How marketers can help combat mis- and disinformation

Fake news. Conspiracy theories. Misinformation. Disinformation. These terms have been thrown around so liberally over the past couple of years that they have begun to blur together.

While it might be easy to assume that ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’ mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably, there’s actually an important reason why they need to be distinguished: intent.

Misinformation is “false information that is spread, regardless of intent, to mislead”, while disinformation is “false information which is intended to mislead, especially propaganda issued by a government organisation to a rival power or the media”.  Put simply, misinformation can be spread unintentionally, by someone who believes they are factually correct. On the other hand, disinformation is solely an intentional act, often committed to gain the upper hand or to harm a perceived enemy.

Either way, the last year or so has seen a surge in both. Misleading information about the pandemic has had real societal consequences; for example, you only have to look to  the burning of cellphone towers in the UK after they were linked to the spread of coronavirus to realise the extent of the problem.

More recently, the ongoing Russia/Ukraine conflict has thrown this issue even further into the spotlight, with social media networks and traditional media outlets forced to grapple with the complexities of war propaganda.  In fact, Meta has had to launch a Special Operations Center to address misinformation on its platforms, including labelling posts from state-controlled media.

Unsurprisingly, this constant deluge of misinformation can have devastating consequences for brands, media planners and the public. Edelman’s 2022 Trust Barometer showed trust in media sources has fallen across the country, with traditional media only trusted by 48% of Australians (down by five points) and Australians’ concerns about disinformation and fake news remain high, with 73% worried about false information or fake news being used as a weapon.

When marketing goes amiss

Against this backdrop of complex current affairs, it’s a good time for marketers to ensure they aren’t unwittingly funding mis- or disinformation.

Without proper brand safety measures in place, brands are putting themselves in danger of not only putting their brand reputations at risk, but also losing consumer trust for good. And it isn’t a small-scale problem; an analysis from NewsGuard and Comscore found $2.6 billion in estimated advertising revenue was being sent to publishers of mis- and disinformation each year.

Brands are even unwittingly helping to fund the disinformation that fuels and supports Russia’s attack on Ukraine. One clear warning bell rang back in February 2022, when Google served ads on Sputnik News and TASS, two prominent ad-supported sites that are tied to the Kremlin. According to a report by Insider, some major US brands were displayed on the site.

Brands may be inadvertently supporting the rising tide of disinformation, which in turn drives distrust. Eventually, these slip ups can run the risk of alienating or even losing customers.

Facing the facts (and avoiding the fakes)

Of course, no brand or marketer sets out to align themselves with mis- or disinformation. But without the right education embedded into a business’s culture, the potential for serious brand safety threats is all too real.

From our work with brands across the globe, we’ve found that a combination of these three key initiatives is the best route to avoiding problems.

Education and Leadership: Ensure that your team and agency partners understand the issue and the risk involved. We’ve found that it works best when someone (or a team of people) is tasked with evaluating the risk to their specific brand, and then acts as an internal advocate, helping to work out what actions should be taken and what process should be followed for escalating issues, if and when they arise. The media and marketing industry has the power to defund bad voices and the ability to help fund credible ones, but cannot make a positive impact unless there is awareness of the issue.

Articulation: Many brands have clear environmental, social, and corporate governance policies, but this becomes meaningless if they are undermined by bad advertising practices that fund disinformation. Brands and agencies must implement clear guard rails that allow advertisers to avoid the content they deem unsuitable, without necessarily avoiding all news. Just like an ESCG policy, this should be documented in a clear advertising policy which is constantly updated so as not to become a set and forget, ‘tick in the box’ policy.

Technology: By putting the right tools in place, it’s possible to balance protection with scale. AI tools can facilitate semantic analysis that are more nuanced than a straightforward exclusion list. For example, the word ‘vaccines’ can be found in many legitimate articles, but some will contain disinformation. AI tools can help sort the wheat from the chaff.

In order to battle it head-on, it’s critical that we as marketers, platforms, and technology providers continue to evolve along with the rising tide of mis- and disinformation. While we can never stop mis- and disinformation entirely, we can certainly protect our brands from its most harmful effects.

Imran Masood, country manager AUNZ at Double Verify