Media Manipulation Research Articles

Reconstruction of the high-fidelity vortex wavefront via double dark resonances in a four-level atomic medium

Recent years have seen vast progress in the generation and detection of vortex light, with potential applications in classical and quantum optics. However, it is still a challenge to efficiently generate high-fidelity vortex wavefronts in practical applications. Here, we propose a scheme to reconstruct the high-fidelity vortex wavefront via double dark resonances in a four-level atomic system. It is shown that, owing to a microwave field which interacts with magnetic or electric dipole moments of relevant atomic transitions, thereby generating spatially varying double dark resonances which in turn lead to the reconstruction of the incident probe field. In addition, to gauge the quality of the reconstructed probe field in comparison to the incident probe field, we study the fidelity of the reconstructed probe field and find that the reconstructed mode has a fidelity of more than 90% under the double-dark resonant condition. This study would be helpful to demonstrate optical vortex manipulation in atomic media.

Design Lessons from Building Deep Learning Disinformation Generation and Detection Solutions

In its essence, social media is on its way of representing the superposition of all digital representations of human concepts, ideas, believes, attitudes, and experiences. In this realm, the information is not only shared, but also {mis, dis}interpreted either unintentionally or intentionally guided by (some kind of) awareness, uncertainty, or offensive purposes. This can produce implications and consequences such as societal and political polarization, and influence or alter human behaviour and beliefs. To tackle these issues corresponding to social media manipulation mechanisms like disinformation and misinformation, a diverse palette of efforts represented by governmental and social media platforms strategies, policies, and methods plus academic and independent studies and solutions are proposed. However, such solutions are based on a technical standpoint mainly on gaming or AI-based techniques and technologies, but often only consider the defender’s perspective and address in a limited way the social perspective of this phenomenon becoming single angled. To address these issues, this research combines the defenders’ perspective with the one of the offenders by (i) building a hybrid deep learning disinformation generation and detection model and (ii) capturing and proposing a set of design recommendations that could be considered when establishing patterns, requirements, and features for building future gaming and AI-based solutions for combating social media manipulation mechanisms. This is done using the Design Science Research methodology in Data Science approach aiming at enhancing security awareness and resilience against social media manipulation.

Optically induced electrothermal microfluidic tweezers in bio-relevant media

Non-contact micro-manipulation tools have enabled invasion-free studies of fragile synthetic particles and biological cells. Rapid electrokinetic patterning (REP) traps target particles/cells, suspended in an electrolyte, on an electrode surface. This entrapment is electrokinetic in nature and thus depends strongly on the suspension medium’s properties. REP has been well characterized for manipulating synthetic particles suspended in low concentration salt solutions (~ 2 mS/m). However, it is not studied as extensively for manipulating biological cells, which introduces an additional level of complexity due to their limited viability in hypotonic media. In this work, we discuss challenges posed by isotonic electrolytes and suggest solutions to enable REP manipulation in bio-relevant media. Various formulations of isotonic media (salt and sugar-based) are tested for their compatibility with REP. REP manipulation is observed in low concentration salt-based media such as 0.1× phosphate buffered saline (PBS) when the device electrodes are passivated with a dielectric layer. We also show manipulation of murine pancreatic cancer cells suspended in a sugar-based (8.5% w/v sucrose and 0.3% w/v dextrose) isotonic medium. The ability to trap mammalian cells and deposit them in custom patterns enables high-impact applications such as determining their biomechanical properties and 3D bioprinting for tissue scaffolding.

A generative force model for surgical skill quantification using sensorised instruments

Surgical skill requires the manipulation of soft viscoelastic media. Its measurement through generative models is essential both for accurate quantification of surgical ability and for eventual automation in robotic platforms. Here we describe a sensorised scalpel, along with a generative model to assess surgical skill in elliptical excision, a representative manipulation task. Our approach allows us to capture temporal features via data collection and downstream analysis. We demonstrate that incision forces carry information that is relevant for skill interpretation, but inaccessible via conventional descriptive statistics. We tested our approach on 12 medical students and two practicing surgeons using a tissue phantom mimicking the properties of human skin. We demonstrate that our approach can bring deeper insight into performance analysis than traditional time and motion studies, and help to explain subjective assessor skill ratings. Our technique could be useful in applications spanning forensics, pathology as well as surgical skill quantification.

