SOUPS 2023 - Fight Fire with Fire: Hacktivists' Take on Social Media Misinformation

SOUPS 2023 - Fight Fire with Fire: Hacktivists' Take on Social Media Misinformation

Filipo Sharevski and Benjamin Kessell, DePaul University

In this study, we interviewed 22 prominent hacktivists to learn their take on the increased proliferation of misinformation on social media. We found that none of them welcomes the nefarious appropriation of trolling and memes for the purpose of political (counter)argumentation and dissemination of propaganda. True to the original hacker ethos, misinformation is seen as a threat to the democratic …

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