About
Science Feedback is a non-profit organization dedicated to verifying the accuracy of scientific content, especially in areas like climate science and health. Their goal is to foster an internet environment filled with reliable, scientifically vetted information by engaging experts to review and offer feedback on media pieces. Their reviews focus on objectivity, accuracy, and logic.
Challenge
In collaboration with 11 global organizations, Science Feedback contributed to a report on the Russian disinformation campaign, Doppelganger, which targeted platforms like X and Meta. They identified more than 1,366 tweets from the campaign in July 2024. In September 2024, they aimed to verify whether X had taken any action after the consortium reported these posts and accounts. Science Feedback partnered with The Bright Initiative, using Bright Data’s scraping tools to check the status of the accounts and determine if the posts were still online.
Impact
Science Feedback’s analysis revealed that 663 posts, along with associated accounts, remained active on X. This contradicts the platform’s community guidelines and its commitments under the Digital Services Act, which mandates responses to online harm. These findings underscore the urgent need for stronger enforcement of online platform regulations to prevent the spread of harmful disinformation.
Full report: Twitter/X fails to act on Doppelganger-related notices
