NEWS: OpenAI’s Rules Can Be ‘Easily’ Dodged To Target Latinos, Study Warns, by Cristiano Lima-Strong, published in The Washington Post (Available Here)

A new report from our team at the Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas (DDIA) reveals that OpenAI's safeguards intended to prevent misuse of its AI tools like ChatGPT can be circumvented to target Latino communities. As covered by The Washington Post's Cristiano Lima-Strong, DDIA's experiments successfully bypassed OpenAI's policies prohibiting the creation of chatbots for political campaigning or the generation of misleading imagery. "For us, it showed that the tool can't detect the nuance, so even though the terms are in place, this tool can very much be used to make strong political statements," said DDIA's executive director, Roberta Braga, raising concerns over potential disinformation targeting Latino voters ahead of the 2024 elections.

NEWS: New Group Joins the Political Fight Over Disinformation Online, by Steven Lee Myers and Jim Rutenberg, published in The New York Times (Available Here)

A new nonprofit called the American Sunlight Project has entered the increasingly contentious battle over disinformation research and online misinformation. As covered by The New York Times, the group led by Nina Jankowicz intends to counter what they view as a coordinated campaign by conservatives aimed at undermining disinformation researchers and their work. In an inaugural letter accusing Republican House chairs of abusing subpoena powers to silence think tanks exposing disinformation sources, Jankowicz stated, “These tactics echo the dark days of McCarthyism, but with a frightening 21st-century twist."

NEWS: Aaron Sorkin To Write Film About January 6 And Facebook Disinformation, by Benjamin Lee, published in The Guardian (Available Here)
Award-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is set to tackle the January 6th insurrection and Facebook's role in a new film project. As reported by The Guardian's Benjamin Lee, Sorkin stated, "I blame Facebook for January 6" due to the platform promoting "the most divisive material possible" through its algorithm to increase engagement. He plans to examine how this disinformation helped radicalize Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol. Sorkin, who won an Oscar for his Facebook origin story, The Social Network, directly criticized CEO Mark Zuckerberg for prioritizing growth over integrity on the platform.