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Russia, Disinformation, and the Liberal Order: RT as Populist Pariah

Stephen Hutchings, Precious Chatterje-Doody, Marie Gillespie, Vera Tolz

Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press (2024), 342 pp.

"Through the prism of the first comprehensive account of RT, the Kremlin's primary tool of foreign propaganda, Russia, Disinformation and the Liberal Order sheds new light on the provenance and nature of disinformation's threat to democracy. Interrogating the communications strategies pursued by aut ... more

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The flood, the traitors, and the protectors: Affect and white identity in the Internet Research Agency’s Islamophobic propaganda on Twitter

Bharath Ganesh, Nicolò Faggiani

Ethnic and Racial Studies, volume 47, issue 5 (2024), pp. 982-1008

"Between 2015 and 2017, the Internet Research Agency (IRA) – a Kremlin-backed “troll farm” based in St. Petersburg – executed a propaganda campaign on Twitter to target US voters. Scholarship has expended relatively little effort to study the role of Islamophobia in the IRA’s propaganda ca ... more

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Mitigating disinformation in Europe: Challenges and opportunities for civil society organisations and private actors

Wade Hoxtell

Gütersloh; Berlin: Bertelsmann Stiftung; Global Public Policy Institute (GPPI) (2024), 36 pp.

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Youth Media Literacy Fact-Checking Manual

Africa Check; Internwes; Advancing Rights in Southern Africa (ARISA) (2024), 31 pp.

"This dis- and misinformation fact-checking toolkit was developed by Africa Check for young journalism students and members of NGOs and CSOs with a focus on youth-led organisations. It aims to equip members of the youth with the knowledge and practical tips to stop the spread of false information. T ... more

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Unmasking Vulnerability: Understanding Disinformation in Samtskhe-Javakheti

Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC); International Media Support (IMS) (2024), 31 pp.

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Pandemics in the Age of Social Media: Information and Misinformation in Developing Nations

Vikas Kumar, Mohit Rewari (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), xviii, 191 pp.

"This book offers insights into social media practices and challenges in developing nations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Covering different aspects of social media during the pandemic, the book offers new frameworks, concepts, tools and techniques for integrating social media to support national de ... more

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Have people ‘had enough of experts’? The impact of populism and pandemic misinformation on institutional trust in comparative perspective

Vaclav Stetka, Francisco Brandao, Sabina Mihelj, Fanni Toth, Daniel Hallin, Danilo Rothberg, Paulo Ferracioli, Beata Klimkiewicz

Information, Communication & Society (2024), 22 pp.

"Public trust in institutions is a key prerequisite for effective crisis management. However, the rise of populism and misinformation in recent years made it increasingly difficult to maintain institutional trust. Despite this recognition, we still lack a systematic understanding of how exposure to ... more

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"I turned my fear into courage": Red-tagging and state violence against young human rights defenders in the Philippines

London: Amnesty International (2024), 73 pp.

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Russian Public-Diplomacy Efforts to Influence Neighbors: Media Messaging Supports Hard-Power Projection in Ukraine and Georgia

Maureen Taylor, Natalie M. Rice, Oleg Manaev, Catherine A. Luther, Suzie L. R. Allard, Alexander Bentley, Joshua Borycz, Benjamin D. Horne, Brandon C. Prins

International Journal of Communication, volume 18 (2024), pp. 2661-2684

"Nations use media to disseminate stories about their culture, history, and values. This study explored Russian public-diplomacy efforts by examining news content exported to its neighbors, Ukraine and Georgia, from February 2021 to July 2021, approximately one year before Russia’s invasion of Ukr ... more

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Building Trusted Media in a Fragile Setting: An Evaluation of Radio Ndeke Luka in Central African Republic

Jeffrey Conroy-Krutz

Michigan State University (2024), 8 pp.