Media Manipulation in Young Democracies: Evidence From the 1989 Brazilian Presidential Election

We investigate how dominant media networks can manipulate voters in young democracies. During the first presidential election after the democratic transition in Brazil, TV Globo, the largest and most-watched network in the country, unexpectedly manipulated the news coverage of the last debate 2 days before the decisive second round. In a video segment, Globo unfavorably depicted the left-wing candidate, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Using the geographical distribution of broadcaster-specific TV signals and the timing of election events, we identify the effect of the manipulation net of the effect of the debate itself, showing that Globo’s misleading reporting caused Lula to lose millions of votes. Our results showcase how the media can reshape an election in a single stroke, especially where the media is concentrated and politically inexperienced voters have few other sources of information.

ТЕОРІЯ КУЛЬТИВУВАННЯ: РЕТРОСПЕКЦІЯ ТА СУЧАСНІСТЬ

<p><strong><em>The purpose </em></strong><em>of the article is to analyze the cultivation theory and its features of its implementation in modern media.</em></p><p><strong><em>Research methodology.</em></strong><em> The research used the historical method to </em><em>analyze information about the study of cultivation theory through the prism of television and the comparative method to analyze the features of the theory on television and in new media. The methods of analysis and synthesis were used to identify the peculiarities of the cultivation theory functioning in the conditions of modern mass communication. Also, in order to obtain information from the potential target audience that is being influenced, a survey method was used. The content analysis to determine the thematic content of the «TSN. Tyzhden» news programme and the «Ukrainska Pravda» online media for 2021 – early 2022 was used.</em><em></em></p><p><strong><em>Results. </em></strong><em>The process of informatization has become so global that it has turned information into one of the most important tools of power and management. The modern world is a «world of mass media» endowed with a mechanism of self-reproduction and self-regulation. Mass media influence the world of objective reality not only by reflecting it, but also by constructing it at their own discretion. </em></p><p><em>A few dozen years ago, television was the main object of research for J. Gerbner, but now «new media» are more interesting, because they personalize the Internet environment for each user according to individual preferences with the help of filters and the target function. Due to such an algorithmic system, any other information that may not be among interests and preferences disappears from the field of view. In this way, the possibility of receiving alternative information disappears, and a virtual reality is formed, in which there is only what the recipient was interested in before. Because of this, it is extremely difficult for many people to understand real events, because when they receive objective information, they may «bump» into the reality created by the filters in their minds.</em></p><p><em>In order to find out whether the recipients are aware of the influence of mass communication on their consciousness, 179 people were interviewed. Many respondents indicated that they are significantly influenced by the information they receive from their sources, also, almost half of them are aware that through mass media and communication there is a suggestion regarding certain events, and as a result, it cultivates views and can significantly influence world perception.<strong></strong></em></p><p><strong><em>Novelty.</em></strong><em> Features of the cultivation theory’s implementation in modern media are described, as well as are new algorithms of influence on the target audience, which turned out to be much more effective than television ones. Because of this information bubble, the suggestive influence can be much stronger on the Internet than on television. In order to avoid the «filter bubble» as much as possible, recipients should: constantly search for different information, be interested in publications with different (preferably categorically opposite) points of view on certain issues, and if necessary, use different keywords and different hashtags for searches, use browsers that do not record behavioral data.</em><em></em></p><p><strong><em>Practical significance.</em></strong><em> The research results can be useful for both practicing journalists and educators.</em></p><p><strong><em>Key words: </em></strong><em>cultivation theory, media, mass media, communication media, media manipulation, manipulation, suggestion, suggestive manipulation, information bubble, influence.</em></p>

