Information laundering explained

Information laundering is the surfacing of news, false or otherwise, from unverified sources into the mainstream.[1] In advancing disinformation in such a way that makes it accepted as ostensibly legitimate information, information laundering resembles money laundering—the transforming of illicit funds into ostensibly legitimate funds.[2]

In adversarial machine learning, information laundering refers to a general strategy that purposely alters the information released to adversaries, with the goal of alleviating model stealing attacks.[3]

Descriptions

Information laundering, as summarized by American comedian and commentator Jon Stewart, can happen when relatively reputable news organizations report on something that a blog or platform of unknown credibility has written. These news organizations may attribute the assertion, but another publication may omit its original source. "That piece of information [on where the news came from] has now been laundered," Stewart says, and the original assertion, whether or not its source was credible, gains credibility, especially if it is used by outlets known for high standards.

Pace University's Adam Klein, who developed the theory, argues that information laundering is similar to how criminals launder illegal funds into financial institutions.[4] In the case of information laundering, illegitimate exchanges of information flow through social networks, political blogs, and search engines, where they intermix with mainstream ideas, and gradually become washed of their radical origins. According to Klein, "[c]onspiracies grow in communities like Reddit or Twitter, which can act as incubators. Then they graduate onto more respected websites and political blogs, until sometimes, they're picked up by mainstream news outlets as 'trusted information'."[5]

Digital platforms can be especially vulnerable to information laundering efforts; faked videos (deepfakes) and images (photograph manipulation), for instance, can create media moments and spread disinformation.[6] According to Karen Kornbluh, director of the German Marshall Fund's Digital Innovation Democracy initiative, and Ellen Goodman, director of the Rutgers Institute for Information Policy & Law, bots, fake accounts and click farms "pretend to be people they're not and create a false sense of consensus", and commercial platforms, "designed to keep users online to be served ads, end up privileging engagement over truth or the public interest. What drives engagement is often outrage and disgust, so this is what the algorithm rewards."[7]

According to a report by NATO in 2020, state actors that engage in information laundering, particularly Russia, "are generally supported by cyber capabilities that enhance the spread and amplification of a laundered piece, e.g. through the creation of fake personas and burner accounts, and sophisticated for manipulation of information, e.g. through the distribution of forged letters."[8]

Similar phrases

A similar phrase, idea laundering, has described how academicians may advance non-scientific ideas as knowledge or fact.[9] [10] [11] [12] A 2020 paper used the phrase idea laundering to describe plagiarism "in which ideas are plagiarized and then the plagiarism is hidden in plain sight".

Similarly, citation laundering is a colloquial term used to refer to a number of practices including:[13] [14] [15]

Self-citation practices are usually done with the intent of increasing a scholar's research impact in terms of metrics such as the h-index; groups of scholars can form "citation farms" or "citation cartels" to aggrandize each other's work.[19] [20] Self- or co-citation in this way can also contribute to information laundering as it increases the seeming authority of a claim without rigorously investigating its source.

Examples

In 2013, WikiLeaks, which publishes secret information from anonymous sources, was said in a commentary by Jonathan Holmes on ABC Australia to be information laundering.[21]

Information laundering was alleged in the spreading of false news by social media in the 2018 Mexican election.[22]

American intelligence officials say China and Russia have used information laundering to spread disinformation in the West about the COVID-19 pandemic[23] and the 2020 elections in the United States.[24] [25] [26] [27] The Russian effort has included a network of fake accounts on social media. Russian propaganda using information laundering is also suspected in stoking fears about 5G technology.[28] The Alliance for Securing Democracy, an American group that opposes Russian efforts to undermine Western elections, cites maskirovka, a Soviet-era military doctrine that translates as 'mask' or 'masquerade', as a precursor to Russian information laundering. Despite bans in multiple countries, content from Russian state media outlets such as RT and Sputnik continues to be laundered through third-party sites.[29]

Local "Save the Children" rallies in 2020 by supporters of QAnon, an American far-right conspiracy theory, were an example of information laundering, as QAnon hijacked a unifying cause in attempts to attract credulous local television news coverage, according to Brandy Zadrozny of NBC News.[30]

According to The Economist, the Independent Online of South Africa "often engages in 'information laundering' designed to make sentiment appear homegrown, says Herman Wasserman at the University of Cape Town. For instance, it will run a Chinese news-agency story on the biolab conspiracy, then get a left-wing student leader to write an article expressing concern about the supposed biolabs. Chinese news agencies will use that to write about how South Africans are worried, thus manufacturing a 'story' out of nothing at all."[31]

In 2023, the United States Department of State accused the Chinese government of information laundering by using "manufactured personas" such as a fictitious opinion columnist named "Yi Fan" to present state narratives as "organic sentiment".[32] [33] [34]

Detection

In 2024, the Alliance for Securing Democracy, the University of Amsterdam, and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue jointly released an open-source tool for uncovering websites republishing content from Russian state media.[35]

