Logically (company)

Last updated

TheLogically Ltd
Company type Private
Industry Fake news detection
Founded2017
FounderLyric Jain
Headquarters
UK
Number of locations
5
Number of employees
200 (2023)
Website logically.ai

Logically is a British multinational technology startup company that specializes in analyzing and fighting disinformation. [1] Logically was founded in 2017 by Lyric Jain and is based in Brighouse, England, [2] with offices in London, Mysore, Bangalore, and Virginia. [3]

Contents

History

Lyric Jain, who founded Logically in 2017, [4] said he was partly inspired by his grandmother's turn to misinformation before she died of pancreatic cancer. [5] [6] A WhatsApp group that spread misinformation led her to replace "her cancer medication in favour of unproven, alternative treatments." [5] He also witnessed the spread of misinformation in Britain around the time of the Brexit referendum. [6]

An MIT grant helped launch the company. [6] Logically first operated solely from Britain, employing 30 British residents by 2019. [7] In early 2019, the company expanded to India, recruiting 40 employees who perform most of the company's fact-checking. [7] In its 2019 seed round, Logically raised $7 million. [7] In 2020, it raised another €2.77 million, [8] including from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and XTX Ventures. [9] As of 2020, Logically had 100 employees. [10]

In July 2020, the International Fact-Checking Network certified Logically as a fact-checker. The certification was renewed in September 2021 and January 2023. [11]

In June 2023, The Daily Telegraph reported that Logically was paid more than £1.2 million by the UK government to analyse disinformation terms online alongside its partnership with Facebook. Such topics included narratives pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic, including "anti-lockdown" and "anti-COVID-19 vaccine sentiment". [12]

Operation

Logically says it uses artificial intelligence to initially filter claims, saying that they use "AI to run claims through a database of previously checked facts, and assign a score of how likely that claim is to be accurate, based on past claims and the credibility of its source". After this "matching process", human employees use their judgment to assess whether they believe claims to be true or false. [6]

In March 2021, Logically launched a service named Logically Intelligence (LI), which is aimed at helping governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to identify and counter online misinformation. The service collects data from thousands of websites and social media platforms, then analyses it using an algorithm to identify potentially dangerous content and organise it into narrative groups. [13]

From August 2020 to June 2022, Logically offered a browser extension to help users check the credibility of online articles and fact-check claims. [14] [15] [16]

Investigations

Logically helped The Guardian disprove claims by an English pastor that 5G technology was connected to vaccination tracking. [14] Logically is one of many companies hired by TikTok works to curtail disinformation on the social network. [17] [18] [19] The New Yorker noted its tracking of disinformation related to healthcare and the COVID-19 pandemic. [20]

In August 2021, researchers at Logically identified the prominent QAnon influencer GhostEzra as Robert Smart, an evangelical Christian from Florida. [21] [22] [23] GhostEzra was prominent for promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories [21] [22] and sharing the neo-Nazi propaganda film Europa: The Last Battle in QAnon communities. [24] [25]

The BBC has cited Logically's research in tracking the rise of pro-Russian accounts linking Ukraine to Nazi ideology following the 2022 Russian invasion of the country. [26]

In August 2023, the company reported on a Chinese disinformation campaign related to the discharge of radioactive water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. According to The New York Times, Chinese state media did not spread false information but did omit crucial details. [27] [28] [29]

Related Research Articles

Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. It differs from disinformation, which is deliberately deceptive and propagated information. Early definitions of misinformation focused on statements that were patently false, incorrect, or not factual. Therefore, a narrow definition of misinformation refers to the information's quality, whether inaccurate, incomplete, or false. However, recent studies define misinformation per deception rather than informational accuracy because misinformation can include falsehoods, selective truths, and half-truths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">QAnon</span> American conspiracy theory and political movement

QAnon is a far-right American political conspiracy theory and political movement which originated in 2017. QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals known as "Q". Those claims have been relayed and developed by online communities and influencers. Their core belief is that a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic child molesters are operating a global child sex trafficking ring which conspired against Donald Trump. QAnon has direct roots in Pizzagate, an Internet conspiracy theory that appeared one year earlier, but also incorporates elements of many other theories. QAnon has been described as a cult.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) is a British non-profit organisation with offices in London and Washington, D.C. that works to stop the spread of online hate speech and disinformation. It campaigns to deplatform people that it believes promote hate or misinformation, and campaigns to restrict media organisations such as The Daily Wire from advertising. CCDH is a member of the Stop Hate For Profit coalition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ByteDance</span> Chinese internet technology company

ByteDance Ltd. is a Chinese internet technology company headquartered in Beijing and incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TikTok</span> Chinese video-focused social media platform

TikTok, whose mainland Chinese counterpart is Douyin, is a short-form video hosting service owned by ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 3 seconds to 10 minutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 misinformation</span> False or misleading virus information

False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messaging, and mass media. False information has been propagated by celebrities, politicians, and other prominent public figures. Many countries have passed laws against "fake news", and thousands of people have been arrested for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. The spread of COVID-19 misinformation by governments has also been significant.

