u201d Hacks\/Hackers said. \u201cAdditional advising in Phase I has come from members of WHO\u2019s Vaccine Safety Net.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hacks\/Hackers is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hackshackers.com\/about\/organizers\/\">governed<\/a> by three people with connections to the left-wing Knight Foundation, including San Francisco-based journalist Burt Herman and former New York Times writer Jennifer Lee. Knight has also <a href=\"https:\/\/knightfoundation.org\/reports\/opennews-insights-from-building-a-community-of-newsroom-technologists\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">funded<\/a> a similar group, OpenNews, which runs the <a href=\"https:\/\/opennews.org\/what\/community\/dei-coalition\/join\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DEI Coalition For Anti-Racist, Equitable, And Just Newsrooms<\/a>. The Wikipedia project is an initiative of <a href=\"https:\/\/newsq.net\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NewsQ<\/a>, a Hacks\/Hackers subsidiary that is also supported by the NSF.<\/p>\n<p>NSF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The federal government has awarded $5 million to a group of journalists called Hacks\/Hackers to develop software that will encourage regular Americans to confront their friends when they make \u201charmful\u201d posts, and \u201ccorrect misinformation\u201d by replying with text suggested by the software. The group is also organizing Wikipedia censors to determine who is a \u201ccredible source\u201d on vaccines, and block anyone else from being cited on the online encyclopedia. Job ads for the project do not require that applicants have any expertise in medicine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":1898599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Feds Pay Journalism Group $5M To Create Software To Turn People Into Anti-\u2018Misinformation\u2019 Bots","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1757896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Feds Pay Journalism Group $5M To Create Software To Turn People Into Anti-\u2018Misinformation\u2019 Bots","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1757896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1898599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1757896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1757896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1757896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}