"Can the impact of a news radio station on a highly vulnerable population in a crisis-affected country be measured? The installation of new FM transmitters for Radio Ndeke Luka in Beloko, Birao, and Obo in the Central African Republic offered an opportunity to carry out a field study measuring the i ... mpact of our radio station before and after its introduction in these remote regions of the country. The results of this study reveal a tangible impact and a shift in listeners’ perceptions, particularly regarding misinformation. The Central African Republic, marked by a weak central state, widespread poverty, and recurring intercommunal conflicts, is particularly vulnerable to misinformation. Radio Ndeke Luka, a project of Fondation Hirondelle in CAR, plays a crucial role by broadcasting reliable news 24/7 in both French and Sango across the country. Thanks to funding from the European Union, new FM transmitters for RNL were installed between December 2021 and April 2022 in remote areas of the Central African Republic, specifically in Beloko, Birao, and Obo. This provided an opportunity to assess the radio’s impact on local populations before and after the installation. Investigators from the local network of IMMAR Research & Consultancy followed a protocol developed by Dr. Jeff Conroy Krutz, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Michigan State University. This protocol ensured a random selection of adult participants and gender balance. In total, over 1,700 people were interviewed before the transmitters were installed, and more than 1,800 afterwards, within the same communities across the three localities. Measured Impacts Increase in Audience: RNL became the most listened-to radio station in the targeted areas within months of the new transmitters going live. Relevance and Impartiality: 52% of listeners considered RNL’s programs essential to their daily lives. Trust and impartiality scores also improved between the pre- and post-launch periods. Trust in RNL far exceeded that of other locally accessible radio stations. Combating Misinformation: Residents of the three areas reported significantly greater confidence in their ability to distinguish fact from fiction after the installation of the transmitters, which facilitated access to RNL programs." (https://www.hirondelle.org) more

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Russia's Information Warfare in the Middle East

Arik Segal

Potsdam: Friedrich Naumann Foundation (2024), 36 pp.

"This policy paper provides an overview of Russian information warfare in the Middle East. It includes a brief overview of Russian information warfare methods and Russian foreign policy in the Middle East. It then delves into Russian information warfare in the Middle East, evaluates its effectivenes ... more

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The Fragility of Freedom: Online Holocaust Denial and Distortion

London: Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD); Coalition to Counter Online Antisemitism (CCOA) (2024), 37 pp.

"The antisemitism landscape, including Holocaust denial and distortion, had shifted so drastically since October 7 that previous assumptions and understands now demand re-examination. In the run up to Holocaust Memorial Day 2024, this research compilation by members of the Coalition to Counter Onlin ... more

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Online Toxicity Against Syrians in Turkish Twitter: Analysis and Implications

Hala Mulki, Samir Alabdullah, Ahmed Halil, Nawari Al-Ali, Maria Kyriakidou, Ludek Stavinoha

International Journal of Communication, volume 18, issue 24 (2024), pp. 191-218

"This study examines the portrayal of Syrians on Turkish Twitter between January and August 2021 through a big data analysis of more than 30,000 tweets. We employ the concept of online toxicity to differentiate between disinformation and hate speech and explore how they are embedded in the negative ... more

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Winning the Battle of Ideas: Exposing Global Authoritarian Narratives and Revitalizing Democratic Principles

Joseph Siegle

Washington, DC: National Endowment for Democracy (NED) (2024), 23 pp.

"Rather than selling authoritarianism as such, authoritarian narratives focus on themes that have popular appeal—while attributing a wide range of visceral grievances to the shortcomings of democracy. Authoritarian narratives fall into four broad categories: 1. Noninterference, Choice, and Threats ... to Sovereignty: Narrative attempts to invoke universal themes such as sovereignty, noninterference, and choice which are presented as under threat from the spread of democracy. 2. Exploiting Grievances in the Global South: Tactics designed to attribute the numerous grievances in the Global South to exploitation by the West. 3. Democracies Failing to Deliver: A narrative that takes aim at the efficacy of democracy and, by implication, amplifies the ill-informed narratives about effectiveness of authoritarian governance. 4. Need for a New World Order: Collectively, the claims of Western interference, exploitation, and governance failures are intended to generate disillusionment with democracy and receptiveness to nondemocratic rule. Autocrats use a variety of channels to disseminate these preferred narratives at scale. The four following methods are particularly noteworthy: 1. Social Media: Authoritarians have taken advantage of the enormous—and still growing—social media sphere to promote narratives legitimizing autocracy. They exploit many users’ limited digital literacy skills through information influence campaigns and the employment of bots and online “troll farms” to peddle their preferred worldview. 2. State Broadcasters: Authoritarian actors also disseminate narratives through state media like RT, Sputnik, Xinhua, and China Global Television Network (CGTN). These outlets have the tone and imprimatur of an official news service, giving them a veneer of credibility that expands their reach. 3. Partnerships with Local Media: Authoritarian state-backed outlets aim to embed their content within national information environments. By disseminating preferred narratives through local media outlets and training foreign journalists, authoritarian actors are able to propagate norms of state control over the public information sphere. 4. Foreign Media Cooptation: Finally, authoritarian states are forging partnerships with other state broadcasters. These relationships have the indirect effect of incentivizing self-censorship and enable the intimidation of journalists and activists who criticize authoritarian leadership." (Executive summary, page 1-.2) more