See also

References

  1. News: Merelli . Annalisa . December 1, 2016 . Fake news: Jon Stewart says the media has become an 'information-laundering scheme' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119095741/https://qz.com/850475/jon-stewart-the-american-media-has-become-an-information-laundering-scheme . January 19, 2023 . September 5, 2020 . . en.
  2. Web site: Kirill . Meleshevich . Bret . Schafer . January 9, 2018 . Online Information Laundering: The Role of Social Media . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119095740/https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/online-information-laundering-the-role-of-social-media/ . January 19, 2023 . September 5, 2020 . . en-US.
  3. Wang . Xinran . Xiang . Yu . Gao . Jun . Ding . Jie . 2020 . Information Laundering for Model Privacy . 2009.06112 .
  4. Klein . Adam . 2012 . Slipping Racism into the Mainstream: A Theory of Information Laundering . . en . 22 . 4 . 427–448 . 10.1111/j.1468-2885.2012.01415.x.
  5. Ellis . Emma Grey . May 31, 2017 . To Make Your Conspiracy Theory Legit, Just Find an 'Expert' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170927202253/https://www.wired.com/2017/05/conspiracy-theory-experts/ . September 27, 2017 . September 5, 2020 . . 1059-1028.
  6. Smith . Hannah . Mansted . Katherine . 2020 . Weaponised deep fakes . en . . resrep25129 . free . June 16, 2024 . January 18, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230118205015/https://ad-aspi.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/2020-04/Weaponised%20deep%20fakes.pdf . live .
  7. News: Kornbluh . Karen . Goodman . Ellen . To Fight Online Disinformation, Reinvigorate Media Policy . June 13, 2019 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119095746/https://www.nextgov.com/ideas/2019/06/fight-online-disinformation-reinvigorate-media-policy/157705/ . January 19, 2023 . September 6, 2020 . . en.
  8. Web site: October 2020. Information Laundering in Germany. https://web.archive.org/web/20230318162401/https://stratcomcoe.org/publications/information-laundering-in-germany/23. March 18, 2023. December 19, 2020. NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence. en. live.
  9. Web site: R., John. September 21, 2019. The national security implications of idea laundering. April 8, 2021. SOFREP. en. January 19, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230119095738/https://sofrep.com/news/the-national-security-implications-of-idea-laundering/. live.
  10. News: Boghossian . Peter . November 24, 2019 . 'Idea Laundering' in Academia . subscription . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230221071320/https://wsj.com/articles/idea-laundering-in-academia-11574634492 . February 21, 2023 . April 8, 2021 . . en-US . 0099-9660.
  11. Book: Dutta . Shiladitya . Uhegbu . Kelechi . Nori . Sathvik . Mashkoor . Sohyb . Taswell . S. Koby . Taswell . Carl . 2020 IEEE 14th International Conference on Semantic Computing (ICSC) . DREAM Principles from the PORTAL-DOORS Project and NPDS Cyberinfrastructure . February 2020 . https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9031516 . 211–216 . 10.1109/ICSC.2020.00044 . 978-1-7281-6332-1 . 212705263 . September 30, 2023 . January 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119095742/https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9031516/ . live .
  12. Taswell . S. Koby . Triggle . Christopher . Vayo . June . Dutta . Shiladitya . Taswell . Carl . October 2020 . The hitchhiker's guide to scholarly research integrity . Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology . en . 57 . 1 . 10.1002/pra2.223 . 225042076 . 2373-9231 . September 30, 2023 . January 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119095745/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pra2.223 . live .
  13. Cranford . Steve . June 3, 2020 . C.R.E.A.M: Citations Rule Everything Around Me . . English . 2 . 6 . 1343–1347 . 10.1016/j.matt.2020.04.025 . 2590-2393 . 219915364 . free.
  14. News: Calculating Body Counts . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119095739/https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/192734-calculating-body-counts . January 19, 2023 . July 19, 2022 . . en.
  15. Web site: Françoise . Roth . Tamy . Guberek . Amelia Hoover . Green . Using Quantitative Data to Assess Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Colombia: Challenges and Opportunities . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119095736/https://hrdag.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/SV-report_2011-04-26.pdf . January 19, 2023 . live . Benetech Human Rights Program and Corporación Punto de Vista . March 22, 2011 .
  16. Roach . Joseph . 2017 . The Serendipity Tango: "Volume 1, Number 1" . Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism . 31 . 2 . 141–152 . 10.1353/dtc.2017.0007 . 2165-2686 . 201777959.
  17. Van Noorden . Richard . Singh Chawla . Dalmeet . August 19, 2019 . Hundreds of extreme self-citing scientists revealed in new database . . en . 572 . 7771 . 578–579 . 2019Natur.572..578V . 10.1038/d41586-019-02479-7 . 31455906 . 201704279 . free.
  18. Szomszor . Martin . Pendlebury . David A. . Adams . Jonathan . May 1, 2020 . How much is too much? The difference between research influence and self-citation excess . . en . 123 . 2 . 1119–1147 . 10.1007/s11192-020-03417-5 . 1588-2861 . 215574614 . free.
  19. Web site: Hill . Sarah . March 19, 2020 . Citation Farms and Circles of Self-citation . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119095737/https://research.uh.edu/the-big-idea/what-went-wrong/citation-farming-self-citation/ . January 19, 2023 . July 19, 2022 . The Big Idea . . en-US.
  20. Hyland . Ken . February 1, 2003 . Self-citation and self-reference: Credibility and promotion in academic publication . . en . 54 . 3 . 251–259 . 10.1002/asi.10204 . 1532-2882.
