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Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Deception, Disinformation and Social Media

Marc Owen Jones

London: Hurst & Company (2022), 303 pp.

"By the time readers arrive at the end of Jones’s astonishing examination of social media in the Middle East, they will be completely persuaded that it is now impossible to tell whether anything they read online is true. Replete with bots and sock puppets, trolls and dupes, this online world is bo ... more

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Afghan Media under the Taliban: Restrictions and Violations

Kobra Moradi

Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization (AHRDO) (2022), 48 pp.

"[...] Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban has imposed a new media control regime, which has three key features: restriction, gender-discrimination, and repression with impunity. First, the Taliban has passed several media policies, imposing extreme constraints on press freedom and ... media rights. Any sort of critical reporting on topics related to the government or the public is banned. The Taliban regulate the content of publications and broadcasts, imposing broad, vaguely worded prohibitions. For example, under the new regulations, media content that contradicts “Islamic values,” “Afghan values,” and “public interest” is prohibited. No operational definitions have been provided for these terms, nor an objective standard for assessing and determining breach. This has caused uncertainty and confusion about what the media can and cannot publish and broadcast, often resulting in precautionary media self-censorship. The new rules also give the Taliban sweeping powers to directly control the media and news output, barring broadcast and publication of matters and content that has not been officially sanctioned by Taliban official/s. These restrictions and interferences limit the right and ability of the Afghan media to seek, receive and impart information freely and independently. Second, the Taliban has passed policies specifically targeting Afghan women in the media. These restrictions give the Taliban control over women’s attire and the nature and scope of their involvement in the media, restraining their freedom of expression and movement, as well as their ability to perform their tasks effectively. The general travel restrictions on women and girls make it almost impossible for women to work, in particular, limiting the ability of female journalists from gathering information or contributing to field reporting. The Taliban’s antiwomen media policies and practices are aimed towards excluding Afghan women from the media and public life. Third, the Taliban treats the Afghan media and media-related affairs as a security threat. The Taliban security and intelligence agencies are increasingly involved in controlling media affairs. Taliban operatives use repressive measures against members of the Afghan media in claiming to enforce the new regulations. Afghan journalists and other members of the media have been subjected to heavy surveillance, intimidation, and arbitrary arrest and detention. Cases of beatings, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings have also taken place." (Executive summary, pages 1-2) more

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Fair Game: The Endangered Media Space for Foreign Correspondents Inside China 2022

Mary Kay Magistad

Brussels: International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) (2022), 10 pp.

"This report focuses on Beijing's efforts to control domestic reporting by resident foreign journalists. It is based on interviews conducted by the IFJ in December 2021 with 19 current or recent correspondents from nine countries, who work across print and broadcast and whose experience in China ran ... more

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Religious Populism, Cyberspace and Digital Authoritarianism in Asia

Ihsan Yilmaz, Raja M. Ali Saleem, Mahmoud Pargoo, Syaza Shukri, Idznursham Ismail, Kainat Shakil

Brussels: European Center for Populsim Studies (ECPS) (2022), 43 pp.

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Iranians on #SocialMedia

Holly Dagres

Washington, DC: Atlantic Council (2022), 40 pp.

"This report explores the social media habits of Iranian netizens and how the Islamic Republic is repressing the online space." (Publisher description)

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Russia – YouTube and Global Platforms: A New Battleground for Russian Journalists and Bloggers

Andrei Soldatov, Irina Borogan

Potsdam: Friedrich Naumann Foundation (2022), 13 pp.

"In the late 2010s, the Internet overtook television as the most popular media format in Russia. It was also the time when Russian-speaking YouTube went political: well-known bloggers started producing political content, opposition politicians became the most popular YouTubers, and finally mainstrea ... more

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Effectiveness of the Sanctions on Russian State-Affiliated Media in the European Union: An Investigation Into Website Traffic and Possible Circumvention Methods

Kata Balint, Jordan Wildon, Francesca Arcostanzo, Kevin D. Reyes

Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) (2022), 20 pp.

"The purpose of this research is two-fold: first, to assess the effectiveness of the restrictions placed on Russian state-affiliated media by the European Union after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine; second, to unearth potential circumvention methods and their success in enabling pro-Kr ... more

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The Cultural Politics of Affect and Emotion: A Case Study of Chinese Reality TV

Wei Dong

Bielefeld: transcript Verlag (2022), 232 pp.

"Against the background of the media commercialization reform since the 1990s in China and drawing on the case of »X-Change« (2006-2019), Wei Dong investigates the entanglements between emotion and subjectivity, ideology, identity and hegemonic power in the multimodal text of the program. The focu ... more

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Content Moderation in autoritären Staaten: Wie soziale Medien zu Komplizen autoritärer Herrscher zu werden drohen

Paula Köhler, Daniel Voelsen

Berlin: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) (2022), 8 pp.

"Täglich gibt es Berichte darüber, wie private Betreiber sozialer Medien sich problematischen Vorgaben autoritärer Herrscher beugen. Ob in Thailand, Kasachstan oder Russland, immer wieder werden als Teil von Content Moderation (CM) gezielt Inhalte entfernt oder Konten gelöscht, weil Regierungen ... more

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Limitations of Anti-War Messaging Oriented at Russians

Fyodor Krashennikov

Bonn: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) (2022), 11 pp.

"This paper offers a critical overview of anti-war propaganda in the Russian language during the first six months of the war and identifies the reasons for its limited success. After a review of the challenges to current forms of propaganda, the paper offers practical recommendations to improve the ... more

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Defending Democracy in Exile: Policy Responses to Transnational Repression

Yana Gorokhovskaia, Linzer. Isabel

Washington, DC: Freedom House (2022), 42 pp.

