By Katalina Siasau

Tongan media representatives held discussions around the impacts of disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation faced by Pacific Island communities, at a workshop hosted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and Royal Oceania Institute (ROI) today, 8 May, at Tanoa Hotel, in Nuku'alofa.

ASPI Senior Analyst, Blake Johnson led a discussion around the terminology: “disinformation”, “misinformation”, and “malinformation”.

Disinformation refers to false information that is intended to manipulate, cause damage to, or mislead consumers. Disinformation can be used to incite violence, divide populations; amplifying institutional mistrust; distract from other issues; finance extremism and criminality.

Misinformation refers to false information that is spread without intend to mislead or cause harm. 

Malinformation refers to information that stems from truth but is exaggerated or decontextualised in a way that mislead or cause harm.

The discussion also touched upon the "attention economy", which demands human focus, regardless of the authenticity of information, a common problem nowadays.

Cases of global disinformation were also discussed, including the disinformation regarding the origin of Covid-19 and vaccination technology, disinformation generating conflict within and between countries, disinformation targeting cryptocurrency and other financial scams, and disinformation disputing the origins and validity of climate science.

There were cases where the Tongan community had been scammed by illegal ponzi or pyramid schemes, spread through social media and advertising.

Artificial Intelligence and Disinformation

Blake said that scams and disinformation may be generated by fraudsters using Artifical Intelligence (AI). This a growing concern worldwide and has also reached the Pacific Islands. It can help disinformation spreaders use a variety of tactics to achieve their objectives much faster and with more effectiveness.

Investigators, analysts and policy makers need to be aware of AI’s users and potential, in order to protect against its possible malign influence.

The ‘ASPI-ROI Pacific Islands misinformation and disinformation workshops’ are a new collaborative step forward, building on similar workshops that have previously been held in Tonga, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands. They are designed to enhance the participants’ understanding of false information online, including how to identify the tactics and techniques used to help misinformation and disinformation spread.