Robert Matney is Managing Director of Stream Integrity at New Knowledge, a company that detects, monitors, and mitigates social media manipulation — in various contexts, for diverse clients. The company produced a well-covered report called “The Tactics & Tropes of the Internet Research Agency”. This report, co-authored by Robert, quantified and contextualized the extent of the Russian influence campaign during the 2016 US elections.

New Knowledge specializes in disinformation defense for highly visible brands under attack by coordinated disinformation campaigns — Robert speaks of “the dumpster fire of the Internet.”

In our unsettling discussion with Rob, we discuss what’s wrong with the contemporary Internet, and how to address the growing proliferation of disinformation and propaganda within the digital ecosystem.