Hacktivists Take on Misinformation in a New Internet Age

Authors: (1) Filipo Sharevski, DePaul University; (2) Benjamin Kessell, DePaul University. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction 2 Internet Activism and Social Media 2.1 Hashtag Activism 2.2 Hacktivism 3 Internet Activism and Misinformation 3.1 Grassroots Misinformation Operations 3.2 Mainstream Misinformation Operations 4 Hacktivism and Misinformation 4.1 Research Questions and 4.2 Sample 4.3 Methods and Instrumentation 4.4 Hacktivists’ Profiles 5 Misinformation Conceptualization and 5.1 Antecedents to Misinformation 5.2 Mental Models of Misinformation 6 Active Countering of Misinformation and 6.1 Leaking, Doxing, and Deplatforming 6.2 Anti-Misinformation “Ops” 7 Misinformation Evolution and 7.1 Counter-Misinformation Tactics 7.2 Misinformation Literacy 7.3 Misinformation hacktivism 8 Discussion 8.1 Implications 8.2 Ethical Considerations 8.3 Limitations and 8.4 Future Work 9 Conclusion and References 8.3 Limitations Our research was limited in its scope to U.S. hacktivists, therefore we exercise caution to the generalization of the results across the entire Internet activist community worldwide. Many hacktivist operations are often in the center of debates regarding the dimensions of civil disobedience, political participation, legality, and the ethical use of Internet technologies [105]. Our results pertain neither to append the permissiveness nor the disapproval of the these operations, rather, to voice the opinion of the hacktivists as the unique and engaged Internet minority. Even with such a relatively small sample we gathered in our study, we got a wide variety of insights to which many other hacktivists could well disagree and propose other models, approaches, and visions of dealing with misinformation. We are aware that our results represent the contextualization informed by all forms of misinformation that currently exist on social media. Therefore, we are careful to avoid any predictive use of our results in future misinformation campaigns. Importantly, we do not know if, when, and how the hacktivists in our sample used the proposed counter-misinformation tools, tactics, and procedures. Our results do not provide blanket justification for any frivolous use of them across social media and any other online spaces. We note that this study reported on the evolving experience of dealing with misinformation by hacktivists and might miss some important aspects of meting out the truth on social media. We advise caution to this, as we see our work as a synergistic line of scientific inquiry addresses an important gap in voicing the opinions of those that actually introduced the means for mass producing of misinformation online in the first place. 8.4 Future Work Our future research will continue to trace the way the hacktivist community engages with misinformation. We are interested to expand our work beyond U.S. and work with hacktivists across the globe, as misinformation is contextual to the geopolitical makings in the space where many of them operate. We are set to further explore the intersection between hashtag activism and hacktivism for the same cause of countering misinformation as such synergistic activities do already emerge in some form, as the case with the #NAFO campaign on Twitter. Here, we would devote much attention to the new misinformation “battlefield” of platforms for short videos such as TikTok and Instagram. It would be useful to study the emergent circumstances in which misinformation hacktivism mobilizes and empowers ordinary users to join future “Troll [target] Day” operations and catalogue their experiences with such participation. Of equal importance, too, would be to further study the use of “misinformation-against-(mis)information” as in the case of #OpJane to learn both the benevolent and potentially malevolent aspects of this approach. 9 Conclusion Reflecting the communitarian ideals of free information and disobedience to authority, the hacktivists in our study showed a determination for a radical response against the reprehensible act of spreading falsehoods on social media. As misinformation is consequential to the trolling and memes of the early days of hacktivism, it is appreciative to learn that the contemporary hacktivists are outwardly against such a nefarious appropriation of their aesthetics. It is encouraging to reveal that hacktivists also advocate for general misinformation literacy as a strategic asset against an undemocratic Internet. 