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For major companies, managing the fallout from internal mis-steps — from botched responses to political crises to executive misconduct — has always been tricky. But safeguarding reputations is only getting tougher.
对于大公司来说，管理内部失误造成的后果——从对政治危机的应对不当到高管的不当行为——一直是个棘手的问题。但维护声誉的难度正在不断增加。
It was difficult enough when corporate crises were more tethered to true events or decisions. Now, falsehoods and disinformation can derail companies as online fakery can morph and multiply quicker than ever before. The use of artificial intelligence to produce false material such as deepfake videos more easily has only heightened the risks.
当企业危机更多地与真实事件或决策相关时，情况已经相当困难。如今，虚假信息和错误信息可以使公司脱轨，因为网上造假比以往任何时候都更快地演变和扩散。使用人工智能更容易地制作虚假材料，如深度伪造视频，只会加剧风险。
Governments have long complained about disinformation undermining elections, inciting unrest and deepening societal divides. Businesses are now in the crosshairs, too. “Over the last couple of years, disinformation has been on the rise and now it is spreading like knotweed,” said Julian Payne, global chair of crisis and risk at consultancy Edelman.
长期以来，各国政府一直抱怨虚假信息破坏选举、煽动动乱和加深社会分歧。企业现在也成为攻击目标。咨询公司爱德曼(Edelman)危机与风险全球主席朱利安•佩恩(Julian Payne)表示：“在过去的几年里，虚假信息一直在增加，现在它像节节草一样迅速传播”。
Arla Foods, the owner of the UK’s biggest dairy co-operative, has learnt the hard way. After recently announcing a trial of a feed additive aiming to reduce methane emissions in dairy cows, some customers pushed to boycott milk products. A social media storm ensued featuring unfounded and bizarre claims that the additive was part of a plot to depopulate the world by creating fertility issues, and conspiracy theories linking the additive to Bill Gates. UK regulators have approved the additive, Bovaer, as safe, while its manufacturer has blamed “mistruths and misinformation” for the frenzy.
英国最大的乳制品合作社的所有者Arla Foods已经尝到了苦头。在最近宣布试用一种旨在减少奶牛甲烷排放的饲料添加剂后，一些客户推动抵制牛奶产品。随后，社交媒体上掀起了一场风暴，一些毫无根据的离奇说法称，这种添加剂是通过制造生育问题来减少世界人口的阴谋的一部分，还有一些阴谋论将这种添加剂与比尔•盖茨联系在一起。英国监管机构已批准添加剂Bovaer是安全的，而其生产商则指责是“不实信息和错误信息”造成了这种狂热。
In a separate instance a few years ago, US retailer Wayfair was targeted by a campaign making wildly spurious allegations that its cabinets “listed with girls’ names” had children hidden in them as part of a child trafficking ring.
几年前，在另一起事件中，美国零售商Wayfair成为一场运动的目标，该运动毫无根据地指控其“以女孩名字命名”的橱柜中藏有儿童，是贩卖儿童团伙的一部分。
A survey by Edelman of almost 400 top communications and marketing executives found that eight in 10 worry about the impact of disinformation on their businesses. Fewer than half feel prepared to tackle these risks.
爱德曼对近400名顶级传播和营销高管进行的一项调查发现，每10人中就有8人担心虚假信息对其业务的影响。只有不到一半的人认为自己做好了应对这些风险的准备。
And it is not just from outright disinformation — the deliberate spread of falsehoods to deceive. Companies also need to be mindful of misinformation, which is accidental, and malinformation, which exaggerates truths or changes their context to cause harm. Threats can take many forms — fabricated news, phoney social media accounts and fake text, audio or video content. Online superspreaders, often aided by AI, intensify these attacks, allowing disinformation to ricochet unpredictably. After all, lies spread faster than the truth.
而且，不仅仅是彻头彻尾的虚假信息——故意传播虚假信息来欺骗。公司还需要注意意外的错误信息和夸大事实或改变其背景以造成伤害的虚假信息。威胁可以采取多种形式——捏造的新闻、虚假的社交媒体账户和虚假的文本、音频或视频内容。在线超级传播者通常在人工智能的帮助下加强这些攻击，使虚假信息不可预测地传播。毕竟，谎言比真相传播得更快。
Boycotts can hit finances, but the damage to reputations is just as significant. Employee safety is also an issue. In 2020, unfounded 5G conspiracies that linked the new mobile phone technology to health risks led to attacks on telecom engineers working for BT’s Openreach in the UK.
抵制活动可能会影响财务状况，但对声誉的损害同样显著。员工安全也是一个问题。2020年，毫无根据的5G阴谋论将新手机技术与健康风险联系起来，导致在英国为BT的Openreach工作的电信工程师遭到攻击。
While hate-spewing internet warriors are not new, the speed at which generative AI is now used to create both fake messages and the accounts behind them means companies have to “increase their capabilities to defend themselves”, said Payne. Companies had gone from having a day to “get your ducks in a row” to four hours, he added. “Then it’s like taking a water pistol to a raging inferno.”
虽然散布仇恨的网络战士并不新鲜，但生成式人工智能现在用于创建虚假信息及其背后账户的速度意味着公司必须“提高自身的防御能力”，佩恩说。他补充道，公司从过去有一天时间来“准备就绪”变成了只有四个小时。“然后就像用水枪对抗熊熊烈火。”
Boardrooms appear delayed in accepting disinformation as a priority, just as they were with cyber security. “We are seeing a similar journey,” said one executive who helps companies track such campaigns. Top ranks “are often out of touch with the polarising dynamics of digital world conversations”.
董事会似乎迟迟没有将虚假信息作为优先事项，就像他们对网络安全的态度一样。“一位帮助公司追踪此类活动的高管表示：“我们看到了类似的历程。高层“往往与数字世界对话的两极分化态势脱节”。
So what should a company do? Bosses should consider whether their policies on geopolitics, climate change or other issues make them likely targets. Finding so-called “tripwires” and testing crisis responses can highlight weaknesses.
那么，公司应该怎么做呢？老板们应该考虑他们在地缘政治、气候变化或其他问题上的政策是否会使他们成为攻击目标。找到所谓的“绊脚石”并测试危机应对措施可以突出弱点。
Instinctively, calling out falsehoods quickly after an attack makes sense, but this can amplify the fabricated message, pushing it from obscure corners of the internet into the open.
从本能上讲，在攻击发生后迅速揭露虚假信息是合理的，但这样做会放大捏造的信息，将其从互联网的隐蔽角落推向公开场合。
Mapping and tracking disinformation sources must become strategic imperatives, said Jack Stubbs, chief intelligence officer at Graphika, which specialises in understanding online communities. “Your operating environment is this online information space,” he said.
专注于了解网络社区的Graphika公司的首席情报官杰克•斯塔布斯(Jack Stubbs)表示，绘制和追踪虚假信息来源必须成为战略要务。他说：“你的操作环境就是这个在线信息空间。”
Equally important is building credibility in advance. If executives have repeatedly lied to shareholders or the public, it will only undermine any crisis response. The hope is that consistent transparency means they are more likely to be believed when it counts. In a digital world where false narratives spread faster than ever, companies can no longer rely on outdated playbooks.
同样重要的是提前建立信誉。如果高管一再对股东或公众撒谎，这只会削弱任何危机应对措施。希望是，通过持续保持透明度，他们在关键时刻更容易被信任。在一个虚假信息传播速度比以往更快的数字化世界中，公司不能再依赖过时的策略。