Researchers from the University of Oxford concluded that in 2018 the number of countries faking content more than doubled compared to 2017, Euronews reports.
According to Reuters, Facebook remains the most popular platform for unscrupulous information campaigns. It is used in 56 countries to spread propaganda.
“Many authoritarian regimes began to use social networks. In 26 countries, Internet propaganda is used as an information control tool to achieve three main goals: suppressing fundamental human rights, discrediting political opponents and suppressing other, opposing opinions,” the report says.
The list of countries where fake information is circulated includes Uzbekistan. The report says that in Uzbekistan, fake information is disseminated by real people, not various bots. However, it is not known exactly how many “troll factories” operate in the country. Reportedly, in neighboring Tajikistan, about 400 people are working on spreading fake news.
Reporters say that in Uzbekistan, fake news is mainly disseminated by civilians, not political parties or politicians.
In addition, in Uzbekistan, active users of the Facebook social network often complain that in groups such as “Dialogue with the People”, “Tashkent – Demolition” and others, a whole troll factory distributes fake information. Despite the real problems and facts, fake accounts try to distract the attention of the people from real economic and social problems by any method. They try to make people think in the direction they need.
Earlier, it was also reported that a troll factory was detected at Tashkent University of Information Technologies.
