Disinformation

“Go Woke, Go Broke” Throws Rip Curl Overboard

At the end of January, Rip Curl stirred waves when it released a new campaign that featured transgender surfer Sasha Lowerson. While the more liberal followers praised Rip Curl for their diversity, representation and inclusivity, others criticized the brand for “not supporting real women”. Not unlike... See more

Fox Corp must face Smartmatic $2.7 billion defamation claim

By Jonathan Stempel

January 10, 202510:02 AM GMT+11Updated 7 days ago

A view of the signage outside the News Corporation building, after it was announced that Rupert Murdoch would step down as chairman of News Corp and Fox in favour of his son Lachlan Murdoch, in New York, U.S., September... See more

A study released Sunday by The Global Disinformation Index, a UK nonprofit that rates sites’ trustworthiness, found that 70% of roughly 1,700 disinformation sites it analyzed were getting so-called “programmatic ads” — ads placed automatically — from Google, putting brand names such as Audi and Sprint next to junk content.

eventy-five percent of companies report being exposed to brand safety issues, but only 26% have taken some kind of action, and 15% haven’t adjusted their strategies at all, according to research by GumGum and Custom. Another study by Sizmek found that four in 10 brands report delivering ads on unsafe websites, but 64% find it tough to implement an... See more

Digital ads are a $330-billion global business, according to estimates by the research firm eMarketer, and one that’s increasingly dominated by a few major players like Google and Facebook. Google plays a dual role in it both as one of the biggest sellers of online ads on the planet, and also the biggest tech company placing online ads on... See more

Digital marketing and disinformation

Digital marketing is a commercial practice by which firms create value over the internet. It includes search optimisation, content marketing, influencers, pay-per-click adverts, affiliate programs, and ordinary advertising. Brands hire digital marketing agencies and firms known as ad tech, which operate the... See more

Democratic governance of digital platforms

Most brands do not want to be associated with hate speech and bot farms, but they are. It is easy to look the other way in such a technically complicated market, but marketers have a responsibility. Brands become complicit by remaining silent.

Policymakers and activists are pushing to reform digital... See more