Journalists and civil society are increasingly being silenced by accusations of copyright infringement, says senior researcher Alberto Fittarelli in a report by the OCCRP.
Unlike bot comments, falsely reporting videos for copyright infringement is “virtually invisible,” and leaves the burden of proof on victims to challenge accusations.
These attacks represent a “global threat to civil society,” says Fittarelli.
“With review systems geared towards accepting a claim based on superficial evidence, it is almost trivial for bad actors to set up and backdate websites so as to claim ownership of a certain content, and to throw the burden of evidence on their victims,” he says.