[sdoering]

Regardless of the current iteration. Regardless of this specific tech capability and how it is currently used in this specific country I am asking myself how a society can protect itself against this.

If topics are manufactured and outrage is being artificially generated in that fashion classic media will probably jump onto the bandwagon because doing so will increase advertising clicks and views. It will increase revenue for said media outlets. Also social networks have every incentive to not quell these things as they drive engagement and with that advertising revenues. The same for video platforms. Basically (nearly) any ad driven revenue stream will want to participate. Thos will be adding fuel to the fire and just increase the reach of the fabricated stories as well as the outrage and the accompanying division of societies. Creating measures to effectively quell such things on the other hand will (nearly) inevitably create measures of mass censorship that once implemented will one day be abused because I have yet to see an example of humans not using any weapon/means to further their agenda.

So the question remains what societies, as well as everybody for themselves, can do to protect themselves against these forms of manipulations.

I have to admit that I do not have a good idea what could work. And what the side effects of doing something (as well as not doing something) could be.

[w_t_payne]

It's worth noting that our society has been struggling against malicious forms of political discourse for millennia.

Much progress against malicious political discourse has been made by philosophical and cultural innovations that aim to influence the behaviours of politically empowered elites, and to develop systematic approaches to 'fairness' in decision making (logicism, empiricism) as well as systems of political and personal ethics/morality (Stoicism, Utilitarianism etc..).

Today, these same values need to have a broader base within our society; most urgently within those communities who are most influential in driving technological change, but also within the wider community of those who are funding and using these technologies that have proven so effective at industrializing harmful political discourse.