Communicators Need an Arsenal of Tools to Combat Disinformation
By Asiya Bakht for PRovoke Media
As disinformation becomes rampant, communicators and brands need an arsenal of tools to combat it effectively. These could range from social listening tools to media intelligence tools that aid in identifying emerging threats and, at times, even mitigating them, helping you to stay prepared.
This was view of the panelists participating in a session titled ‘The War Against Weaponised Information’ sponsored by BCW at PRovoke Media’s Asia-Pacific Summit earlier this week. Moderated by PRovoke’s Arun Sudhaman, the session featured BCW Asia-Pacific chief digital officer Joe Peng, QI Group chief communications officer Ramya Chandrasekaran, and Jeffrey Lim, director at Joyce A. Tan & Partners.
To address disinformation, BCW has implemented a model that utilises cognitive AI, a technology that mimics human thinking processes.
Peng emphasized the value of this approach, stating: “Given the limitations of manpower and time for PR and communication professionals like us, it’s a valuable tool to assist us in efficiently processing vast amounts of data. This is one of our experimental initiatives aimed at harnessing AI’s power to enhance our marketing efforts, particularly in our region. It also plays a crucial role in safeguarding our brands against potential data breaches and other risk mitigation measures.”
He compares the process of combating disinformation to working with clients on crisis management where it is important to develop a solid platform for communication and making it a reliable source for our audience.
Chandrasekaran concurred with this perspective and stressed the significance of strong brand assets, especially in the realm of social media, when addressing these concerns.
“I will give you an example. The company that I work for has multiple businesses, and one of them is in the area of direct selling. Now, those of you who are familiar with it, it’s a very controversial industry, and there’s a lot of disinformation that exists about it. One of the things that we had to do was to set up a dedicated direct selling disinformation section, because it’s a very complex topic. We kind of broke it down through FAQs about the difference between direct selling and pyramid schemes. We then focused on search engine optimization to ensure that this content ranked highly in search results when people looked for information related to our company, brand, or industry. This strategic approach allows you to bolster and reinforce your brand assets, effectively countering the prevalent misinformation.”
While managing disinformation threats through communication strategies and solutions is important, legal mechanisms can play an key role too.
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