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The Weaponization of Cloud-based Social Media: Prospects for Legislation and Regulation

Authors:
Barry Cartwright
George Weir
Lutfun Nahar
Karmvir Padda
Richard Frank

Keywords: Cloud-based social media; disinformation warfare; “fake news”; legislation

Abstract:
The 2016 U.S. Presidential election and the 2016 U.K. Brexit referendum are notable for the contemporaneous efforts by Russian-based trolls to manipulate public opinion through Cloud-based social media. Such disinformation warfare raises serious concerns about the risk of negatively influencing democratic processes, as well as the need for viable defensive measures. Responses are required in terms of technical means to detect and counter such “fake news,” as well as legal proscriptions that can serve to control such threatening activities. The present paper addresses this disinformation warfare scenario, describes our current research and technical work in this area, and reviews legal precedents that shed light on the complexities and pitfalls that legislators and regulators encounter when seeking to remediate the threat.

Pages: 7 to 12

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2019

Publication date: May 5, 2019

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4294

ISBN: 978-1-61208-703-0

Location: Venice, Italy

Dates: from May 5, 2019 to May 9, 2019