Distorted Korean Idol’s Scandal, Deceitful Media, and The Role of Forensic Linguistics

A celebrity’s scandal can be an enthralling theme for the media to produce news, either factual or fabricated. This research primarily focuses on distorted content or media manipulation to report it. It explores the correlation between misleading news and the motives behind twisted reality. The method used in this research is a descriptive qualitative method through the lens of the forensic linguistics approach, supported by Villa’s interpretative pragmatics (2010). The collected data were from selected sources of distorted media reporting, especially about a highly considered Korean singer’s crime, known Seungri of Bigbang. His charge was not direct link with sexual abuse and systematic drugs, which is in fact unrevealed wealthy people committing them. Even nonconsensual disclosure of sexually-explicit videos was committed by other celebrities. Yet, the media fraudulently blended and misrepresented Seungri as the key figure of the scandal in a club named ‘Burning Sun’. Society was misled to hate and blame him. This research shows that passive constructions, lexical references, and subject matters of the texts become linguistic evidence of fact distortion. Manipulating celebrity’s scandal is driven by political goals, such as creating mistrust and bewildering larger audiences, especially in South Korea about proving the justice system as the actual culprits are withdrawn. This research is noteworthy since there are interwoven claims of the power of media to wriggle out of legal punishments after spreading distorted facts. Hence, it implies that pragmatics is applicable and efficacious to prove the case. It leads to defamation by media, correlated with forensic linguistics. To reveal the distorted facts by deceitful media, this study expectantly contributes in enhancing social awareness of the truth behind blatant public outrage and its social consequences.

Modelling Responsible Digital Security Behaviour for Countering Social Media Manipulation

While the digital environment, and in particular social media, surrounds not only human’s identity and its societal functions projection, e.g., institutional and financial aspects, it also captures both individual and collective thoughts regarding former, ongoing, and future concepts, trends, and incidents placed in the physical world, in the digital environment, or in both which could impact both individual and collective consciousness, behaviour, and attitude towards different dimensions of reality. Accordingly, an initial attempt to define and model responsible digital security behaviour was made and ongoing discourses and AI-based solutions for tackling and containing social manipulation mechanisms exist in this domain. Noteworthily is that dedicated attention to understanding and modelling responsible digital security behaviour in social media for tackling and/or countering social media manipulation, e.g., disinformation and misinformation, still lacks. To this end, this research aims (i) to capture the factors influencing user behaviour towards tackling and/or countering social media manipulation, (ii) to build a Machine Learning model that assesses user’s responsibility in relation to tackling and/or countering social media manipulation mechanisms, and (iii) propose a set of socio-technical recommendations for building resilience to such mechanisms. To accomplish these research objectives, a Design Science Research methodological approach is taken by designing, developing, and evaluating the model proposed through exemplification. Finally, this research aims to enhance digital security awareness and resilience to social media manipulation of users and policy decision-makers to manage and further extend in a responsible and safe way the digital environment.

First Six Months of War from Ukrainian topic and sentiment analysis

Through technological advancements as well as due to societal trends and developments, social media became an active part and a catalysator of the ongoing conflicts and wars carried out in the physical environment. A direct example on this behalf are the cyber/information operations currently conducted in conjunction with the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war. Due to such operations packaged in social media manipulation mechanisms like disinformation and misinformation using techniques such as controversies, fake news, and deep fakes, a high degree of confusion and uncertainty surrounds the events happened and users’ behaviour and beliefs. These operations also impact the civilians directly affected in the battlefield or their dear and known ones. To tackle this issue, currently limited scientific and objective effort is dedicated in this direction due to, e.g., data, strategic, and emotional implications. It is then the aim of this research to capture the main topics discussed and the feeling expressed by Ukrainian Telegram users on the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022 using a Data Science approach by building a series of Machine Learning models based on multi-channel data collected in the first six of months of war. Accordingly, this research directly aims to contribute to efforts on understanding real discourses and dynamics involved in the ongoing conflict through direct resources, producing and sustaining social media security awareness, and building resilience to social media manipulation campaigns using AI.

