{"id":2006631,"date":"2023-08-21T05:14:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T09:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conservative-blacklist-group-leader-hired-to-teach-economics-of-disinformation-class\/"},"modified":"2023-08-21T05:18:58","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T09:18:58","slug":"conservative-blacklist-group-leader-hired-to-teach-economics-of-disinformation-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conservative-blacklist-group-leader-hired-to-teach-economics-of-disinformation-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Leader of conservative blacklist group hired to teach &#8216;disinformation economics&#8217; class."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/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%2Fconservative-blacklist-group-leader-hired-to-teach-economics-of-disinformation-class%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=2006631&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--><h2>The Economics of Disinformation: \u2063A One-Day Course<\/h2>\n<p>The head of a State Department-backed think tank,\u200b currently\u200d under congressional investigation\u2064 for its alleged role in starving conservative media of advertising dollars, is set to \u200bteach a one-day course \u2062on the &#8220;economics of disinformation.&#8221; CEO Clare Melford of the \u200dGlobal Disinformation Index (GDI), a London group with two affiliated American nonprofit\u2064 organizations, will\u2062 be the trainer\u200c for this online class scheduled for September.<\/p>\n<p>The \u200dmodule \u2064is being offered \u2064by\u2063 a little-known project composed of &#8220;fact-checkers and academic researchers&#8221; who \u2064are\u200b dedicated to combating online disinformation. This project received significant funding of $4.3 million in 2022 from an agency \u200bunder the European Union. \u200dThe\u200b course aims to educate stakeholders working to tackle disinformation,\u200d including journalists, \u2062policy-makers, and researchers.<\/p>\n<h3>Controversy Surrounding\u200b GDI<\/h3>\n<p>GDI has faced \u200bcriticism from Republicans in\u200d Congress for its alleged covert operation of feeding blacklists\u200d of right-leaning websites to advertisers, with the intention of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/twitter-will-never-stop-censoring-conservatives-its-broken-beyond-repair\/\" title=\"Twitter Will Never Stop Censoring Conservatives. It\u2019s Broken Beyond Repair\">suppressing disfavored speech<\/a>. Lawmakers, such as House Oversight Chairman James Comer, \u200chave demanded answers \u2064from the State \u2063Department and \u200cthe National Endowment \u200bfor \u200bDemocracy, \u200da nonprofit group that heavily funds GDI. The\u2064 British \u200bthink tank received approximately $960,000 \u2063in combined funding from these \u200dsources \u200bbetween 2020 and\u200d 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the controversy, GDI continues to operate and \u200bhas attracted\u200c attention for its &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/expose-reveals-shadowy-left-wing-network-works-to-censor-deplatform-conservatives\/\" title=\"Expos\u00e9 Reveals Shadowy Left-Wing Network Works To Censor, Deplatform Conservatives\">dynamic exclusion list<\/a>,&#8221; which contains websites deemed to be &#8220;high risk for disinformation.&#8221; While the list has not been publicly released,\u2064 leaked\u200d data obtained by the Washington Examiner \u2064revealed that major right-leaning publications were being blacklisted by advertisers subscribed to GDI&#8217;s\u200b list.<\/p>\n<h3>The Role of GDI in\u2062 the &#8220;Economics of\u200d Disinformation&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p>The upcoming training module by Clare \u2062Melford\u200d aims\u200d to shed light on\u2062 how GDI creates independent risk signals \u2062about online news content. \u200cThese signals are then used \u2062by\u2063 technology companies that employ algorithms to determine which content \u200cis\u200d presented \u2064to users. The module also explores why advertisers choose not \u2064to \u2064place their ads on\u2062 polarizing\u200d content on\u2064 the internet.<\/p>\n<p>It \u200dremains uncertain whether Melford will disclose non-public information about GDI&#8217;s &#8220;dynamic exclusion list&#8221; during\u2063 the course. However, the partnership between\u200d GDI and \u2064ad-verification company Integral \u2062Ad Science, recently\u200b signed by Elon Musk&#8217;s X, has raised concerns\u2062 among critics who\u2062 argue that it amplifies\u200b the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conservative-blacklist-group-leader-hired-to-teach-economics-of-disinformation-class\/\" title=\"Leader of conservative blacklist group hired to teach 'disinformation economics' class.\">coercive powers targeting free speech<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>The Controversial Funding\u200c and Mission of\u2062 the European Digital Media Observatory<\/h3>\n<p>The\u2063 European Digital Media Observatory, based \u200cin Florence, Italy,\u200b is supported by \u2062an \u200dEU agency responsible for developing policies\u2063 to make Europe fit for the digital age. The observatory has published numerous reports\u2063 on alleged\u2062 disinformation, particularly related to COVID-19. Its mission includes addressing \u2062the spreading of\u200d misinformation and harmful information online.<\/p>\n<p>However, critics argue that \u2064efforts like \u200cGDI \u200dand the observatory contribute to a growing censorship\u2063 industrial complex that aims\u200c to police free\u2063 speech and protect\u2064 special interests. They question the government&#8217;s role\u2064 in funding such\u200b censorship initiatives.<\/p>\n<p>As news of the upcoming training module spreads, questions remain about GDI&#8217;s operations and the impact\u200d of its\u200d actions \u200don\u2064 free speech. \u2063The\u2062 Washington Examiner has reached out to GDI and the European Digital Media Observatory for comment, but they \u2062have not responded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The CEO of the Global Disinformation Index, a think tank under congressional investigation for withholding ad revenue from conservative media, will teach a one-day course on the &#8220;economics of disinformation.&#8221; Republicans claim the London-based group, along with its two American nonprofit affiliates, is involved in this controversial practice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2006632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2006631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006631","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2006631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2006632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2006631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2006631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2006631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}