The past two years have seen an upswing in the number of entities trying to prevent disinformation online, said Rob Faris, research director at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center, which studies cyber-related issues.
“The 2016 election was a watershed moment,” for that industry’s growth, Faris said. In addition to New Knowledge and a New York-based tech firm named Graphika, this effort has been led by institutions such as Stanford’s Project on Democracy and the Internet, or think tanks such as the Atlantic Council.
“The trend seems pretty clear,” Faris said. “Vulnerabilities in media ecosystems help (spread) disinformation.”