Stefan Mileschin

Fighting misinformation

Red-panda themed browser maker Mozilla is launching its Firefox EU Elections Toolkit – designed to explain the mechanisms such as tracking, targeting and bots in easy-to-understand language, with helpful tools to make independent, informed decisions.

The ‘Firefox EU Elections Toolkit’ is a website where users can find out how tracking and opaque online advertising influence their voting behaviour and how they can easily protect themselves – through browser add-ons and other tools. Additionally, disinformation and the voting process are well represented on the site. The toolkit is now available online in English, German and French. No previous technical or policy-related knowledge is required. Among other things, the toolkit contains: The toolkit also includes:

• Background information on how tracking, opaque election advertising and other questionable online activities affect people on the web, including short, easy-to-digest video.
• Selected information about the EU elections as well as the EU as an institution – only using a ta trustworthy source
• Browser extensions checked on and recommended by Firefox, that supports independent research and opinion making

A spokesmozilla said that Facebook has made its Ad Archive API available to support the fight against misinformation but the API doesn't even meet the minimum criteria to ensure transparency and prevent modern, technical forms of online manipulation.

Online manipulation of voter views is a growing problem and many of those voters are essentially defenceless against absorbing disinformation and misleading ideas disguised as ‘facts’.

https://fudzilla.com/news/48641-fire...ctions-toolkit