8 WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR REPUTATION WHEN TARGETED BY DISINFORMATION

Forbes

3 hours ago

Most Americans lie at least one to four times each day research shows, and about 60% of people 18 and older can't have a conversation without lying every ten minutes.
Disinformation media and abstract screen.
And that is just in personal life. In business and politics, we all know that lying, exaggerating, bluffing, and disinformation campaigns are common. Sometimes disinformation campaigns are even seen as good business; they certainly can be effective and compelling. Duke professor Dan Ariely reports that 'creative personalities tended to cheat more than less creative individuals.'Lies are more blatant, more easily believed and far more easily weaponized than ever before
While much lying is benign, and centered around not wanting to disappoint, in today's viral social media world, lies are more blatant, more easily believed and far more easily weaponized. Disinformation — the purposeful bending of, or negating, the truth — is used to destroy reputations, shatter trust, change political regimes, win at all costs, and muddy our distinctions between what is real and true, and what is blatantly false and biased.
Disinformation has proven difficult to define, understand, and measure, let alone address.And we know that disinformation works. The more times a lie is repeated, the more credible it becomes, until it is accepted as the truth. While that may be mildly acceptable in advertising, or from influencers, as a standard for building a life or a company, it often destroys the fabric of trust that binds us.
As PwC states: 'Disinformation attacks have arrived in the corporate sector.' So, what can corporate or individual leaders do to protect themselves from the disinformation fallout?
Grin and bear the reputational disinformation attack
Lawyers often counsel smaller clients in these situations to ignore the falsities, to hunker down and keep going without exacerbating the situation or going bankrupt. In other words, bear the slings and arrows in order to come out bloody but alive.
Or sue
Some huge muliti-nationals, on the other hand, choose to file civil lawsuits against alleged perpetrators, and in some situations this works. For example, who even remembers powerful rumors alleging a link between Proctor & Gamble's logo and Satanism? P&G put the issue to bed, finally, by suing and winning a jury award of almost $20 million in 2007, after fighting the allegations since the early 1980's.
Concept of the confrontation of opinions on social networks, with two men confronting their ideas ... More while screaming into a megaphone.
In fact, the response to disinformation, both personal and corporate, can make or break a reputation and a leader. Here are 8 lessons to consider the next time you or your company are targeted with a disinformation campaign: