Simulating Strategies for Defense Against Brand-Targeted Online Disinformation

Bryan C. Boots

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arXiv · 2610.07407

Simulating Strategies for Defense Against Brand-Targeted Online Disinformation

Bryan C. Boots

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Abstract

Brand-targeted disinformation can damage firms not only by spreading false beliefs, but by eroding trust, amplifying reputational uncertainty, and persisting across networked digital environments. This paper models brand-targeted disinformation as a trust-weighted contagion process using a multi-agent simulation across six network structures, three amplification levels, and six intervention strategies. Results show that scale-free and influencer-heavy networks are most vulnerable to rapid spread, while clustered and polarized networks provide partial containment until amplification bridges communities. Hybrid intervention combining prebunking, trusted-node activation, and rapid correction performs best overall. The paper contributes a reusable simulation framework for studying active brand disinformation defense strategies.

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Bryan C. Boots. 2026-10-05. Simulating Strategies for Defense Against Brand-Targeted Online Disinformation. https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.07407

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