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Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Abstract and Introduction 2 Internet Activism and Social Media 2.1 Hashtag Activism 2.1 Hashtag Activism 2.2 Hacktivism 2.2 Hacktivism 3 Internet Activism and Misinformation 3.1 Grassroots Misinformation Operations 3.1 Grassroots Misinformation Operations 3.2 Mainstream Misinformation Operations 3.2 Mainstream Misinformation Operations 4 Hacktivism and Misinformation 4 Hacktivism and Misinformation 4.1 Research Questions and 4.2 Sample 4.1 Research Questions and 4.2 Sample 4.3 Methods and Instrumentation 4.3 Methods and Instrumentation 4.4 Hacktivists’ Profiles 4.4 Hacktivists’ Profiles 5 Misinformation Conceptualization and 5.1 Antecedents to Misinformation 5 Misinformation Conceptualization and 5.1 Antecedents to Misinformation 5.2 Mental Models of Misinformation 5.2 Mental Models of Misinformation 6 Active Countering of Misinformation and 6.1 Leaking, Doxing, and Deplatforming 6 Active Countering of Misinformation and 6.1 Leaking, Doxing, and Deplatforming 6.2 Anti-Misinformation “Ops” 6.2 Anti-Misinformation “Ops” 7 Misinformation Evolution and 7.1 Counter-Misinformation Tactics 7 Misinformation Evolution and 7.1 Counter-Misinformation Tactics 7.2 Misinformation Literacy 7.2 Misinformation Literacy 7.3 Misinformation hacktivism 7.3 Misinformation hacktivism 8 Discussion 8.1 Implications 8.1 Implications 8.2 Ethical Considerations 8.2 Ethical Considerations 8.3 Limitations and 8.4 Future Work 8.3 Limitations and 8.4 Future Work 9 Conclusion and References 9 Conclusion and References 8.3 Limitations Our research was limited in its scope to U.S. hacktivists, therefore we exercise caution to the generalization of the results across the entire Internet activist community worldwide. Many hacktivist operations are often in the center of debates regarding the dimensions of civil disobedience, political participation, legality, and the ethical use of Internet technologies [105]. Our results pertain neither to append the permissiveness nor the disapproval of the these operations, rather, to voice the opinion of the hacktivists as the unique and engaged Internet minority. Even with such a relatively small sample we gathered in our study, we got a wide variety of insights to which many other hacktivists could well disagree and propose other models, approaches, and visions of dealing with misinformation. We are aware that our results represent the contextualization informed by all forms of misinformation that currently exist on social media. Therefore, we are careful to avoid any predictive use of our results in future misinformation campaigns. Importantly, we do not know if, when, and how the hacktivists in our sample used the proposed counter-misinformation tools, tactics, and procedures. Our results do not provide blanket justification for any frivolous use of them across social media and any other online spaces. We note that this study reported on the evolving experience of dealing with misinformation by hacktivists and might miss some important aspects of meting out the truth on social media. We advise caution to this, as we see our work as a synergistic line of scientific inquiry addresses an important gap in voicing the opinions of those that actually introduced the means for mass producing of misinformation online in the first place. 8.4 Future Work Our future research will continue to trace the way the hacktivist community engages with misinformation. We are interested to expand our work beyond U.S. and work with hacktivists across the globe, as misinformation is contextual to the geopolitical makings in the space where many of them operate. We are set to further explore the intersection between hashtag activism and hacktivism for the same cause of countering misinformation as such synergistic activities do already emerge in some form, as the case with the #NAFO campaign on Twitter. Here, we would devote much attention to the new misinformation “battlefield” of platforms for short videos such as TikTok and Instagram. It would be useful to study the emergent circumstances in which misinformation hacktivism mobilizes and empowers ordinary users to join future “Troll [target] Day” operations and catalogue their experiences with such participation. Of equal importance, too, would be to further study the use of “misinformation-against-(mis)information” as in the case of #OpJane to learn both the benevolent and potentially malevolent aspects of this approach. 9 Conclusion Reflecting the communitarian ideals of free information and disobedience to authority, the hacktivists in our study showed a determination for a radical response against the reprehensible act of spreading falsehoods on social media. As misinformation is consequential to the trolling and memes of the early days of hacktivism, it is appreciative to learn that the contemporary hacktivists are outwardly against such a nefarious appropriation of their aesthetics. It is encouraging to reveal that hacktivists also advocate for general misinformation literacy as a strategic asset against an undemocratic Internet. 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