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Redefining objectivity: Exploring types of evidence by fact-checkers in four European countries

Regina Cazzamatta

European Journal of Communication (2025), 21 pp.

"Fact-checking journalism challenges procedural norms of objectivity by providing truth verdicts. By actively evaluating statements and online rumors based on evidence weight, fact-checkers aim for robust, scientific objectivity. Despite this trend, there is a lack of studies analyzing evidence type ... more

Encrypted Messaging and Extreme Speech: Policy Directions

Anmol Alphonso, Sérgio Barbosa, Cayley Clifford, Kiran Garimella, Elonnai Hickok, Martin Riedl, Erkan Saka, Herman Wasserman, Sahana Udupa

Munich: Ludwig-Maximilian Universität (LMU); Center for Digital Dignity (2025), 58 pp.

"The report highlights interventions in six main categories, namely: Platform governance; Mitigating digital influence operations; Supporting research; Strengthening fact-checking; Awareness raising and capacity building; Leveraging artificial intelligence responsibly. The recommendations highlight ... more

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Mapping the information integrity landscape in West Africa: An annotated bibliography

Zara Schoeder, Liz Orembo, Marie Batista

Cape Town: Research ICT Africa (2025), 26 pp.

"This annotated bibliography is organised into four sections. Section 1 demonstrates how disinformation emerges as the most prominent topic in the literature on information integrity. Several different kinds of agents of disinformation operate within West Africaʼs information sphere. These range fr ... om political actors and interest groups to foreign entities and social media influencers. Each exploits social fault lines to sway public opinion, particularly in the lead-up to elections and during conflicts. An organised network of influence narratives – which can sometimes be complex and include both local and foreign disinformation-for-hire merchants complemented by a network of informed but polarised citizens – forms part of the machinery of political campaigns. This machinery transcends elections to become a way of governance as governments continue to rely on it to deflect accountability and manipulate public discourse. Section 2 describes the events around which information disorders are promoted. During periods of political instability, elections, or armed conflicts, information disorders often emerge as key drivers of mass action. In these contexts, disinformation and hate speech are weaponised to incite violence, manipulate public sentiment, and deepen ethnic and religious divisions. Ethnicity and religion frequently become fault lines that disinformation campaigns exploit to divide communities and trigger mass actions such as violent protests, or for widespread voter manipulation. In the case of elections, disinformation is used to sway voter opinions by distorting candidatesʼ positions or spreading fabricated narratives about political opponents. Likewise, in conflict situations, armed groups and militant organisations may use information disorders to recruit new members by promoting extremist ideologies, spreading fear, or creating a sense of urgency. Politicians and conflict groups alike have learned to manipulate these divisions for their agendas, making information integrity a critical issue for social cohesion, democratic stability, and peacebuilding in the region. Section 3 covers literature on fact-checking as one of the measures to mitigate information disorders. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can scale up fact-checking efforts by detecting and scaling up the distribution of correct information. However, even using AI for fact-checking experiences significant limitations. For example, local languages make it hard for AI to detect disinformation and hate speech in all instances. When misinformation is shared on instant messaging platforms like Telegram channels it is also difficult for an ordinary user to detect. Section 4 covers media literacy as an antidote to information disorders, especially disinformation. UNESCO has been at the forefront of addressing information integrity issues in West Africa through its research and media literacy programmes. Recognising the role of accurate and reliable information in fostering peace, democracy, and development, UNESCO has sought to promote the importance of information integrity by partnering with governments, civil society organisations, and media outlets to combat disinformation. Additionally, UNESCOʼs media literacy programmes aim to empower citizens with the skills to critically evaluate and engage with information, fostering a more informed and resilient public.8 These initiatives are particularly important in an era where digital media plays such a significant role in shaping opinions and driving political discourse." (Introduction, pages 3-4) more

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International Disinformation: A Handbook for Analysis and Response
Deep Insights

Robert Kupiecki, Filip Bryjka, Tomasz Chłoń

Leiden: Brill (2025), vii, 283 pp.

"Dive into the world of disinformation with this groundbreaking book. Uncover how Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) shapes modern politics and society, and how it impacts your own life. Explore answers to key questions: What are the origins and characteristics of disinformatio ... more

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Recommendation of the Council on Information Integrity

Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2025), 17 pp.

"The Recommendation on Information Integrity was adopted by the OECD Council on 17 December 2024 on the proposal of the Public Governance Committee (PGC). The Recommendation aims to establish a wide-ranging and applicable policy framework for Adherents to address threats posed by information manipul ... more

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Digital Shadows: Deepfakes Used As Violence Against Women in Journalism and Politics During African Elections

Risper Akinyi, Josephine Miliza, Mwara Gichanga, Sarah Kiden et al.

Kibera: Tanda Community Network (2025), 77 pp.

"This report delves into the growing threat of deepfakes as a tool for technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TfGBV) against women in politics and journalism during elections across Africa. With increasing reliance on digital tools and artificial intelligence (AI), deepfakes pose a serious ri ... sk to democratic processes and the personal security of women in leadership roles. The report investigated how deepfakes and other forms of manipulated media contribute to TfGBV against women journalists and politicians in the context of elections in Ghana, Namibia, and Senegal. Both interviews and focus group discussions elicited responses from policymakers, journalists, technologists, and researchers. Deepfakes, which use AI to manipulate videos, audio, and images, are being weaponized to tarnish reputations, spread falsehoods, and harass women, often in the most public and vulnerable moments of their careers. Women in politics and journalism are particularly susceptible, as their visibility makes them prime targets for digital harassment and character assassination. This misuse of AI-generated content not only impacts their personal and professional lives but also threatens to silence women’s voices in public discourse, deterring other women from engaging in leadership roles. The report emphasizes the urgent need for comprehensive measures to address this issue. Key recommendations include: the enactment of specific deepfake legislation; public awareness campaigns to educate women in leadership about online safety and investment in AI detection technologies; strengthening support systems for victims of TfGBV and promoting responsible AI use are also critical to creating a safer, more inclusive digital environment for women; Collaborative efforts with international organizations and the expansion of media and digital literacy programs are suggested to bolster the nation's resilience against this evolving threat. By addressing the challenges posed by deepfakes and TfGBV, Ghana, Namibia, and Senegal can safeguard its democratic processes and promote gender equality in the political and media landscapes. The report calls for immediate action to protect women in leadership, ensuring that they can participate fully and fearlessly in the country's democratic development." (Executive summary) more

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Psychological Defence and Information Influence: A Textbook on Theory and Practice

Jesper Falkheimer, James Pamment (eds.)

Karlstad: Psychological Defence Agency (2025), 257 pp.

"In an age defined by rapid information flows and shifting security landscapes, the resilience of societies rests not only on military strength or technological capacity, but equally on the ability of individuals and institutions to withstand psychological influence and manipulation. Psychological d ... more

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WhatsApp in the World: Disinformation, Encryption, and Extreme Speech
Deep Insights

Sahana Udupa, Herman Wasserman (eds.)

New York: New York University Press (2025), vii, 375 pp.

"Known by the popular nickname “ZapZap” in Brazil and synonymous with the Internet across Africa and South Asia, WhatsApp has emerged as a major means of communication for millions of people around the world. Unlike social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, WhatsApp offers a closed, e ... more

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Defending the Truth

D+C: Development and Cooperation, issue 6 (2025), pp. 22-50

"People of all ages and from all societies must be empowered to understand the information they are dealing with. Autocratic regimes around the world owe their rise in part to the deliberate use of all kinds of misinformation. They have an interest in ensuring that truths are distorted or remain unr ... more

Climate Disinformation in Pakistan: Silencing Indigenous Peoples’ Voice

Humera Qasim Khan, Waqas Naeem

Islamabad: International Media Support (IMS); Institute for Research, Advocacy and Development (IRADA); Mediastan (2025), vii, 39 pp.

"The study identifies five distinct forms of climate disinformation in Pakistan: alarmist and sensationalised content, which exaggerates climate impact to provoke fear, confusion and emotional reactions rather than informed understanding; conspiracy-driven narratives that suggest hidden agendas or e ... xternal actors manipulating climate event, undermining trust in institutions and science; denial and delay narratives where scientific consensus is rejected or inaction is promoted by downplaying risks and questioning the urgency of climate response; oversimplified or false solutions that promote misleading or ineffective fixes to distract from evidence-based mitigation and adaptation strategies; religious fatalism, which frames climate change effects as predetermined or divinely inevitable, reducing perceived human responsibility and discouraging action.hich frames climate change effects as predetermined or divinely inevitable, reducing perceived human responsibility and discouraging action. The study also confirms findings from literature about structural weaknesses within Pakistan’s news media environment, which include a lack of consistent news coverage of climate issues, limited scientific literacy among journalists, editorial incentives favouring sensationalism over accuracy and the absence of systematic fact-checking protocols. These gaps, exacerbated by platform algorithms that reward virality over veracity, create a situation where climate-related disinformation may spread unchecked. The report shows that the climate disinformation impacts IPs in five ways: first, it affects community safety and Indigenous livelihoods by creating a false sense of security or conversely unnecessary panic among IP communities that may lead to damage, displacement and poor adaptation and mitigation practices; second, disinformation related to natural disasters generates fear, uncertainty, confusion and psychological distress among vulnerable IP communities, creating emotional trauma and diminishing their self-confidence in their ability to respond to climate risks; third, climate-related disinformation erodes trust of IPs in scientific forecasts, institutional information and the official responses of state authorities, as viral disinformation messages and rumours fill the information vacuum created by the absence of clear, timely and accessible climate communication; fourth, it discourages Indigenous ecological knowledge and diminishes the credibility of local adaptation methods by painting these methods as primitive, unscientific or outdated; fifth, climate disinformation intensifies the existing exclusion, marginalisation and invisibility of IPs in climate policy frameworks and climate governance mechanisms, silencing their voices and forcibly transforming them from custodians of community resilience to subjects of pity or blame within the policy and media discourses. The study underscores that climate disinformation is not an isolated digital problem but a systemic governance challenge. It undermines trust in science and institutions, weakens public engagement and delays adaptation efforts. This crisis of information integrity demands coordinated action across sectors. The report offers the following recommendations for key stakeholders to address climate disinformation and its impact on Indigenous peoples and communities in Pakistan. UN bodies should support the government in integrating climate information integrity in national climate and digital governance frameworks and ensure Pakistan’s compliance with relevant international conventions and declarations on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. The relevant ministries of the federal and provincial governments should embed information integrity into Pakistan’s climate governance frameworks, including the National Action Plan and Nationally Determined Contributions, to ensure coordinated and accountable action on climate misinformation. iNGOs should facilitate the creation of a National Climate Fact-Checking Alliance linking journalists, researchers, media organisations and civil society for real-time verification and rapid debunking of false climate narratives. CSOs should establish community-based verification networks, conduct grassroots awareness campaigns, promote digital safety and information verification capacity building for IPs and document and amplify local climate knowledge. Media should set up climate news beats within newsrooms, ensure the presence of trained journalists for environmental reporting, institutionalise fact-checking protocols, provide training for journalists on climate science and disaster reporting and adopt ethical editorial standards for coverage of climate emergencies. Technology companies should implement algorithmic accountability measures to curb the viral spread of climate disinformation, promote verified climate information through priority ranking and contextual labels, collaborate with fact-checkers to monitor regional-language climate content for falsehoods and support rapid-response climate information alerts for Pakistan during climate-induced extreme weather events. Indigenous communities should engage in peer-led digital literacy programmes that build capacity to recognise and counter climate disinformation and collaborate with independent media to document." (Executive summary, pages vi-vii) more

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Recommendations for strengthening Mauritania´s resilience against disinformation. White paper

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2025), 18 pp.

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Donetsk Don’t Tell: ‘Hybrid War’ in Ukraine and the Limits of Social Media Influence Operations

Lennart Maschmeyer, Alexei Abrahams, Peter Pomerantsev, Volodymyr Yermolenko

Journal of Information Technology & Politics, volume 22, issue 1 (2025), pp. 49-64

"Many fear that social media enable more potent influence operations than traditional mass media. This belief is widely shared yet rarely tested. We challenge this emerging wisdom by comparing social media and television as vectors for influence operations targeting Ukraine. This article develops a ... more

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Currents of Truth: A Journalist's Quest for Justice in the Age of AI

Ryan Pedro

Johannesburg: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), Media Programme Sub-Sahara Africa (2025), 51 pp.

"This is a story set in a fictional city in Africa, in the not-too-far future. It follows a young investigative journalist, her mentor and her friend, a computer genius, who work together to uncover and expose a complex disinformation campaign fuelled by artificial intelligence and save their people ... more

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When Fact-Checking Is Not WEIRD: Negotiating Consensus Outside Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic Countries

Otavio Vinhas, Marco Bastos

International Journal of Press/Politics, volume 30, issue 1 (2025), pp. 256-276

"This study unpacks the emerging framework of detection, verification, and correction of falsehoods developed by fact-checkers outside Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic countries. We explore a series of semistructured interviews carried out in several languages with thirty-seve ... more

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Fact-Checking Organisations in the Balkans after US Funding Cuts

Manuela Anastasova

Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), Media Programme South East Europe (2025), 6 pp.

"The regional approach of the fact-checking organisations in the Balkans gives hope that they will be able to deal with crises. Milena Popovic from Istinomer shared the opinion that collaboration through joint investigations and coordinated responses to disinformation must be enhanced. In her view, ... more

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Information Ecosystems and Troubled Democracy: A Global Synthesis of the State of Knowledge on New Media, AI and Data Governance
Deep Insights

Robin Mansell, Flavia Durach, Matthias C Kettemann, Théophile Lenoir, Rob Procter, Gyan Tripathi, Emily Tucker

Paris: International Observatory on Information and Democracy (2025), xxxvi, 265 pp.

"This report is an invitation to grapple with the complex interplay between infrastructure, media systems, civil society, and public sector institutions. Our findings suggest that effective policy solutions must: acknowledge the historical, political, economic, and social forces that shape informati ... more

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Die Finanzierung von Desinformation: Ein Überblick über Akteure, Profiteure und deren Infrastruktur

Rita Gsenger

Wiesbaden: Springer VS (2025), 42 pp.

"Desinformation und Verschwörungstheorien haben in den letzten Jahren deutlich Aufschwung erhalten, da ihre Verbreitung in den sozialen Medien und anderen Online Plattformen sehr schnell und effektiv sein kann. In zurückliegenden Jahren hat die Europäische Union einige neue Gesetzesgrundlagen ges ... more

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What makes audiences resilient to disinformation? Integrating micro, meso, and macro factors based on a systematic literature review

Jülide Kont, Wim Elving, Marcel Broersma, Çiðdem Bozdað

Communications, volume 50, issue 2 (2025), pp. 534-555

"Despite increased attention since 2015, there is little consensus on why audiences believe or share disinformation. In our study, we propose a shift in analytical perspective by applying the concept of resilience. Through a systematic literature review (n = 95), we identify factors that have been ... more

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Emerging Media Structures, Media Policy and the Challenge of Disinformation in Post-Assad Syria

Asiem El Difraoui, Carola Richter, Anja Wollenberg

Berlin: Media in Cooperation and Transition (MiCT) (2025), 54 pp.

"This study analyses the media ecosystem in post-Assad Syria, focusing on the proliferation of disinformation, ethno-sectarian hate speech and Foreign Interference (FIMI). It covers the period from December 2024 to December 2025, one year after the collapse of the Assad regime. Besides disinformati ... on, the research examines emerging media structures, media policies of the transitional government, and the professional conditions of journalists across different regions of Syria. The study is based on field research conducted in Damascus in September and November 2025, semi-structured interviews with approximately 60 stakeholders —including government officials, journalists, and media experts from eight Syrian cities— in-depth desk research, social media analysis and a focus group discussion with Syrian media professionals held during a workshop in Amman [...] Within this broader context, the Syrian media landscape is undergoing significant transformation. State media institutions, such as the television channel Al-Ikhbariya, the news agency SANA, and the newspaper Al-Thawra, have adjusted their editorial lines and now largely support the new government, with limited critical coverage. The state media sector employs an estimated 7,000–8,000 staff, but displays pronounced salary inequalities between long-standing employees and newly appointed executives from Idlib. Media outlets funded by Qatar, including Syria Now and Syria TV, have gained prominence due to their close alignment with the new authorities. While some exile media outlets have begun to return to Syria, local and independent media organisations continue to operate under precarious financial conditions. In the Kurdish-controlled northeast of Syria (AANES), an autonomous media system persists, though it has been severely affected by the withdrawal of U.S. funding. Disinformation represents a central challenge in the Syrian media and information environment, particularly given the dominance of social media and messaging platforms as primary news sources. The study identifies multiple actors involved in coordinated disinformation campaigns. These include remnants of the former regime (Foloul), who seek to destabilise the transitional authorities as well as foreign actors—for example Russia, Iran, Israel and Turkey—that pursue their own geopolitical interests partly through coordinated campaigns; and ISIS propaganda, which routinely calls for attacks on Alawites, Shias, Christians, Druze, Kurds, and other groups it casts as enemies. Most of the various ethno-religious communities are both targets and producers of disinformation. Competing narratives centred on victimhood, revenge, and revisionism have contributed to cycles of mistrust and fear. Disinformation, hate speech, and propaganda are primarily disseminated via Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram. Based on these findings, the study proposes five policy recommendations: (1) the establishment of a Syria Media and Disinformation Observatory to monitor and analyse disinformation trends; (2) the development of a context-sensitive media literacy toolkit; (3) sustained international funding for public interest media; (4) cross-regional professional networking and training programmes for Syrian journalists; and (5) youth-focused initiatives aimed at promoting social cohesion. The study concludes that the future development of a pluralistic media system in Syria will depend largely on internal power dynamics within the ruling elites, particularly the balance between ideological hardliners and more pragmatic actors." (Executive summary) more

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State-Sponsored Disinformation Around the Globe: How Politicians Deceive their Citizens

Martin Echeverría Victoria, Sara Garcia Santamaria, Daniel C. Hallin (eds.)

Oxford: Routledge (2025), xiii, 336 pp.

"This book explores the pervasive and globalised trajectory of domestic disinformation. It describes specific operations and general apparatuses of disinformation that are sponsored by the State institutions in several countries around the world, such as governments, political parties, and politicia ... more

International Disinformation: A Handbook for Analysis and Response Deep Insights

WhatsApp in the World: Disinformation, Encryption, and Extreme Speech Deep Insights

Information Ecosystems and Troubled Democracy: A Global Synthesis of the State of Knowledge on New Media, AI and Data Governance Deep Insights

International Disinformation: A Handbook for Analysis and Response
Deep Insights

WhatsApp in the World: Disinformation, Encryption, and Extreme Speech
Deep Insights

Information Ecosystems and Troubled Democracy: A Global Synthesis of the State of Knowledge on New Media, AI and Data Governance
Deep Insights