"Transnational repression is strategically employed by autocrats, enabled by underprepared host governments, and spreading rapidly around the world. This report aims to assess the strengths and weaknesses in the global understanding of and responses to transnational repression, so that governments, ... more

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Choosing Propaganda: Media Selection and Politics in Putin's Russia

Ashley Katrine Blum

Los Angeles: University of California, Doctoral Thesis (2022), xiv, 160 pp.

"The results of this dissertation suggest that most Russians are aware, at least to some degree, of the biases of state media. Nonetheless, they still consider these sources to provide valuable information. This, in part, stems from beliefs about the access these news outlets have to information and ... more

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Freedom on the Net 2022: Countering an Authoritarian Overhaul of the Internet

Washington, DC: Freedom House (2022), 46 pp.

"1. Global internet freedom declined for the 12th consecutive year. The sharpest downgrades were documented in Russia, Myanmar, Sudan, and Libya. Following the Russian military’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin dramatically intensified its ongoing efforts to suppress domest ... ic dissent and accelerated the closure or exile of the country’s remaining independent media outlets. In at least 53 countries, users faced legal repercussions for expressing themselves online, often leading to draconian prison terms. 2 Governments are breaking apart the global internet to create more controllable online spaces. A record number of national governments blocked websites with nonviolent political, social, or religious content, undermining the rights to free expression and access to information. A majority of these blocks targeted sources located outside of the country. New national laws posed an additional threat to the free flow of information by centralizing technical infrastructure and applying flawed regulations to social media platforms and user data. 3. China was the world’s worst environment for internet freedom for the eighth consecutive year. Censorship intensified during the 2022 Beijing Olympics and after tennis star Peng Shuai accused a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official of sexual assault. The government continued to tighten its control over the country’s booming technology sector, including through new rules that require platforms to use their algorithmic systems to promote CCP ideology. 4. A record 26 countries experienced internet freedom improvements. Despite the overall global decline, civil society organizations in many countries have driven collaborative efforts to improve legislation, develop media resilience, and ensure accountability among technology companies. Successful collective actions against internet shutdowns offered a model for further progress on other problems like commercial spyware. 5. Internet freedom in the United States improved marginally for the first time in six years. There were fewer reported cases of targeted surveillance and online harassment during protests compared with the previous year, and the country now ranks ninth globally, tied with Australia and France. The United States still lacks a comprehensive federal privacy law, and policymakers made little progress on the passage of other legislation related to internet freedom. Ahead of the November 2022 midterm elections, the online environment was riddled with political disinformation, conspiracy theories, and online harassment aimed at election workers and officials. 6. Human rights hang in the balance amid a competition to control the web. Authoritarian states are vying to propagate their model of digital control around the world. In response, a coalition of democratic governments has increased the promotion of online human rights at multilateral forums, outlining a positive vision for the internet. However, their progress remains hampered by problematic internet freedom practices in their own countries." (Key findings) more

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Authoritarians on a Media Offensive in the Midst of War: The Informational Influence of Russia, China, Turkey, Iran and the Gulf States in Southeast Europe

Rumena Filipova, Vladimir Shopov

Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) (2022), iii, 127 pp.

"The publication analyzes the emerging trends of foreign authoritarian-state disinformation in the context of the war in Ukraine in a comparative manner focusing on 7 states of Southeast Europe (Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania). It examines ... more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: Turkey Country Report

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2022), 27 pp.

"Since its ascent to power twenty years ago, the ruling AKP has tightened the screws on all forms of freedom of expression, both online and offline. It has introduced draconian laws, imposed internet restrictions, blocked content, and has arrested and intimidated critics on an unprecedented level. I ... more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: Sudan Country Report

Khattab Hamad

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2022), 25 pp.

"There is a clear digital divide in Sudan as the number of internet users is a very low part of the population. Despite the high contribution of the telecommunication field to the GDP, the Sudanese authorities are not using this contribution to enhance and develop the ICT field to fill the gap of di ... more

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Understanding the Laws Relating to "Fake News" in Russia

Anton Vaganov

Thomson Reuters Foundation; Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) (2022), 16 pp.

"This guide is intended to provide user-friendly, practical guidance for journalists and newsrooms seeking to understand the Russian “fake news” laws, and how they’ve been applied to local and international press." (Page 1)

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The Unfreedom Monitor: Zimbabwe Country Report

Kudzai Chimhangwa

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2022), 28 pp.

"The government of Zimbabwe and the ruling ZANU PF party are bent on ensuring that the status quo is preserved at all costs. As evidenced by findings in the Civic Media Observatory, the digital sphere has been identified as a threat to the country’s national security, insofar as deposing the curre ... more

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Chinese Discourse Power: Aspirations, Reality, and Ambitions in the Digital Domain

Kenton Thibaut

Washington, DC: Atlantic Council (2022), 32 pp.

"This report provides a framework for understanding China's discourse-power ambitions [...], the strategy China has developed to achieve them, and an initial assessment of the successes and limitations of these efforts to date. The report begins by tracing the evolution of China's conception of disc ... more

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Putin's Disinformation & Misinformation Campaign

Jakub Ferencík

EUROPEUM (2022), 12 pp.

"Disinformation and misinformation have been amplified in the digital age. In order to combat their increasing presence in our everyday lives, we have to first educate ourselves on what disinformation is. In this post, Jakub Ferencik looks at this question in some detail, primarily by analyzing Vlad ... more