Re: Stopping "Bots" and "Fake News"

Yup.  Creates reputation systems.  The trick is to do so without poorly
forming solutions as to leave unwanted identity persistence related issues
whilst also dealing with issues such as censorship appropriately.

Once upon a time the accepted option was that the world was flat. Or that
the sun travelled around the earth.

It would be a shame if our STEM prevented or made a new type of class
system between those who are allowed to be treated with dignity and those
who are not; or some other form of unnecessary cost or subscription or
lock-in, built in, all wrapped around that balance between identity and
diversity ;)

Tim.h.

On Sat., 12 Aug. 2017, 4:35 am Adam Sobieski, <adamsobieski@hotmail.com>
wrote:

> Credentials Community Group,
>
> I would like to broach the role that credentials technologies may play in
> curtailing “fake accounts”, “bots”, “spam”, “hoaxes” and “fake news”.  I
> hope to indicate to you the importance of credentials systems and of
> securing such systems.
>
> Consider uses of credentials when creating new accounts or updating
> existing accounts, e.g. social media. Envision a popup or alert, “this
> website wants to know your real name.”  With social media, users are
> expected to presume to authenticity of their fellow users and it makes
> sense for users to choose to allow the services to access their real names,
> and possibly dates of birth.
>
> “People come to Facebook to make meaningful connections. From the
> beginning, we’ve believed that can only be possible if the interactions
> here are authentic – and if people use the names they're known by. We’ve
> found that when people represent themselves on Facebook the same way they
> do in real life, they act responsibly. Fake accounts don’t follow this
> pattern, and are closely related to the creation and spread of spam. That’s
> why we’re so focused on keeping these inauthentic accounts and their
> activity off our platform” (
> https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-security/improvements-in-protecting-the-integrity-of-activity-on-facebook/10154323366590766/).
> Furthermore, social “bots” play a major role in spreading “fake news” (
> https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608561/first-evidence-that-social-bots-play-a-major-role-in-spreading-fake-news/
> ).
>
> Credentials and verifiable claims systems are of use in quickly separating
> real users from “fake accounts” and “bots”.  Credentials should be as easy
> and intuitive for users to initialize and to configure as installing
> operating systems or configuring digital wallets.
>
> If we get credentials systems right, and secure, we can stop “fake
> accounts” and “bots” and we can curtail “spam”, “hoaxes” and “fake news” –
> we can defend digital democracy.
>
>
> Best regards,
> Adam Sobieski
> http://www.phoster.com/about/
> https://www.w3.org/community/argumentation/
> https://www.w3.org/community/collaboration/
>
> P.S.:
>
> http://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/2017/07/17/troops-trolls-and-trouble-makers-a-global-inventory-of-organized-social-media-manipulation/
> (
> http://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2017/07/Troops-Trolls-and-Troublemakers.pdf
> )
>
> http://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/2017/07/18/spreading-fake-news-becomes-standard-practice-for-governments-across-the-world/
>
> http://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/2017/07/18/government-cyber-troops-manipulate-facebook-twitter-study-says/
> https://www.belfercenter.org/project/defending-digital-democracy
>