From Berkeley News
Disinformation is breaking democracy. Berkeley is exploring solutions.
By Edward Lempinen
Do a quick review of the top news for any day in the past 10 years and you’ll likely find that disinformation — barely disguised and often overt — has been a constant, powerful driver of political and social conflict in the U.S. and worldwide.
Consider a span of just a few weeks earlier this year: Fox News agreed to pay nearly $800 million to Dominion Voting Systems after it had falsely accused Dominion of aiding election fraud to swing the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden. A manipulated photo that seemed to show a bombing at the Pentagon emerged on Facebook and spread so fast that it sent shudders through the stock market. A study found that Twitter posts linked to the far-right QAnon conspiracy cult had nearly doubled. And fake photos of Pope Francis in a stylish white puffer jacket emerged on Reddit, then went viral...
Hany Farid, a professor with a joint appointment at the School of Information (I School) and in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, is a globally influential expert in how advanced technology can create "deepfake" images and other disinformation. He’s testified before the U.S. Congress and given White House presentations, but last spring he explored some of these issues at Berkeley with students in his introduction to computer science course...
Hany Farid is a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences and the School of Information at UC Berkeley. He specializes in digital forensics.