Analyzing the Role of Ukrainian and Russian Diaspora in Disinformation Campaigns

Recent digital technological developments facilitate the translation, empowerment, and extension of expressing individual and collective ideas, beliefs, and attitudes towards specific concepts and events through different social platforms. In this complex arena, social media manipulation campaigns and corresponding mechanisms like disinformation and misinformation are used through techniques like deep fakes and fake news for, e.g., altering existing information and spreading manufactured information to {targeted, diverse} audiences or producing polarization among communities and users. Nevertheless, academic and practitioner efforts to capture, control, and limit social manipulation techniques exist in the form of strategies and policies based on human intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, or a combination thereof. However, such mechanisms and consonant techniques advance in adaptivity and complexity and can reach and impact broader communities. On this behalf, and especially in conjunction with the ongoing events surrounding the ongoing war in Ukraine, increased attention and dedication is shown to both current and recent events surrounding this conflict, e.g., Crimea’s annexation and the MH17 crash in 2014. Such events characterize old battles of ongoing conflicts that could teach important lessons on understanding the role and involvement of Russian and Ukrainian diaspora communities in corresponding social manipulation discourses in social platforms like Twitter and Facebook. To tackle this, multidisciplinary research is conducted using the Design Science Research methodology following the Data Science approach building a series of Machine Learning models. Accordingly, this research aims to build and bring social awareness and resilience to both users and social media policy decision-makers on the role, involvement, and implications of diaspora digital communities in conflicts.

Optical Manipulation Heats up: Present and Future of Optothermal Manipulation.

Optothermal manipulation is a versatile technique that combines optical and thermal forces to control synthetic micro-/nanoparticles and biological entities. This emerging technique overcomes the limitations of traditional optical tweezers, including high laser power, photon and thermal damage to fragile objects, and the requirement of refractive-index contrast between target objects and the surrounding solvents. In this perspective, we discuss how the rich opto-thermo-fluidic multiphysics leads to a variety of working mechanisms and modes of optothermal manipulation in both liquid and solid media, underpinning a broad range of applications in biology, nanotechnology, and robotics. Moreover, we highlight current experimental and modeling challenges in the pursuit of optothermal manipulation and propose future directions and solutions to the challenges.

Deepfakes: Vehicles for Radicalization, Not Persuasion

Deepfakes are an effective method of media manipulation because of their realism and also because truth is not a priority when people are consuming and sharing content online. Consumers are more focused on creating their own reality that aligns with their desires, opinions, and values. We explain how deepfakes differ from other sources of information. Their realism and vividness makes them unusually effective at depicting alternative facts, including fake news. Deepfakes are difficult to detect and will be even harder to detect in the future. However, people share deepfakes not necessarily because they believe them but because they want to reinforce their own identity and social position. The threat posed by deepfakes is that they can radicalize people by sowing chaos and confusion. They rarely change minds. We review the consequences of deepfakes in both the social sphere and private lives. We suggest potential solutions to reduce their negative consequences.

Semiotic manipulation strategies employed in Iranian printed advertisements

Abstract Commercial advertisements are considered informative discourse, whereas the manipulative effects of their verbal and visual strategies have been ignored. According to van Dijk (2006), manipulation in mass media is performed by drawing the audience’s attention to information A rather than to B, by providing irrelevant or incomplete information, and by playing emotional games. Since the analysis of manipulative effects of semiotic features used in advertisements is scarce, the present research project investigates the potential manipulative effects of semiotic aspects used in Persian printed advertisements, and the influence of the Iranian sociocultural context on designing these visual messages. A corpus of 160 Persian printed advertisements was analyzed; the results revealed that their semiotic features, especially those which are meaningful based on the sociocultural context of Iran, tend to inculcate relevant information and meaning in consumers, in order to control their minds and subsequently their purchases. The findings of this study include six theme-based categories of semiotic manipulation strategies: Celebrity images, Creative images, Punctuation marks, Natural images, Seasonal images, and Cultural images. The results are discussed along the lines of research methodology in discourse and semiotic analysis.

