Onyx Impact Launches Lab Combating Black Disinformation

One of the downsides of social media, which effectively gives everyone a platform, is that anyone can say anything without regard for the truth. Black communities are aggressively targeted by online disinformation, particularly when it comes to politics and health care. Onyx Impact has launched the Information Integrity lab to combat these harmful narratives. 

Axios reports that Onyx Impact wants to pair trusted influencers with Black-led journalists to combat the spread of misinformation. “Every day it gets harder and more expensive to access the truth — while the cost of spreading lies keeps getting cheaper,” said Esosa Osa, founder of Onyx Impact. “If our stories aren’t in the data, we get erased again — just digitally this time.”

Osa alludes to the fact that so many newspapers lock their stories behind a paywall these days. On one hand, I get it, because subscriptions help fund the critical work that journalists do. On the other hand, social media is completely free, and countless folks will simply read a headline, hop on Instagram or TikTok, and create their own narrative. 

“If we aren’t in the space and doing the work, we’re basically writing ourselves out of history,” Washington Informer publisher Denise Rolark Barnes told Axios. “Our audiences are moving fast — and if we don’t meet them there, we get left behind.”

As someone who has worked within both the influencer space and as a journalist, I do, to some degree, understand why we’re losing to disenformation. Journalists, like musicians, filmmakers, and any other skilled craft, have historically only had to focus on being really good at their craft. That’s changed with social media becoming the end-all be-all of how people receive information. It’s not enough to tell the truth or be good at your job; you have to be entertaining, or at the very least, sensational.

It’s much easier to do this on the far right because it doesn’t matter if what you’re saying is true; all that matters is if it gets clicks. The more incendiary and offensive a statement is, the more likely it is to go viral. Pair that with a recognizable aesthetic, and boom, you too can be America’s next top grifter. Who cares if your lies cause real-world harm when they’re getting you paid?

Onyx Impact released a 2024 report outlining how disinformation is spread to Black communities in digital spaces. Their report found that far-right influencers, particularly Black far-right influencers, spread the most misinformation to Black communities. One way this happens is through “gateway influencers.” These are people or platforms that have predominantly Black audiences that far-right Black influencers will use to spread their disinformation. 

This can be something like Candice Owens appearing on The Breakfast Club, or mainstream personalities using their platforms to spew misinformation. Think Stephen A. Smith being loud and wrong on both his podcast and network TV show, or Nick Cannon using his podcast to celebrate President Donald Trump, and giving a revisionist history of the Democratic Party. 

The widespread misinformation campaigns targeted at Black folks are a known issue that’s persisted for far too long. In the midst of the pandemic, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists found that Black people were disproportionately targeted for disinformation related to the pandemic. The Guardian reports that a separate study conducted by social media watchdog group Free Press also found that Black people are disproportionately targeted when it comes to disinformation relating to elections. 

Despite this issue being well known, there’s been very little done to address it. Big tech and the U.S. government clearly have a vested interest in manipulating Black people to vote against our best interests and buy into harmful narratives. I hope that the Information Integrity Lab is successful in stemming the tide of disenformation, especially as the attacks on our rights continue to mount. 

“Trust in Black news is what’s kept our communities informed and resilient,” Osa told Axios. “This is how we reclaim not just our stories — but our being.” 

SEE ALSO:

Election Disinformation Is A Problem For Voters

How Trump’s AI Use Fuels Disinformation And Political Hate

Onyx Impact Launches Lab Combating Black Disinformation was originally published on newsone.com