Plandemic is a trilogy of conspiracy theory films produced by Mikki Willis promoting misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. They feature Judy Mikovits, a discredited American researcher and prominent anti-vaccine activist. The first video, Plandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind Covid-19, was released on May 4, 2020, under Willis' production company Elevate Films. The second film, Plandemic Indoctornation, which includes more interviewees, was released on August 18 by Brian Rose's distributor of conspiracy theory related films, London Real. Later on June 3, 2023, Plandemic 3: The Great Awakening was released on The Highwire, a website devoted to conspiracy theories run by anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree.

Abbie Richards is a misinformation educator and environmental activist whose conspiracy theory charts went viral on Twitter in 2020 and 2021.

Algorithmic radicalization is the concept that recommender algorithms on popular social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook drive users toward progressively more extreme content over time, leading to them developing radicalized extremist political views. Algorithms record user interactions, from likes/dislikes to amount of time spent on posts, to generate endless media aimed to keep users engaged. Through echo chamber channels, the consumer is driven to be more polarized through preferences in media and self-confirmation.

Stewart Peters is an American alt-right internet personality, white nationalist, political commentator, Holocaust denier, and conspiracy theorist. He is known for promoting COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories, as well as anti-LGBTQ, antisemitic, and white supremacist beliefs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disinformation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine</span>

As part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian state and state-controlled media have spread disinformation in an information war. Much of the news about military propaganda during Russia's invasion of Ukraine focused on Russian disinformation. Ukrainian media and politicians have also been accused of using propaganda and deception, although such efforts have been compared to the Russian disinformation campaign as more limited. Both Russia and Ukraine exaggerate the losses they claim to have inflicted on each other.

This timeline includes entries on the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. This includes investigations into the origin of COVID-19, and the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 which is caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. Social media apps and platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, and YouTube, have contributed to the spread of misinformation. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) reported that conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 began on "day one". CAHN reported on March 16, 2020, that far-right groups in Canada were taking advantage of the climate of anxiety and fear surrounding COVID, to recycle variations of conspiracies from the 1990s, that people had shared over shortwave radio. COVID-19 disinformation is intentional and seeks to create uncertainty and confusion. But most of the misinformation is shared online unintentionally by enthusiastic participants who are politically active.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libs of TikTok</span> Far-right and anti-LGBT Twitter account

Libs of TikTok is a handle for various far-right and anti-LGBT social-media accounts operated by Chaya Raichik, a former real estate agent. Raichik uses the accounts to repost content created by left-wing and LGBT people on TikTok, and on other social-media platforms, often with hostile, mocking, or derogatory commentary. The accounts promote hate speech and transphobia, and spread false claims, especially relating to medical care of transgender children. The Twitter account, also known by the handle @LibsofTikTok, has over 2 million followers as of March 2023 and has become influential among American conservatives and the political right. Libs of TikTok's social-media accounts have received several temporary suspensions and a permanent suspension from TikTok.

<i>The Exposé</i> British conspiracist website

The Exposé is a British news page created in 2020 by Jonathan Allen-Walker. It is known for publishing COVID-19 and anti-vaccine misinformation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disclose.tv</span> German disinformation outlet

Disclose.tv is a disinformation outlet based in Germany that presents itself as a news aggregator. It is known for promoting conspiracy theories and fake news, including COVID-19 misinformation and anti-vaccine narratives.

<i>The Daily Sceptic</i> British blog

The Daily Sceptic is a blog created by British commentator Toby Young. It has published misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and climate change denial.

OpenVAERS is an American anti-vaccine website created in 2021 by Liz Willner. The website misrepresents data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) to promote misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

<i>Nya Dagbladet</i> Swedish far-right online news site

Nya Dagbladet is a Swedish online newspaper associated with the National Democrats, a defunct far-right political party in Sweden. It is known for promoting conspiracy theories, including Holocaust denial and white genocide, as well as anti-vaccine misinformation, alternative medicine and pro-Kremlin propaganda regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Europa: The Last Battle is a 2017 English-language Swedish ten-part neo-Nazi propaganda film directed, written and produced by Tobias Bratt, a Swedish far-right activist associated with the Nordic Resistance Movement, a European neo-Nazi movement. It promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories, including Holocaust denial, and has been promoted across multiple social media platforms.