The Racialized Global Capitalist Economy: Reading Samir Amin in the 2020s

Abstract Using Samir Amin’s theories of worldwide value and historical materialism, this article seeks to show that capitalism is inherently racist, at least since the TransAtlantic enslavement, and that its proponents are perpetuating racism by using it as a tool to deepen economic divides, and to destroy solidarity between workers. The global health crisis of Covid-19 demonstrates the expendability of frontline workers, a large proportion of whom are Black people and has exasperated the economic injustice propagated by the capitalist model. The racist and exploitative structure is global, with a Center extracting rent from the Periphery, where political power and “corruptionists” collude with global corporations. In low-intensity democracies such as the US, paid elections at best will lead to politicians making superficial discursive changes at Superstructure level, whereas the racist Base remains the same. Movements such as Black Lives Matter can be shaped and contained through manipulation of media. To change the Base, this article argues the need for “delinking” of the Periphery from the monopoly economy, and rehabilitation of Marxism through creation of a new global organization – a new Internationale of Workers, or a new Bandung. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in Spring 2022 adds a layer of complexity to the international situation (as it is opening for discourses that are strengthening the monopoly economy worldwide, e.g., in arms manufacturing), but may eventually lead to the demise of the autocratic-capitalist system in Russia, with international repercussions.

Internet journalism in modern society: an overview of mechanisms for resisting media manipulation

At the current stage of the development of the information society, the influence of Internet journalism on the formation of public opinion (in particular, if we are talking about outright manipulation) is extremely noticeable. The purpose of the article is to analyze these influences in modern society in terms of the presence and use of media manipulation mechanisms and ways to counter them. The main research methods were general scientific (analysis, synthesis) and special scientific (abstraction and concretization). Manifestations of the manipulative influence of Internet journalism on human consciousness are traced in the results. The main attention is paid to the analysis of the mechanisms of resistance to manipulation in the media. In particular, an analysis of fact-checking, legal methods of combating fakes was carried out, the peculiarities of protection against manipulation based on the verification of photo and video materials were investigated. The results also highlight the video verification algorithm. The conclusions summarize that critical thinking and acquisition of media competence and media literacy skills are a relevant way to resist manipulative influences on the Internet. Despite this, fact-checking and verification of photos and video materials that are distributed on the Internet are effective mechanisms for resisting manipulation.

Social Media Manipulation Deep Learning based Disinformation Detection

The rapid grow and use of different social platforms enhanced communication between different entities and their audiences plus the transformation through digitalization of existing, e.g., ideas and businesses, or the creation of new ones fully existing or depending on this digital environment. Nevertheless, next to these promising aspects, social media is a vulnerable digital environment where a diverse plethora of cyber incidents are planned and executed engaging a diverse range of targets. Among these, social media manipulation through threats like disinformation and misinformation produce a broad span of effects that cross digital borders into the human realm by influencing and altering human believes, behaviour, and attitudes towards specific ideas, institutions, or people. To tackle these issues, existing academic, social platforms, dedicated organizations, and institutions efforts exist for building specific advanced and intelligent solutions for detecting and preventing them. Regardless, these efforts embed defender’s perspective and are focused locally, at target level, without being designed to fit a broader agenda of producing and/or strengthening social media security awareness. On this behalf, this research proposes a deep learning-based disinformation detection solution for facilitating and/or enhancing social media security awareness in respect to offender’s perspective. To achieve this objective, a Data Science approach is taken based on the Design Science Research methodology, and the results obtained are discussed with a keen on further field developments regarding intelligent, transparent, and responsible solutions countering social manipulation through realistic participation and contribution of different stakeholders from different disciplines.

