Media is Now a Security Concern

A new kind of crisis response is required

Fake news, misinformation, disinformation, malinformation, deepfakes, conspiracy theories, synthetic content, manipulated media, information disorder, spoofed brands, narrative attacks, liar’s dividend, infodemic — there’s no shortage of seemingly synonymous buzzwords circulating our feeds. While each is a separate risk with its own nuances, they all fall under the same problematic umbrella: threats against reliable information.

It’s not just a political concern, or even just a reputational risk. This is a financial, employee, and organizational security problem. Case in point, nearly nine out of ten executives see it as one of the most pressing risks to business. As malicious content becomes ubiquitous, communicators face a great transition. Media is now a security concern.

To help leaders better understand and mitigate the effects of information disorders, Weber Shandwick introduced a new Media Security Center today — a cross-disciplinary intelligence and issues organization informed by Blackbird AI’s threat-detection platform. By design, we’ve engaged experts both inside and outside the firm to understand the problem, use the latest analytical capabilities to see media in a different light, and accelerate new practices to build necessary resilience.

As part of the launch, we’ve curated foundational research and insight on media security practices in this Medium publication. This publication will be continuously updated with expert input from both inside and out of our industry. Experts like influence operations researcher Renee DiResta, Blackbird.AI’s Wasim Khaled, and MIT’s Center for Constructive Communications help frame issues of concern, alongside research from our team. The first wave of articles includes common vernacular, explanation of new risks, research needs, and media intelligence necessary to protect organizations. This continues our focus on investigating information threats in their various forms over the last several years (check out the progression here).

Companies and individuals face both expected and unexpected consequences of information disorder. The introduction of a new organizational model, built on collaborative learning and new skill-building, is an appropriate response to a different media environment we work in.

We look forward to convening expert voices on this topic as we adapt to new world disorder.

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