A War Of Disinformation
Image Source: NATO
For one reason or another, I was unable to blog on my birthday or the day after... But I missed Web 3.0 and it felt weird not putting anything out for the last 48 hours, glad to be back here!
Well the world is in complete chaos financially and diplomatically. One thing that has been happening for a while, but is something that shocks me is the amount of confusion that can be created by impersonating or hacking a social figure/collective online.
Today, I was reading up on how numerous groups in Ukraine are asking for cryptocurrency donations as the banking system has been affected by the war and it is becoming increasingly difficult to access funds in the country. As a result, there are tons of donations flooding into the nation in the form of BTC, ETH and other cryptocurrencies. One important thing to remember is that cryptocurrency addresses don't have a name linked to them and that means that you need to be certain of where you are sending funds before actually triggering your transactions (no trusted third party in a basic transaction).
There have been reports that there have been some accounts asking for donations that were being run by hackers or other entities that would not be sending the money to the desired end location. Vitalik just tweeted about this today:
The account that he is referencing is this one:
I'm seeing more tweets that are saying that the account has been verified to be the real addresses, but honestly how can we tell? Maybe those accounts were hacked as well. A blue checkmark is not guaranteeing credibility like they were meant to.
The worst part about this is that if those accounts are indeed the real donation accounts for the Ukranian government, then they are missing out on millions of dollars of aid due to fear that it might be going to the wrong place.
War with weapons is obviously more threatening to physical lives, but this is the first time in modern history where you can get an endless feedback loop of disinformation and have no way of confidently deciphering what is real and what is not. Propaganda or disinformation has been used throughout history, but this time around it feels more dangerous as a guy in his basement in Minnesota could have the same reach as the government of an entire nation. It's honestly terrifying.
If there is a verifiable way that blockchain could solve this war of disinformation, I think it would be the most useful invention of the modern era.
Technology has provided us with a dual-edged sword for connecting and staying informed on what is happening in our world.
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Who I am:
My name is Rob and I am a prospective law student with interests in cryptocurrency and blockchain. I have enjoyed my time thus far engaging with Web 3.0 and am looking to continue learning more and sharing what I learn through my experience
