Wikipedia has joined the ranks of online platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google to take steps to prevent disinformation on Election Day.
"When we talk about disinformation, what we mean is coordinated attempts to misinform the public, to get people to think about something that is incorrect or to get people to do something based on false information," Ryan Merkley, chief of staff at the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit behind the online encyclopedia, told Cheddar. "When we talk about misinformation, what we mostly mean is when those attempts are successful and well-meaning folks who actually believe that information spread it even further."
In order to combat both mis- and disinformation, the nonprofit has assembled a special task force of technical, legal, and communication staff to provide support to the thousands of unpaid volunteers who the site relies on to write and edit entries.
"The number one defense against disinformation is volunteers showing up every day editing those articles, over 50 million articles worldwide, 300-plus languages," Merkley said. "Every day volunteers root out bad information and make sure that what's there is reliably sourced and available to everybody."
Merkley stressed that this is nothing new for Wikipedia. After two decades of building its capacity for transparency and accountability, he's confident the site can weather the 2020 election.
That doesn't mean the nonprofit isn't pulling out the stops for this highly-anticipated and contentious presidential election. One precaution, for instance, includes limiting edits of the 2020 U.S. election page to volunteer accounts older than 30 days and that have at least 500 edits to their name
Merkley explained that Wikimedia feels a special responsibility to ensure accuracy, given how much of the internet is integrated with its vast information database.
"If you ask Alexa a question, it's often answering with information pulled straight from Wikipedia, or if you do a Google search, in the sidebar where you see other information, a lot of that is pulled straight from Wikipedia," he said. "So if it's wrong on our platform, it could be wrong everywhere, and we care very deeply about getting that right."
As for the possibility of disinformation coming from the highest levels of power, Merkley said it makes no difference to Wikipedia's approach.
"Mis- and disinformation can come from anywhere," he said. "The important thing is whether or not that source is verifiable, whether the facts are reliable facts. It's less about where it comes from and more about what is the impact that is intended from that information."
Inflation remains hot as the January PPI has increased by 1 percent, twice what analysts had been expecting with a jump of 9.7 over the year. Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist, for S&P Global Ratings, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rapid pace of inflation alongside higher wages, predicting the Federal Reserve will act quickly and forcefully this year. "They haven't changed their forecast, yet, that's gonna come out soon. But we expect that a March rate hike is basically pretty much baked in the cake," she said. "We think six rate hikes in total for 2022."
For black history month, Cheddar is highlighting black business leaders who are driving the need for representation forward. On February 10, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted an event called 'Developing the Black-Owned Business Ecosystem.' The virtual event was organized under the lobbying group's two initiatives -- the Equality of Opportunity Initiative, and the Coalition to Back Black Businesses. The event highlighted the developments needed to develop more black-owned businesses in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Wilbon, Dean of the School of Business at Howard University, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as a speaker at the event.
A newly declassified letter by senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich claimed the CIA. has been conducting a Secret Surveillance Program which has been collecting a bulk of data from American citizens. The letter which was written in April of 2021 urges the CIA to come clean about the kind of data it collects and how many Americans have been impacted. According to these two senators, the program did not have the safeguards of congressional oversight.
Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the situation between Russia and the Ukraine and elaborates on the impact higher oil prices stemming from the conflict would have on the market.
Last week, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a a letter airing concerns that the CIA is collecting the data of American citizens without their consent. The lawmakers fear that the program might be exploiting private data. Morgan Wright, the chief security advisor at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ramifications of the letter. "We don't have all the dots in one place to connect them," said Wright, cautioning against jumping to conclusions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that diplomacy is still possible, while U.S. officials warn that an attack on Ukraine is imminent. Cheddar News speaks with James Astill, Washington bureau chief of The Economist on the latest developments in Eastern Europe.
As the number of Russian troops rose to 130,000 along its Ukrainian border, hopes for a diplomatic solution remain among world leaders. Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis at Morning Consult, joined Cheddar News to break down the fluid situation. "We saw signs pointing towards an increase in tensions between Ukraine and Russia, whereas today we're seeing some signs that the Russian government may be willing to continue down a path of diplomatic negotiations to try and find some sort of non-military solution," he said.
Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are now planning to amend the stop trading on congressional knowledge act, otherwise known as the 'Stock' Act. This 2012 law governs how members disclose the purchase or sale of stocks and amending it would close a loophole, eliminating the trading of individual stocks by members of congress. Pelosi has consistently opposed a ban on stock trading by lawmakers and congressional staff...so what's changed? Kedric Payne, Vice President of Campaign Legal Center, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed for a controversial new version of the Alabama congressional map to remain in place. The lower court had previously ordered that the state must redraw that congressional map because it violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters. Redistricting expert Yurij Rudensky joins Cheddar News to weigh in.
