算法策展的谎言：搜索引擎如何处理有关美国在乌克兰生物实验室的错误信息
Algorithmically Curated Lies: How Search Engines Handle Misinformation about US Biolabs in Ukraine
AI总结：
本文通过虚拟智能体审计Google、Bing和Yandex，分析其对“美国在乌克兰生物实验室”虚假信息的策展表现，揭示不同引擎、语言和地点下的虚假内容暴露差异。
摘要：
在线内容数量的不断增长，促使人们需要采用算法化的信息策展系统。这些系统涵盖从网络搜索引擎到推荐系统的多种形式，是帮助用户持续了解重要社会动态所不可或缺的。然而，与新闻编辑不同，算法信息策展系统（AICSs）已知会受到各种形式的不良性能影响，这使其容易遭到潜在操纵。当AICSs必须处理有关支撑威权政权宣传运动的虚假主张的信息时，这种操纵风险尤为突出。我们以有关美国在乌克兰生物实验室的俄罗斯虚假信息运动为案例研究，考察最常用的AICS形式之一——即网络搜索引擎——如何策展与错误信息相关的内容。为此，我们于2022年6月对Google、Bing和Yandex的搜索输出开展了基于虚拟智能体的算法审计。研究结果凸显了搜索引擎令人不安的表现。尽管Google等部分搜索引擎较不可能返回错误信息结果，但在所有语言和地点中，这三个搜索引擎仍然提及或推广了相当比例的虚假内容（Google为33%；Bing为44%；Yandex为70%）。我们还发现，依据搜索语言的不同，错误信息暴露程度存在显著差异：所有搜索引擎在俄语中呈现的虚假报道数量都更多。地点同样重要：来自德国的用户更有可能接触到推广虚假信息的搜索结果。这些观察结果强调了AICSs易受操纵的可能性，尤其是在宣传运动不断展开的情况下，并突显了监测这些系统性能以防止此类情况发生的重要性。
英文摘要：
The growing volume of online content prompts the need for adopting algorithmic systems of information curation. These systems range from web search engines to recommender systems and are integral for helping users stay informed about important societal developments. However, unlike journalistic editing the algorithmic information curation systems (AICSs) are known to be subject to different forms of malperformance which make them vulnerable to possible manipulation. The risk of manipulation is particularly prominent in the case when AICSs have to deal with information about false claims that underpin propaganda campaigns of authoritarian regimes. Using as a case study of the Russian disinformation campaign concerning the US biolabs in Ukraine, we investigate how one of the most commonly used forms of AICSs - i.e. web search engines - curate misinformation-related content. For this aim, we conduct virtual agent-based algorithm audits of Google, Bing, and Yandex search outputs in June 2022. Our findings highlight the troubling performance of search engines. Even though some search engines, like Google, were less likely to return misinformation results, across all languages and locations, the three search engines still mentioned or promoted a considerable share of false content (33% on Google; 44% on Bing, and 70% on Yandex). We also find significant disparities in misinformation exposure based on the language of search, with all search engines presenting a higher number of false stories in Russian. Location matters as well with users from Germany being more likely to be exposed to search results promoting false information. These observations stress the possibility of AICSs being vulnerable to manipulation, in particular in the case of the unfolding propaganda campaigns, and underline the importance of monitoring performance of these systems to prevent it.
机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来，可能存在错误，请以论文正文为准。
