15 Billion. Meta made 15 billion dollars through fraudulent ads and scams, and this is just from "ads for scams and banned goods." To date, no one knows how much money they make from Ad Fraud, which includes bots clicking on ads that humans do not see. www.reuters.com/investigatio...

Thanks for preventing brain drain in the Global South, I guess. However, it is fascinating to see the US doing a speed-run to reduce its global dominance. If you were to dismantle the US soft power fast, you could do precisely this (plus ICE and tariffs). www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

I am delighted to find that my paper is the "most read" at the Journal of Marketing Management. "Disinformation and fake news as externalities of digital advertising: a close reading of sociotechnical imaginaries in programmatic advertising" by Carlos Diaz Ruiz. It is Open Access, so go ahead!

Did you know that Google removed its entire ad library of political advertising from 27 countries (7 years), just so that it would not need to comply with the European Union's regulation on transparency of political advertising? www.404media.co/google-ad-tr...

#CallsForPapers Special Issue on "The Disinformation Economy: Digital Markets of Influence, Conflict and Polarization." @jmmnews.bsky.social Guest Editors: Carlos Diaz Ruiz, Sofia Ulver, & James Pamment. #disinformation #fakenews #misinformation #adtech www.jmmnews.com/disinformati...

Nobel Peace Prize 2025: Maria Corina Machado "Democracy is a precondition for lasting peace. However, we live in a world where democracy is in retreat, where more and more authoritarian regimes are challenging norms and resorting to violence." www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace...

Your ads are funding this. Dear marketers and advertisers, every time you use your budgets to Google, Meta, TikTok, et al., you do not know and cannot know if your ads are funding this horrific content. It is not just TikTok. See below www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

When I was a child, I was torn between becoming a pirate or a protector of wildlife. Pirates had ships, but animal protectors had Jane Goodall. I learned about her work after watching "Gorillas in the Mist," which blew my mind. Today, I learned that the legend Jane Goodall passed away. RIP

Authoritarianism is boring. My American friends believe that dictatorships are dramatic with public executions and whatnot. Unlike the movies, dictatorships are unexciting. Life goes on: people get groceries and struggle with bills, as usual. Losing agency in your own society is mostly boring.

They claim that non-human objects have agency (when convenient). ✔️Vaccines cause autism ✔️Tylenol causes damage to pregnant women ✔️Video games radicalize children But do guns harm people and cause mass shootings? ❌ No, of course not, silly. People kill people; guns are objects and cannot act.

The weather may be grey and the food bland, but being an academic in the Nordic countries is an immense privilege. This is a statement of Nordic universities on academic freedom, to which I wholeheartedly subscribe. www.hanken.fi/en/news/nord...

A breath of fresh air. The Finnish President, Alexander Stubb, delivered a significant speech at the UN on how small countries can have agency and power in a multipolar world. Principles should come first; otherwise, pursuing interests without values will lead to war. youtu.be/NLzUhjf7XQU?...

Paying for posts on Facebook and TikTok, sharing disinformation, manufacturing polls, preparing for question election integrity. The Moldova elections on September 28 are targeted for interference. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Truth discernment may not help to overcome misinformation (climate change) …unfortunately just because people can tell truth from lies doesn’t mean they act on it www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I had the honor of speaking at a security conference about social resilience to disinformation. It explored the dynamics of social media echo chambers, their polarizing effects, and their monetization through digital advertising. The event was hosted by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

In Singapore, presenting at the CENS Workshop on “Addressing the Complexities of Hybrid Threats: Safeguarding Against Evolving Risks and Building Sustainable Resilience” organized by RSIS at Nanyang Technological University. The topic: social media echo chambers rsis.edu.sg/event/cens-w...

Do you want to strengthen social resilience against the spread of disinformation online? We have the most incredible gig: a 4-year postdoctoral research position focusing on topics like digital literacy, fact-checking, and hybrid threats. Apply! (also repost) hanken.rekrytointi.com/paikat/index...

I will be presenting my award-winning paper on "Disinformation and Echo Chambers," recipient of the 2025 Kinnear/JPPM award, during a virtual session at the American Marketing Academy (AMA). If you are attending, join me on August 18, 10 am US-CT, Virtual Room 5. whova.com/portal/webap...

Read my blog post on the disinformation economy. It argues that disinformation, fake news, and conspiracy theories are amplified due to market incentives and business practices, particularly within digital advertising ecosystems. It It is published by @edmo-eu.bsky.social. edmo.eu/blog/what-is...

One of the problems of using the term "conspiracy theory" to ridicule Internet nonsense is that conspiracies do exist. People in power can agree with each other to commit or cover up illegal acts to remain in power. Like, I do not know, the Epstein files.

We must be very careful when passing counter-disinformation legislation so that it protects democratic freedoms. The autocrats of the world have used anti-disinformation laws to steamroll opposition and dissent to preserve their power.

The discussions about big platforms are intense. The systemic risks are real. Now the #DSA Delegated Act is finally here to ensure data access for researchers. Time to put this system to work. W @lkseiling.bsky.social, we show how @techpolicypress.bsky.social www.techpolicy.press/time-to-deli...

Open Access Article: On mapping a marketing monstrosity: Barbie, Barbara and the reorientation of literary criticism, by Rachel Ashman, Stephen Brown & Anthony Patterson www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Back from all the conferences, now it is time to put the phone away and create beautiful memories the the people who matter the most.

Back from London! I had a blast attending the Consumer Culture Theory Conference where I presented my work on social media echo chambers, which argues for a conceptual framework that actually represents the phenomenon we experience online. #CCT2025 #consumerculture

As a researcher interested in the amplification of disinformation on social media, I experience a paradox: I am both excited about all the research possibilities and terrified that they are so clearly evident.

I am privileged to announce the publication of the Anti-Autocracy Handbook: sks.to/autocracy 1/12

I am in Stockholm at the IMSW. I am so excited to listen to the great scholars examining how markets really work. I will present my work about the reconfiguration of the economic dependencies of European fact checkers after Meta announced ending its third-party fact-checking agreement in the US.

“The world needs more angry women” -Greta A bunch of angry men brought us here. Will angry women do better? Historically, angry women (like the suffragettes) gave us political representation and labour protections. Now they fight for human rights and climate justice. I think she is right.

Back in the day, 10 years ago, when the Internet was still fun, people used to debate whether the dress was white/gold or blue/black. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en...

Misdirection is a form of disinformation. How to stop talking about Trump's crypto corruption and Musk´s accusations? Create another scandal. And the media falls for it every single time.

The soap opera is very entertaining, but the grim reality is this: Just as European security currently depends on the whims of one billionaire, American security depends on the whims of another billionaire (spaceX & starlink). I don’t know, Maybe we should not give billionaires this much power.

Liberals will never understand that this is how alpha males assert dominance. They are more like Magma Boys: melting down, yes, but on top of each other. Of course, in a totally straight way. - A manfluencer in a manosphere podcast, probably

Well yes, they are rage-filled drug-addict and corrupt, but at least they are not women; everyone knows women are too emotional. -someone in Ohio, probably.

This post should be read by every high school student who learns about the world via AI. It also should scare every professional who trusts AI with their credibility. LLMs are designed to be sycophantic; they don't have to. via @guinz.bsky.social amandaguinzburg.substack.com/p/diabolus-e...

New blog post by Hanken's Associate Professor @carlosdiazruiz.com: "Once viewed as political propaganda or military deception, disinformation has become a lucrative industrial complex." #HankenResearch #Disinformation blogs.hanken.fi/research/202...

Hello @altmetric.com. You have a form to add missing mentions, but the form does not have a section for policy documents. SAGE does a great job at tracing policy docs policyprofiles.sagepub.com The score with my papers is 9 to 1. Sage found 9 mentions and altmetric found just 1.

No, you do not understand. Government overreach is what the other guys do. We want to control science because we worry about ideology. (-RFK, probably) www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

No problem. Better come to study and do research in European Universities, where we actually live our democratic values, including freedom of expression. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/u...

I published a short column explaining what the disinformation economy is and the role of advertising technologies (AdTech) in funding it. You can find it in the Hanken yearly magazine, published by @hankenofficial.bsky.social issuu.com/hanken/docs/...

The author of this piece, Ellie Avishai, eloquently writes about how shocking it was for her to realize that the "Leopards Eating People's Faces Party" would actually eat her face. She could never have seen this coming, ever. quillette.com/2025/05/16/i...

I know I am preaching to the choir in BlueSky, but maybe watch this and distribute it to your friends and colleagues in the US. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXR9...

Pro Tip: If your favourite definition of political corruption does not fit reality, maybe read wider. Political corruption is the misuse of public authority to extract rents for personal purposes and also to maintain political power in a regime (Amundsen, 2019, p.1). doi.org/10.4337/9781...

On other news, AI-hype, so far, remains hype. fortune.com/2025/05/09/k...

If 98-years-old Ken can stand against fascism, you can too.

The headlines from @theonion.com are becoming super realistic! www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/u...

If you live in the BlueSky bubble and think that Trump voters are either stupid or dupes, you should listen to Mark Blyth via @adamconover.net It is very insightful, plus you get to roll the 'rrr-s' with a wonderful Scottish accent. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iScV...

Do you conduct research on disinformation, extremism, fact checking, tech accountability, DEI, and/or gender issues? You must understand that your research can be a target, not just from individuals, but also states. Check this publication.

Liberal democracies sometimes work as intended. And when they do, they send unequivocal signals… www.politico.eu/article/pier...

You know what? This is precisely the type of content that made me respect American journalism back in the day. I often disagreed with their positions, but I could never deny that they were fiercely independent. We must regain credibility in journalism.