The Sunday Show Documenting the Assault on Disinformation and Hate Speech Research
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Nov 24, 2024 Philip M. Napoli, an expert in media policy at Duke University, dives into the troubling landscape of disinformation research in this discussion. He unveils the concerted efforts by political forces to undermine research on propaganda. Napoli explains agnotology, highlighting how misinformation flourished post-2016 election. The conversation touches on the evolving risks for researchers and the need for accountability among platforms. He also calls for balanced regulations to protect free speech while addressing the challenges posed by digital misinformation.
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Politicization of Media Research
- Media research has always been politically charged, exemplified by the study of propaganda in Nazi Germany and during the Cold War.
- More recently, issues like media ownership concentration and the future of local journalism have become highly contentious, sparking hate mail and job security threats for researchers.
Agnotology and Cultivated Ignorance
- Agnotology, the study of socially constructed ignorance, reveals how political actors deliberately cultivate ignorance.
- This is achieved through tactics like attacking opposing research, conducting flawed studies, and lobbying to cut research funding, as seen with the tobacco industry and gun violence research.
Documenting the Assault
- Napoli's research analyzed over 1,800 pages of documents from various sources like congressional hearings, state-level investigations, and lawsuits.
- These documents revealed a concerning trend of targeting researchers themselves, accusing their work of violating stakeholders' speech rights or representing fraudulent attempts to undermine business models.