Disinformation in Perspective

Historian Heidi Tworek talks about her book, News From Germany, which deals with the malign influence campaigns that foretold Nazism. It’s a fascinating look at the battle to control news and information in an era of immense turmoil spanning the First World War, the Weimar Republic, and the Third Reich. One of Tworek’s core arguments is that the immense power of British, French, American and German news agencies is comparable with the power now wielded by Google Facebook and Twitter. Tworek also says mistakes made amid hysteria over information warfare in the first half of the 20th century hold valuable lessons for safeguarding democracy in the first half of the 21st. First, Tom and James discuss what Facebook, Google and Twitter say they are doing to curb interference in the run up to elections for a new European Parliament. Read the platforms’ self-assessments here. Please visit our website for episode art and for more about EU Scream. Richard Wagner’s “Liebestod” from Tristan und Isolde played by Ilaria Baldaccini is public domain. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. “Airside No. 9” is played by Lara Natale. Support the show