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Detoxing information ecosystems: A proactive strategy for tackling disinformation

Steffen Leidel, Dennis Reineck

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2024), 14 pp.

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Disinformation and Peacebuilding in Sub-Saharan Africa: Security Implications of AI-Altered Information Environments

Eduardo Albrecht, Eleonore Fournier-Tombs, Rebecca Brubaker

New York, Geneva: United Nations University (UNU) (2024), 39 pp.

"[...] this report aims to further explore the way in which AI technologies as they currently stand impact peace and conflict, and what methods might be used to mitigate their adverse effects - through the development of better tools and the inclusion of peace and conflict considerations in AI gover ... nance frameworks. The report presents the following findings: 1. AI is a driver of disinformation which adversely impacts peacebuilding efforts. 2. There are several ways to mitigate AI-powered disinformation. 3. AI can also be used to promote peacebuilding, although these mechanisms are still in their early stages. In relation to these findings, the report proposes the following recommendations: 1. More funding and support should be provided to civil society organizations’ efforts to expand media literacy and fact-checking initiatives using AI tools to enhance capabilities. 2. Governments need to work with civil society to develop and implement comprehensive, transparent legal frameworks combating disinformation. These legislative measures need to support digital and media literacy campaigns and fact-checking organizations. 3. Social media companies need to expand investment and research into understanding local information environments, so they can better identify and respond to instances of disinformation in all contexts in which they operate and enhance transparency. 4. Peacebuilding organizations need to carefully consider local media ecosystems and information environments when conducting conflict analyses, and factor these dynamics into their projects’ frameworks. Currently, disinformation exacerbates existing grievances and polarization, can act as a trigger for violence, leads individuals to make decisions based on false information, and creates or intensifies mistrust of institutions and international peacebuilding efforts. The efforts of journalists and civil society organizations to combat these effects, primarily through media literacy initiatives and factchecking, cannot keep up with the scope and scale of ‘fake news.’ Generative AI will increase the rate at which false content is produced and disseminated, and the quality or ‘believability’ of such content. Governments, civil society, and social media companies must work in tandem to combat the spread of disinformation and the impact it can have on peacebuilding efforts and security in sub-Saharan Africa." (Executive summary) more

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Social media and mis/disinformation in electoral context in the DRC

Pierre N'sana, Patient Ligodi, Pierre Bahati Ndamwenge et al.

USAID; FHI 360; Internews (2024), 57 pp.

"This paper aimed to address some of the gaps in knowledge about the nature of mis/disinformation and hate speech in WhatsApp groups, as well as the mechanisms through which those messages are identified, perceived, and relayed by users. Through quantitative and qualitative study of activities in 15 ... more

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News Can Help! The Impact of News Media and Digital Platforms on Awareness of and Belief in Misinformation

Sacha Altay, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen Nielsen, Richard Fletcher

International Journal of Press/Politics, volume 29, issue 2 (2024), pp. 459-484

"Does the news media exacerbate or reduce misinformation problems? Although some news media deliberately try to counter misinformation, it has been suggested that they might also inadvertently, and sometimes purposefully, amplify it. We conducted a two-wave panel survey in Brazil, India, and the UK ... more

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Quelle: Künstliche Intelligenz?

Sören Torrau, Florian Köhler

Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (bpb) (2024), 13 pp.

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Unveiling Disinformation: Mapping Attacks on Brazil’s Electoral System and the Response of the Superior Electoral Court (2018–2023)

Regina Cazzamatta, Augusto Santos, Grazielle Albuquerque

International Journal of Communication, volume 18 (2024), pp. 3551-3575

"Falsehoods targeting political parties and candidates have long been entrenched in Brazilian politics and monitored by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). Since the rise of the far right in Brazil, the TSE has itself become a disinformation target. This study aims to unveil disinformation that has ... more