Social Media Manipulation Awareness through Deep Learning based Disinformation Generation

As a digital environment introduced for establishing and enhancing human communication through different social networks and channels, social media continued to develop and spread at an incredible rate making it difficult to find or imagine a concept, technology, or business that does not have or plan to have its social media representation and space. Concurrently, social media became a playground and even a battlefield where different ideas carrying out diverse validity degrees are spread for reaching their target audiences generated by clear and trustable well-known, uncertain, or even evil aimed entities. In the stride carried out for preventing, containing, and limiting the effects of social manipulation of the last two types of entities, proper/effective security awareness is critical and mandatory in the first place. On this behalf, several strategies, policies, methods, and technologies were proposed by research and practitioner communities, but such initiatives take mostly a defender perspective, and this is not enough in cyberspace where the offender is in advantage in attack. Therefore, this research aims to produce social media manipulation security awareness taking the offender stance by generating and analysing disinformation tweets using deep learning. To reach this goal, a Design Science Research methodology is followed in a Data Science approach, and the results obtained are analysed and positioned in the ongoing discourses showing the effectiveness of such approach and its role in building future social media manipulation detection solutions. This research also intends to contribute to the design of further transparent and responsible modelling and gaming solutions for building/enhancing social manipulation awareness and the definition of realistic cyber/information operations scenarios dedicated/engaging large multi-domain (non)expert audiences.

Security of the information environment of participants in the educational process

The article is devoted to a review of the main recommendations for working with information in wartime conditions. The basis of the article is the practical experience of consuming information from various media sources. The main tools for checking information messages regarding the presence of elements of media manipulation in them are presented.

Actively open-minded thinking is key to combating fake news: A multimethod study

The fake news phenomenon has exposed the vulnerability of individuals and societies to information manipulation in social media. We conducted two studies to understand why people believe in fake news and propose a simple IT intervention method that can help in detecting disinformation. In Study 1, we designed a laboratory experiment using behavioral and neurophysiological tools to test two competing theories in the disinformation literature. Both behavioral and neurophysiological evidence support the classical reasoning account hypotheses and reject the motivated reasoning predictions, suggesting that the lack of actively open-minded thinking (AOT) is linked to the belief in fake news. An intervention method was designed (i.e., performance feedback) that reduces individuals’ overconfidence in their ability to detect fake news and encourages more analytical thinking. In Study 2, we conducted an online survey presenting participants with their performance feedback halfway through the survey. The results show that the intervention increased participants’ performance by 14%. Our study contributes to the research on fake news by providing behavioral and neurophysiological evidence in support of the classical reasoning account. It also offers a simple and practical method that increases users’ ability to detect fake news.

Envisioning Paths Towards Peacebuilding in Foreign Language Teacher Education

In a country struggling to emerge from the shadows of a relentless armed conflict, where media manipulation puts a stable reconciliation process at risk, foreign language educators are called on to act. This article presents the results of a study conducted with three foreign language students tudying in one of the sites of a public university in the Department of Antioquia, Colombia, located in a region affected by cultural, structural, direct, and ecological violence. The study resorted to critical peace education and critical media literacy theories as well as to local contributions from a pedagogy of memory to foster critical consciousness about the armed conflict in Colombia. Data collection methods included a survey, recordings of class discussions, samples of students' work, and individual and group interviews. Data showed that the participants reflected critically on the role of different war agents, increased their capacity to question media messages, recognized the relevance of including the victims’ voices, and created counter-texts to contest dominant narratives about the conflict. Findings confirm the urgent need to prepare future foreign language educators to respond to their learners’ harsh social realities and exert their agency to generate transformations. They also highlight the need to do more interdisciplinary work in ELT and to value the contributions of local knowledge that helps us both understand the dynamics of violence in our contexts and envision possibilities for peacebuilding in Colombia.