Misinformation has been wide-ranging in the Israel–Hamas war, with the dissemination of false, misleading or unsubstantiated information on both sides in the conflict. Much of the content has been viral in nature, with tens of millions of posts in circulation on social media. A variety of sources, including government officials, media outlets, and social media influencers across different countries, have contributed to the spread of these inaccuracies.

References

  1. ↑ Cockerell, Isobel (25 March 2022). "British homegrown conspiracies get Beijing's stamp of approval". Coda Media . Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022. the U.K.-based anti-disinformation research organization Logically AI
  2. ↑ Spargo, Charlie (14 July 2021). "Yorkshire AI company to help fight disinformation on Facebook". Prolific North. Archived from the original on 14 July 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  3. ↑ "Contact Us". Logically. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  4. ↑ Marr, Bernard (25 January 2021). "Fake News Is Rampant, Here Is How Artificial Intelligence Can Help". Forbes . Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  5. 1 2 Noone, Greg (10 June 2021). "AI vs misinformation: Fighting lies with machines". Tech Monitor. Archived from the original on 11 June 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Kale, Sirin (14 August 2020). "This AI startup is tackling the coronavirus disinformation deluge". Wired . Archived from the original on 16 August 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 Khan, Mirza Mohammed Ali (15 August 2019). "Fact-checking platform Logically to raise $7 million in seed round". Business Line . Archived from the original on 15 August 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  8. ↑ Ohr, Thomas (13 July 2020). "Fake news detection startup Logically raises €2.77 million to prepare for US elections". EU-Startups. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  9. ↑ "Logically Raises £2.5m in Funding". FinSMEs. 13 July 2020. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  10. ↑ Billen, Andrew (28 November 2020). "Fake news, conspiracy theories, social media rumours – meet Lyric Jain, the man sifting fact from fiction". The Times . Archived from the original on 5 July 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  11. ↑ "Logically". International Fact-Checking Network. Archived from the original on 2 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  12. ↑ "The AI firm that conducted 'state surveillance' of your social media posts". The Telegraph. 3 June 2023. ISSN   0307-1235. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  13. ↑ Rodrigo, Chris Mills (1 March 2021). "Startup bets on artificial intelligence to counter misinformation". The Hill . Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  14. 1 2 Newman, Jared (3 August 2020). "This AI fact-checking startup is doing what Facebook and Twitter won't". Fast Company . Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  15. ↑ "Logically launch their fact checking Chrome Extension". Logically. 3 August 2020. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  16. ↑ "The Logically Browser Extension has been discontinued". Logically. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  17. ↑ Perez, Sarah (3 February 2021). "TikTok to flag and downrank 'unsubstantiated' claims fact checkers can't verify". TechCrunch . Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  18. ↑ Hern, Alex (4 February 2021). "TikTok to introduce warnings on content to help tackle misinformation". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  19. ↑ Hernandez, Gina (3 February 2021). "New prompts to help people consider before they share". TikTok Newsroom . Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  20. ↑ Russell, Anna (10 March 2021). "The Fight Against Vaccine Misinformation". The New Yorker . Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  21. 1 2 Rodrigo, Chris Mills (20 August 2021). "Researchers identify key QAnon influencer 'GhostEzra'". The Hill . Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  22. 1 2 "Antisemitic QAnon Leader Outed as Evangelical Floridian". Haaretz . 22 August 2021. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  23. ↑ Patterson, Dan (24 September 2021). "QAnon power vacuum on Telegram is being exploited by antisemitic extremists, ADL says". CBS News . Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  24. ↑ "QAnon's Antisemitism and What Comes Next". Anti-Defamation League . 17 September 2021. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023. By May 20, he was posting links to neo-Nazi propaganda film "Europa: the Last Battle" and to the Wikipedia page for "crypto-Judaism."
  25. ↑ Gilbert, David (26 May 2021). "QAnon's Antisemitism Is Finally Being Displayed in Full". Vice. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  26. ↑ Devlin, Kayleen; Robinson, Olga (23 February 2022). "Ukraine crisis: Is Russia waging an information war?". BBC News . Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  27. ↑ Rich, Motoko; Liu, John (31 August 2023). "China's Disinformation Fuels Anger Over Fukushima Water Release". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  28. ↑ "Fukushima: China's anger at Japan is fuelled by disinformation". BBC News . 2 September 2023. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  29. ↑ Davidson, Helen (4 September 2023). "State-backed disinformation fuelling anger in China over Fukushima water". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
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