Blackbird.AI Releases New Report on Disinformation Around COVID-19 and Finds Evidence of Massive News And Commentary Manipulation

NEW YORK, March 25, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Blackbird.AI, the company that helps brands and governments understand the harmful content and propaganda impacting public opinion, damaging reputations, and harming democracies, announced today it has released their latest COVID-19 Disinformation Report.

The company has analyzed over 40 million tweets over the past two weeks through their proprietary software solution, integrating human intelligence, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. Blackbird.AI found that approximately 18M out of the 40M COVID-19 social media posts they studied were manipulated to push harmful narratives to the public. Blackbird's latest report can be downloaded on their website, http://www.blackbird.ai

"Disinformation around COVID-19 is far more pervasive than the public may realize. The impact is far-reaching – and in this current environment, has an incredibly harmful effect on the public's well-being," said Wasim Khaled, CEO and Co-Founder of Blackbird.AI. "The insights contained in our report demonstrate the massive impact disinformation has on our public discourse in an era of COVID-19 and other challenges."

Blackbird.AI's multidisciplinary approach analyzes a wide variety of discourses, including social media and news. Our team analyzes where that information falls on our proprietary "manipulation index". The report's top line findings focus on manipulation campaigns about the delegitimization of democratic leaders and the media, conspiracies about COVID-19 being a bioweapon, immigration xenophobia in Europe, and more.

The report, designed to help us understand the impact of disinformation on the COVID-19 crisis, demonstrates how the proactive identification of harmful narratives reduces the eventual impact they have on our lives and our livelihoods. The report makes it clear that disinformation -- whether from state-sponsored attacks or individual campaigns --must be detected early to prevent the damage it creates.

"We are facing asymmetrical information warfare being waged against the American public at possibly one of our most vulnerable moments in recent history. Our information ecosystem is susceptible to manipulation from threat actors, whether they aim to incite fear and panic, or to downplay cause for concern. During a pandemic disinformation, not unlike gasoline thrown on an already burning fire, can cause immeasurable harm and even loss of life. It's imperative that these campaigns are detected at scale, and mitigated before they can spiral out of control," said Khaled.

About Blackbird. AI

Blackbird is bringing Information Integrity to the digital media landscape. We help Journalists, Brands, Governments and the Public see the story behind the story for a more authentic information ecosystem. Blackbird.AI uses machine learning and interdisciplinary human intelligence to combat disinformation. Our proprietary AI-Driven SaaS platform is aimed at providing a more automated understanding of disinformation campaigns and harmful digital media. Our platform surfaces synthetic amplification from bots and trolls, delegitimization campaigns and meme-driven propaganda. Blackbird.AI provides real-time actionable insights for disinformation countermeasures to governments, Fortune 500/Global 1000 brands, and citizens. We help preserve brand integrity, trust, and regulatory compliance through cloud-based visual dashboards, systems-level integration and consulting services. Our team comes from a variety of backgrounds including technology, politics, journalism, government and academia in order to provide our leadership and technology teams with a 360 understanding of the disinformation space. For more information on Blackbird.ai please visit our website at http://www.blackbird.ai

About Blackbird. AI

Blackbird is bringing Information Integrity to the digital media landscape. We help Journalists, Brands, Governments and the Public see the story behind the story for a more authentic information ecosystem. Blackbird.AI uses machine learning and interdisciplinary human intelligence to combat disinformation. Our proprietary AI-Driven SaaS platform is aimed at providing a more automated understanding of disinformation campaigns and harmful digital media. Our platform surfaces synthetic amplification from bots and trolls, delegitimization campaigns and meme-driven propaganda. Blackbird.AI provides real-time actionable insights for disinformation countermeasures to governments, Fortune 500/Global 1000 brands, and citizens. We help preserve brand integrity, trust, and regulatory compliance through cloud-based visual dashboards, systems-level integration and consulting services. Our team comes from a variety of backgrounds including technology, politics, journalism, government and academia in order to provide our leadership and technology teams with a 360 understanding of the disinformation space. For more information on Blackbird.ai please visit our website at http://www.blackbird.ai

SOURCE Blackbird.ai