New AI Platform Launched to Help Brands Meet Threat of Disinformation

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Yonder, a social intelligence provider, and Edelman, the leading global communications firm, has announced the release of a joint platform designed to show how disinformation originates online and provide proactive recommendations to help businesses strengthen and protect their brand integrity against this growing threat.

2020 brought the global disinformation crisis to the forefront of the public eye, solidifying disinformation as a threat that is no longer the exclusive provenance of nation-state attackers and activists but increasingly threatens corporate America. Edelman’s 2021 Trust Barometer reveals an epidemic of disinformation, with more than two out of three executives at large global companies worrying about the weaponization of false information.

“The breakdown of traditional communications infrastructure has repositioned businesses from standalone brands to information regulators,” said Jonathon Morgan, CEO of Yonder. “In this environment, the responsibilities for communications teams are both expanding and increasing in importance. Unfortunately, there are no playbooks for many of the scenarios that these teams are expected to manage, and the tools they are currently using weren’t built with this functionality in mind.”

To be successful in the disinformation minefield and avoid surprise crises, strategic communications teams must address the gaps in their current tech stack and look to proactive intelligence that can address harmful online activity - before the damage is done. Key benefits of the Yonder + Edelman platform include:

• Detecting Potentially Harmful Activity Online: Identify damaging narratives in their earliest stages to understand who and what is driving them and how likely they are to cause damage to a brand
• Gathering Proactive Insights to Guide Response: Utilize data to identify when information is reliable, when it’s manipulated, and how it’s being engaged with to support more informed communication strategies
• Strengthening Trust Among Consumers: Ensure external communications are aligned with consumer expectations and values to avoid a potentially harmful crisis and retain customer trust

"We're applying new technology and methodology to understand trust in real time across geographies and audiences," said Yannis Kotziagkiaouridis, Edelman’s Chief Data & Analytics Officer and Head of Edelman Data & Intelligence (DxI). "By combining Edelman’s trusted method of client services with Yonder’s data-backed intelligent technology, businesses will be better able to identify their allies and adversaries online and navigate today’s complex communication landscape.”

Ultimately, it matters not whether a business is a video game retailer, an e-commerce company, or a public health organization. The reality of today’s internet infrastructure is the same for every business across every industry: No brand is impervious to the power and influence of agenda-driven factions or the massive reputational implications of the disinformation they often spread.