  21. News: Jonathan . Holmes . Jonathan Holmes (journalist) . December 14, 2010 . WikiLeaks, journalists and that elusive public interest . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119095738/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-12-14/wikileaks-journalists-and-that-elusive-public/2374184 . January 19, 2023 . September 5, 2020 . . . en-AU.
  22. News: June 29, 2018 . In Mexico, fake news creators up their game ahead of election . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119095737/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-facebook-idUSKBN1JO2VG . January 19, 2023 . September 5, 2020 . . en.
  23. News: Barnes . Julian E. . Sanger . David E. . July 28, 2020 . Russian Intelligence Agencies Push Disinformation on Pandemic . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210221010917/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/us/politics/russia-disinformation-coronavirus.html . February 21, 2021 . September 5, 2020 . . en-US . 0362-4331.
  24. Web site: Kinetz . Erika . 2021-02-15 . Anatomy of a conspiracy: With COVID, China took leading role . 2024-06-19 . . en.
  25. News: Frenkel . Sheera . Barnes . Julian E. . September 1, 2020 . Russians Again Targeting Americans With Disinformation, Facebook and Twitter Say . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221229171545/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/01/technology/facebook-russia-disinformation-election.html . December 29, 2022 . September 5, 2020 . . en-US . 0362-4331.
  26. News: Harris . Shane . Nakashima . Ellen . August 21, 2020 . With a mix of covert disinformation and blatant propaganda, foreign adversaries bear down on final phase of presidential campaign . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221127123117/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/with-a-mix-of-covert-disinformation-and-blatant-propaganda-foreign-adversaries-bear-down-on-final-phase-of-presidential-campaign/2020/08/20/57997b7a-dbf1-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html . November 27, 2022 . September 5, 2020 . The Washington Post.
  27. Audie Cornish . Nina . Jankowicz . How Russia And Other Foreign Actors Sow Disinformation In Elections . 21 February 2020 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119095741/https://www.npr.org/2020/02/21/808275155/how-russia-and-other-foreign-actors-sow-disinformation-in-elections . January 19, 2023 . September 5, 2020 . All Things Considered . . en.
  28. News: Zappone . Chris . September 16, 2019 . Russian propaganda 'very likely' stoking 5G health fears in Australia: expert claims . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119095745/https://www.smh.com.au/world/oceania/russian-propaganda-stoking-5g-health-fears-in-australia-20190916-p52rmc.html . January 19, 2023 . September 5, 2020 . . en.
  29. News: Bond . Shannon . June 6, 2024 . This is what Russian propaganda looks like in 2024 . June 15, 2024 . . June 15, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240615142511/https://www.npr.org/2024/06/06/g-s1-2965/russia-propaganda-deepfakes-sham-websites-social-media-ukraine . live .
  30. News: With #SaveTheChildren Rallies, QAnon Sneaks Into The Offline World On the Media . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119095741/https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/savethechildren-rallies-qanon-sneaks-offline-world . January 19, 2023 . December 20, 2020 . . en.
  31. News: September 22, 2022 . How Russia is trying to win over the global south . subscription . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220924214041/https://www.economist.com/international/2022/09/22/how-russia-is-trying-to-win-over-the-global-south . September 24, 2022 . September 25, 2022 . . 0013-0613.
  32. Web site: September 28, 2023 . How the People's Republic of China Seeks to Reshape the Global Information Environment . September 29, 2023 . . en . PRC officials sometimes attribute relevant content to specific authors under false names, likely to conceal the PRC's role in producing it and falsely purporting to represent legitimate, organic sentiment in a given region. In addition, PRC officials are known in some cases to attribute such manufactured commentaries to "international affairs commentators" and then use other individual, non-official accounts to promote these commentaries. As one example, the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) uses a manufactured persona named Yi Fan, often credited as a "Beijing-based international affairs commentator," to deceptively promote pro-Beijing views on a wide variety of topics and regions. . September 28, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230928232237/https://www.state.gov/gec-special-report-how-the-peoples-republic-of-china-seeks-to-reshape-the-global-information-environment/ . live .
  33. News: Myers . Steven Lee . September 28, 2023 . China Uses 'Deceptive' Methods to Sow Disinformation, U.S. Says . en-US . . September 29, 2023 . 0362-4331 . September 29, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230929012111/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/28/technology/china-disinformation-us-state-department.html . live .
  34. News: Willemyns . Alex . September 28, 2023 . US diplomat: 'We're in an undeclared information war' . September 29, 2023 . . en . September 30, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230930010005/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/disinformation-propaganda-report-09282023162711.html . live .
  35. Web site: May 30, 2024 . The Russian Propaganda Nesting Doll: How RT is Layered Into the Digital Information Environment . 2024-06-16 . . en.

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