Who Wants to Know?
Chinese Independent Cinema After 2000: Censorship and Alternative Channel for Film Distribution
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mo Li
China implements a strict censorship regime and import quota schemes to promote Communist Party’s core values and to protect the domestic film industry. All films made in China need to go under careful reviewing processes to obtain a screening permit. Films that failed to pass the review would not be allowed to circulate in the market. Those measures could limit the viewership of independent films in traditional media, but not in alternative spaces such as underground film clubs, museums, and the Internet. This paper investigates how independent documentary films are produced, distributed, and consumed after 2000. Results show that documentary films rejected by the state have created an underground ecosystem without attempting to enter the official circuit. Self-censorship and unintentional intellectual property infringement are also discussed.
Misinformation on TikTok in Times of Crisis: Ten Features That Make TikTok Vulnerable to Misinformation
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jennifer Nilsen, Kaylee Fagan
In this focused discussion, we describe the aspects of TikTok that make the social media platform uniquely vulnerable to misinformation in times of crisis and change. We lead a discussion about how the platform’s oversights and defining features (such as “dueting,” “stitching,” the reuse of sounds, and the algorithm behind the “For You” page) are used and exploited to create and spread mis- and disinformation – sometimes inadvertently – while still operating within the bounds of the app’s terms of service. We zoom out to provide an overview of the app’s history, ownership, demographics, user cultures, and competitors to chronicle its transformation from a dancing app for teens to a misinformation machine. We then lay out basic research techniques for misinformation researchers, based on how the Technology and Social Change Project studies the platform, the lessons we have learned, and the methodologies we have developed. This research is based on our publication in the Media Manipulation Casebook, “Tiktok, the War on Ukraine, and 10 Features that Make the App Vulnerable to Misinformation.” We were interviewed by The New York Times, Fast Company, and ABC Australia about this report, and it has inspired product changes currently in the works at TikTok. We conclude by demonstrating how we applied these techniques in the past, and how they can be useful to audience members researching ongoing crises and politically contentious issues, such as the war on Ukraine, the pandemic, and new challenges to Roe v. Wade in the US.
Media Literacy in a Time of Information Illiteracy: Teaching Media Literacy to Underserved US Populations View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session David Raskin, Sindhu Zagoren
One dominant narrative of American partisanship today characterizes coastal metro areas as full of “liberal elites,” and rural and middle America as full of working class whites increasingly mistrustful of authorities such as government and media. At the Community College of Philadelphia, an open access institution serving the city with the highest poverty rate among the ten largest U.S. cities, we educate mostly low- and middle-income students of color, who are historically staunchly Democratic but also distrustful of authorities for very legitimate reasons. However, such distrust in institutions renders this population susceptible to various forms of misinformation and disinformation. This provides a unique set of circumstances for teaching media and information literacy, as most students don’t view the press as “the enemy of the people,” but also haven’t had the educational resources to develop strong critical thinking skills around media. In this discussion, we explore the differences between media literacy, news literacy, and information literacy in the current media environment. We also review some of the literature around teaching media literacy and the skills of navigating online misinformation, while analyzing the particular challenges of teaching media literacy to underserved urban populations, including obstacles caused by institutional changes in American higher education.
