From Bad to Worse: Using Private Data to Propagate Disinformation on Online Platforms with a Greater Efficiency

TL;DR

This paper proposes a planned experiment to examine how private personal data can be exploited to target individuals with disinformation, potentially increasing the efficiency of disinformation spread on online platforms.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental framework to study the use of private data for targeted disinformation dissemination, highlighting potential risks and policy implications.

Findings

Potential for increased disinformation spread efficiency

Risks associated with private data exploitation

Implications for online platform policies

Abstract

We outline a planned experiment to investigate if personal data (e.g., demographics and behavioral patterns) can be used to selectively expose individuals to disinformation such that an adversary can spread disinformation more efficiently compared to broadcasting the same information to everyone. This mechanism, if effective, will have devastating consequences as modern technologies collect and infer a plethora of private data that can be abused to target with disinformation. We believe this research will inform designing policies and regulations for online platforms.