commbox Disinformation & Misinformation

Disinformation & Misinformation

Filter

743

Sort by:

Direction:

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

Download (81)

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

Download (66)

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

Download (45)

The Alternative Truth Kept Hidden From Us: The Effects of Multimodal Disinformation Disseminated by Ordinary Citizens and Alternative Hyper-Partisan Media. Evidence From the US and India

Michael Hameleers, Darian Harff, Désirée Schmuck

Digital Journalism, volume 13, issue 8 (2025), pp. 1351-1372

"The affordances of social media potentially amplify the effects of disinformation by offering the possibility to present deceptive content and sources in credible and native ways. We investigate the effects of two aspects related to the dissemination and modality of digital disinformation: (In)auth ... more

External Link (113)

Climate Disinformation in India: Subverting Indigenous Peoples’ Identity

Bangkog: Asia Centre (2025), viii, 55 pp.

"The report makes three key contributions: it identifies the main forms of climate disinformation in India, examines their specific impacts on indigenous peoples (IP) communities and sets out targeted policy recommendations for national and international stakeholders. First, four forms of climate di ... sinformation circulating in the media landscape in India are identified: one-sided coverage, where the media circulate disinformation by the state, by highlighting false ecological progress while omitting data on biodiversity loss, environmental impacts and displacement; promoting false climate solutions, like afforestation and green credit programmes, which are dubbed as climate action despite their harmful ecological impacts and effects on IPs; attributing environmental disasters to climate change, where state authorities deflect accountability for disasters arising from governance failures and poor infrastructure to climate change; denialism of climate change and its causes, which relies on the suppression of scientific data, promotion of anti-renewable myths and the institutional erasure of climate-linked mortality, thereby sowing doubt and enabling the deflection of accountability. Second, the report shows that the deliberate circulation of climate disinformation in the media subverts IPs’ rights and legal safeguards in favour of state and corporate interests in five critical ways: bypassing IPs’ rights to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) by deliberately spreading distorted information effectively marginalising IP voices from environmental decision-making; restricting traditional practices by promoting false state initiatives while claiming environmental legitimacy, thereby worsening climate adaptation and livelihoods; undermining IPs’ forest conservation efforts, through the reframing of unsustainable top-down conservation efforts as climate action, thus enabling the loss of biocultural diversity; forced evictions and deterritorialisation, often enabled by the misrepresentation of environmental data in judicial rulings under the guise of ecological progress; legal persecution, Intimidation and physical violence, where IPs and environmental defenders are subjected to both online harassment and militarised control in order to suppress resistance to state or corporate projects. Third, this report outlines a set of recommendations for action: United Nations (UN) bodies should conduct an audit of India's compliance with IPs’ rights, investigate how state and corporate disinformation facilitates violations and support the ratification of relevant international laws and conventions; the government should strengthen legal safeguards for IPs by providing greater technical and administrative support to effectively implement the Forest Rights Act, ensuring robust FPIC protocols in all climate and development projects; international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) should support Indigenous-led audits of government programmes, submit evidence of digital surveillance to UN bodies, and help establish rapid-response legal networks and community fact-checking hubs in IP languages; civil society organisations (CSOs) should establish a national database for eco-development displacements, offer mobile legal clinics for land rights and advocate for policies requiring IPs’ representation in environmental bodies; the media sector should expose data manipulation in official forest reports, establish Indigenous-language fact-checking and leverage public broadcasting to boost digital literacy and amplify community voices; technology companies should develop tools to detect disinformation targeting IPs, conduct transparent audits of algorithmic bias on their platforms and partner with CSOs to provide digital literacy and secure communication tools; IP communities should continue to document land-use violations using community mapping, file collective petitions to audit projects violating their rights and build alliances to establish Indigenous-owned media platforms to control narratives." (Executive summary, pages vi-vii) more

Google Scholar (116)

WorldCat (108)

Global Communication and Propaganda

Richard C. Vincent

In: Global Communication: A Multicultural Perspective

Yahya R. Kamalipour (ed.)

Lanham et al.: Rowman & Littlefield (2025), pp. 153-198

"Propaganda involves the persuasive communication process to influence and convert individuals and the public at large, directly or implicitly, through the use of purposively chosen and partial, or even fabricated, disinformation [...] Regarding the understanding of propaganda, the first mistake is ... more

Download (36)

How effective are fact-checks in Pakistan and who engages with them?

Waqas Ejaz, Sacha Altay, Itlefaq Muhammad

Information, Communication & Society (2025), 23 pp.

"For fact-checks to be effective, they must first and foremost reach their intended audience. Yet, little is known about what determines engagement with fact-checks and how to enhance their reach. We conducted a pre-registered online survey experiment in Pakistan (N participants = 302, N observation ... more

External Link (136)

Destruktive Diskurse: Digitale Verbreitung von klimabezogener Mis- und Desinformation

Hanna Börgmann, Dominik Hammer, Jan Beyer, Jonas Ziock, Fiete Stegers, Philipp Keßling, Felix Münch

Berlin; Hamburg: Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD); Hans-Bredow-Institut (2025), 52 pp.

Download (58)

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

Download (39)

Disarming disinformation in the media: What works, what doesn't and why

Cambridge: Thomson Foundation (2025), 4 pp.

Download (16)

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

External Link (120)

Climate Disinformation in Thailand: Negating Indigenous Peoples’ Identity

Bangkog: Asia Centre (2025), viii, 60 pp.

