Weekly Roundup 11/1/17

Welcome back to our weekly roundup! As the global discourse on misinformation continues to swell, Italy has adopted a fresh approach in the fight against false news. Indeed, the proliferation of false news has been an ongoing concern in Italy, particularly in relation to the upcoming parliamentary elections in May 2018.

As part of an initiative led by the Italian government--and in partnership with digital companies, like Facebook--approximately 8,000 Italian seconday schools will now offer a course on recognizing false news and conspiracy theories. From teaching students to recognize parody URLs to encouraging them to contact experts to verify stories, the curriculum hopes to curb misinformation campaigns and could perhaps serve as a pilot program for other countries in Europe and around the world.

You can join the conversation on disinformation on November 2nd at the 2017 NDI Democracy Dinner, Disinformation vs. Democracy: Fighting for Facts. Watch a livestream of the event here.

In other news:

Artificial Intelligence

• AI fundamentally breaks CAPTCHA
• AI learns to pick out voices from a crowd

Civic Tech

• A revolutionary, post-hurricane power grid in Puerto Rico
• LA Metro looks to launch a new kind of transit

Cyber Security

• “Bad Rabbit” affects Russia and Ukraine
• Google’s new Advanced Protection Program uses physical keys for extra security

Disinformation

• Twitter outlines new center to increase ad transparency
• Facebook implements more transparency in political ads