Deception Strategies and Threats for Online Discussions

Communication plays a major role in social systems. Effective communications, which requires transmission of the messages between individuals without disruptions or noise, can be a powerful tool to deliver intended impact. Language and style of the content can be leveraged to deceive and manipulate recipients. These deception and persuasion strategies can be applied to exert power and amass capital in politics and business. In this work, we provide a modest review of how such deception and persuasion strategies were applied to different communication channels over the years. We provide examples of campaigns that has occurred in different periods over the last 100 years, together with their corresponding dissemination mediums. In the Internet age, we enjoy access to the vast amount of information and the ability to communicate without borders. However, malicious actors work toward abusing online systems to disseminate disinformation, disrupt communication, and manipulate people by the means of automated tools, such as social bots. It is important to study the old practices of persuasion to be able to investigate modern practices and tools. Here we provide a discussion of current threats against society while drawing parallels with the historical practices and the recent research efforts on systems of detection and prevention.