"This report examines how climate disinformation reinforces the systemic negation of Indigenous People's (IP) identity, undermining traditional practices, weakening advocacy for rights and obstructing inclusive climate and forest governance by making three key contributions. First, it identifies fou ... r distinct forms of climate disinformation in Thailand: one-sided reporting, where the media spotlights government and corporate initiatives while omitting their social and environmental harms, whether due to political pressure or economic incentives; greenwashing, where corporations exaggerate or misrepresent their sustainability practices to obscure their ongoing environmentally destructive activities; false climate solutions promoted as climate action which fails to address the root causes of climate change while leaving IP communities socially and economically disadvantaged; scapegoating of IPs where Indigenous communities are falsely portrayed as primary drivers of deforestation, legitimising displacement and marginalisation. Second, it demonstrates four ways in which climate disinformation harms IPs, each reinforcing the negation of their identities: exclusion from decision-making: by either barring their participation outright or dismissing their inputs in decision-making processes, IPs’ Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is removed thereby negating their identities as owners and stewards of their land; criminalisation: the strategic misuse of “climate change” laws to negate IP identity and erase the legitimacy of IPs’ traditions and practices in environmental stewardship; and the use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) intimidate advocates for challenging climate disinformation; forced evictions: conservation and development narratives justify deterritorialisation that severs spiritual, cultural and economic ties to ancestral lands which forms the core of IPs’ identities; intimidation and violence: harassment, threats and attacks undermining the capacity of IPs to resist projects and actions that harm them, their environment and their way of life. Third, to address climate disinformation and safeguard Indigenous Peoples’ (IPs) rights and identities in Thailand, this report outlines a list of multi-stakeholder recommendations: UN bodies should integrate climate disinformation into their human rights monitoring and climate action frameworks and provide guidance to Thailand on implementing its international obligations; the Thai government should embed safeguards against climate disinformation into national climate and environmental policies, strengthen legal protections for IPs, ensure meaningful participation of IP communities in decision-making and improve transparency and accountability in environmental governance; international NGOs (INGOs) should collaborate with IP organisations to map, document and respond to climate disinformation, provide sustained technical capacity-building and funding, and support advocacy and litigation to defend IP rights; civil society organisations (CSOs) should monitor disinformation targeting IPs, co-develop counter-narratives with IP communities and educational content to empower both IPs and the broader public and expand legal aid support; the media sector should prioritise constructive and investigative journalism on climate, environmental, and IP issues; expand coverage in Indigenous languages and culturally appropriate formats; collaborate with IP organisations on fact-checking and monitoring disinformation; and amplify Indigenous perspectives through both national and international outlets; technology companies should strengthen content moderation against climate disinformation, flag misleading project information and invest in digital literacy and connectivity initiatives for rural and Indigenous communities; indigenous communities and organisations should build monitoring networks to identify and counter disinformation, strengthen alliances with independent and Indigenous media, conduct and participate in capacity-building workshops and use digital tools to amplify their voices and safeguard knowledge." (Executive summary, pages vi-vii) more

Download (39)

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

Download (29)

Charitable Instruction: Towards a Catholic-Thomistic Response to Misinformation

Wesley Kim D. Soguilon

Religion and Social Communication, volume 23, issue 2 (2025), pp. 474-496

"One of the problems the Philippines faces is the plague of misinformation, and this paper provides the groundwork for a possible Catholic-Thomistic response. In this work, the researcher attempts to answer the question of why Catholics need to solve this problem and what they can do to solve it. Th ... more

Download (24)

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

Download (41)

Desinformación, periodismo y democracia

Omar Rincon, Esther Borges

La Paz: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) (2025), 31 pp.

Download (54)

“She Played All the Pregnant Women!”: Russian Disinformation, Symbolic Annihilation, and the Mariupol Hospital Attack

Valentyna Shapovalova

International Journal of Communication, volume 18 (2024), pp. 3730-3751

"On March 9, 2022, the maternity and children’s hospital number 3 in Mariupol, Ukraine, was bombed as part of Russia’s full-scale war efforts in Ukraine. However, Russian statealigned media promoted a different narrative: namely, that the bombing itself, as well as the victims on site, were fake ... more

Download (38)

Vilify, ridicule, disinform: Political communication and media trust in the age of generative AI

Christian Schwieter, Milan Gandhi

Potsdam: Friedrich Naumann Foundation; Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) (2024), 23 pp.

"This report examines political communication and media trust in the age of generative artificial intelligence systems (AI). Firstly, it provides a brief explainer of generative AI tools and techniques, looking separately at systems that generate text and those that generate or manipulate images, vi ... more

Download (55)

The Peril and Promise of AI for Journalism

Nishtha Gupta, Jenina Ibañez, Chris Tenove

Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions (CSDI) (2024), 13 pp.

"This report draws on insights from the workshop, along with recent academic and journalistic publishing. It highlights three major issues: How generative AI can make disinformation campaigns faster, more targeted, and more persuasive. How newsrooms’ adoption of AI tools can lead to inaccuracies a ... more

Download (32)

Detecting deepfakes and generative AI: Report on standards for AI watermarking and multimedia authenticity workshop. The need for standards collaboration on AI and multimedia authenticity

Geneva: ITU (2024), vi, 21 pp.

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

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