Unlock Editor's Digest without spending a dime
Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories on this weekly newsletter.
It has at all times been difficult for big corporations to administer the results of internal missteps, from botched responses to political crises to executive misconduct. But protecting a great repute is becoming increasingly difficult.
It was difficult enough when corporate crises were more closely tied to real events or decisions. Today, falsehoods and disinformation can derail businesses as online fakes can change and proliferate faster than ever before. The use of artificial intelligence to more easily produce false material reminiscent of deepfake videos has only increased the risks.
Governments have long complained that disinformation undermines elections, fuels unrest and deepens social divisions. Companies are actually also within the crosshairs. “In recent years, disinformation has increased and is now spreading like knotweed,” said Julian Payne, global chair of crisis and risk at consulting firm Edelman.
Arla Foods, the owner of the UK's largest dairy cooperative, has learned the hard way. After the recent announcement of a trial of a feed additive intended to scale back methane emissions from dairy cows, some customers urged a boycott of dairy products. A social media storm followed with baseless and bizarre claims that the additive was a part of a conspiracy to depopulate the world by creating fertility problems, and conspiracy theories linking the additive to Bill Gates. British regulators have approved the additive Bovaer as protected, while the manufacturer blames “untruths and misinformation” for the furore.
In one other case just a few years ago it was the US retailer Wayfair The aim of a campaign is He made completely false claims that children who were a part of a toddler trafficking ring were hidden in his closets “listed with girls' names.”
This was the results of a survey by Edelman of just about 400 top communications and marketing executives eight out of 10 are concerned in regards to the impact of disinformation on their business. Less than half feel prepared to handle these risks.
And it’s not only outright disinformation – the deliberate spread of falsehoods to deceive. Companies also must be alert to misinformation that happens unintentionally and to misinformation that exaggerates truths or alters their context to cause harm. Threats can take many forms – fabricated messages, fake social media accounts, and pretend text, audio, or video content. Online superspreaders, often powered by AI, are amplifying these attacks and causing disinformation to ricochet unpredictably. Finally, Lies spread faster than the reality.
Boycotts can have a negative impact on funds, however the damage to repute is just as great. Employee safety can also be a difficulty. In 2020, unfounded 5G conspiracies linking the brand new mobile technology to health risks led to attacks on telecommunications engineers working for BT's Openreach within the UK.
While hateful web warriors are nothing latest, the speed at which generative AI today creates each fake news and the accounts behind it means corporations “need to extend their defense capabilities,” Payne said. He added that corporations had gone from a day of “getting their geese in a row” all the way down to 4 hours. “Then it’s like shooting a water pistol right into a raging inferno.”
Boardrooms look like slow to embrace disinformation as a priority, just as they’ve done with cybersecurity. “We are seeing the same trend,” said an executive who helps corporations pursue such campaigns. Top ranks “often don’t have any connection to the polarizing dynamics of digital world conversations.”
So what should an organization do? Bosses should consider whether their policies on geopolitics, climate change or other issues make them potential targets. Identifying so-called “tripwires” and testing crisis responses can reveal vulnerabilities.
Instinctively, it is smart to quickly spread falsehoods after an attack, but this will amplify the fabricated message and produce it to the general public from unknown corners of the web.
Mapping and tracking sources of disinformation must turn into a strategic imperative, said Jack Stubbs, chief intelligence officer at Graphika, which focuses on understanding online communities. “Their operating environment is that this online information space,” he said.
It is equally necessary to construct credibility prematurely. If executives have repeatedly lied to shareholders or the general public, it will only undermine any crisis response. The hope is that consistent transparency will increase the likelihood that they will likely be believed when it matters most. In a digital world where false narratives are spreading faster than ever, corporations can not depend on outdated instructions.
