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Radicalism Online: An Analysis of the Meanings, Ideas, and Values of Violent Extremism in Central Asia

Bishkek: Internews; Centre for Religious Studies of Kyrgyzstan (2021), 136 pp.

"In an effort to help prevent violent extremism in Central Asia, the Research Centre for Religious Studies of Kyrgyzstan conducted an analysis of values, narratives, and online messages created and distributed by banned extremist groups in five countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmeni ... stan, and Uzbekistan. The study included over 1.6 million messages containing religious rhetoric and provides insight into the meanings of the messages and the channels for dissemination, as well as the impact of the messages on the target audience. This was followed by a field study of 4,005 respondents in the 18-35 age range. In addition, the survey also sought to identify the media preferences of young people in the region. Using the findings, the Centre developed communication strategies for each country that recommended how media, NGOs, state authorities, and religious leaders could, with a focus on young people, contribute to promoting peace. Although less than 1% of the analyzed messages containing religious rhetoric had what would be considered dangerous content, those particular messages often resonated with users’ values and interests, especially young people. The messages promoting violence used specific, complex terms that were geared to people who were already followers of radical ideas rather than the average user. The intent of the messages was to deepen the commitment of followers rather than recruit new followers. Administrators of violent extremist channels have developed multi-channel access strategies for potential recipients (through various platforms, chat rooms, personal messages, and reposts), thwarting the blocking measures used by Central Asian governments. The messaging by extremist groups promotes: purity of faith, mutual support to fellow believers, fighting against infidels and apostates, rejection of secular power and its decisions, ambition to create a caliphate, and anti-Semitism. The main target audience of distributors of extremist content is young people aged 18-30 who are dissatisfied with the current political environment and who share a strong sense of injustice. Those aged 18-21 showing the strongest support for the influence of religion on politics. Level of education is also a risk factor: young people with less education tend to engage more with the content." (Publisher description) more

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2019 Media Consumption and Media and Information Literacy Survey in the Countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan)

Internews; USAID (2021), 38 pp.

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Prepare, Prevent, Resist: The OPTIMA Internet Shutdowns Resource Library

Internews (2021)

"The OPTIMA workflow is a compilation of new and existing resources, guides, methodologies, and more to assist individuals and activists before, during and after an Internet shutdown. The following repository is organized into four categories: ADVOCACY RESOURCES. Designing effective advocacy campai ... more

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Tunisia Media Landscape Assessment

Internews; USAID (2021), 75 pp.

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Jakarta's Pandemic Information Ecosystem: A Study on Discrepancies Between Supply and Demand of Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

Muhamad Heychael, Yovantra Arief et al.

Internews; Remotiv; USAID (2021), 130 pp.

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Information Saves Lives: Addressing COVID-19 in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana and Peru

Internews; USAID (2021), 16 pp.

"Internews designed the HRSM Amazon project to provide adequate information about COVID to vulnerable communities. Each local partner maintained relationships with indigenous communities and remote sectors that received inadequate state health care, had high rates of mis/disinformation, and lacked i ... nformation about the pandemic. Partners adapted project activities to these communities’ needs, providing information in their native languages and supporting community members to lead fact-based content production. For some communities, these trainings offered their first experiences ever in producing communications materials, and partners ensured indigenous values directly informed content creation with an intercultural approach. Internews observed the project’s direct and indirect positive impacts on shifting perspectives of indigenous organizations. For example, SERVINDI reported that when they first conducted their health diagnosis, indigenous communities rejected the vaccine; however, the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin (COICA) requested more vaccination information in their native languages following the campaign’s implementation. Similarly, communication narratives that placed traditional and Western medicine in dialogue helped communities consider alternative strategies for coping with the pandemic. Throughout HRSM Amazon’s 12-month timeframe, the project consistently evolved to adapt initiatives to community needs. To reach last-mile communities in Colombia and Guyana, for instance, partners stored audio on flash drives to play repeatedly over loudspeakers where internet was not available. The pandemic not only heightened the visibility of digital connectivity challenges, but it particularly amplified the health realities of the most remote indigenous communities ignored by the State. According to local organizations, health problems extend far beyond just COVID infections. Indigenous communities face limited medical presence or no medical supplies on a regular basis; for example, the Araona Territory previously lacked a health center nearby, so the population had not received medical attention for 15 years. CEJIS adapted its project activities to go beyond preventing COVID-19 transmission in the Araona communities, providing radio listeners and national media across Bolivia with health information and updates on the Araona situation. As the project concluded, HRSM Amazon partners left indigenous communities equipped with their own communication initiatives, such as communicator networks and informational podcasts that community members are now continuing to lead independently, setting them up for greater long-term connectivity and information access. Not only will communities be able to more effectively share information among themselves moving forward, but this greater visibility will also help the State understand primary needs among indigenous communities, create culturally relevant health information campaigns, and act with increased respect for indigenous autonomy." (Executive summary) more

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Information Dystopia and Philippine Democracy: Protecting the Public Sphere from Disinformation
Deep Insights

Yvonne T. Chua, Nicole Curato, Jonathan Corpus Ong

Internews (2021), 98 pp.

"The Philippines is one of the first countries where the potential for online disinformation threats to undermine democratic processes, especially during elections, was noticed [...] This report takes a deep look at an online survey that Internews conducted, explores the cultural and emotional dimen ... more

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Comunicar el autocuidado: Pueblos indígenas frente al Covid-19. Periodo de implementación: Abril 2020 a marzo 2021

Internews; Centro de Internet y Sociedad (IUSR) (2021), 22 pp.

"El presente reporte se enfoca en el proyecto “Comunicar el autocuidado – Pueblos Indígenas frente al Covid-19", implementado en la Costa Caribe Colombiana, desde abril 2020 hasta marzo 2021. Por medio de este proyecto, Internews apoyó y fortaleció las capacidades de comunicación de las comu ... more

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Multistakeholder Dialogue on Electoral Disinformation

Jonathan Corpus Ong, Nicole Curato

Internews (2021), 34 pp.

"The Multistakeholder Dialogue on Electoral Disinformation (MDED) project sought the perspectives of pro-democracy actors and key agents in the electoral process to map out election integrity initiatives, assess organizational capacities for disinformation mitigation, and identify influence operatio ... more

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Socio-Economic Impact of COVID-19 and Media Consumption Among Vulnerable Communities in Central Asia

Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, Shairbek Dzhuraev, Andreas Marazis

European Neigbourhood Council; Internews (2021), 44 pp.

"Social media (Instagram, Facebook, Telegram followed by Twitter) are the biggest information channels in general, but especially for youth, with preference for visual content (short videos, reels, pictures with quotes, little text). For example, in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan between 50% and 63% of l ... more

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Evaluación rápida del ecosistema de información en derechos de la comunidad venezolana migrante y retornada en Pasto

Francisco Torres Gómez, Andrés Cuervo Ulloa, Jasmín Pantoja Bolaños

Internews; USAID (2021), 50 pp.

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Understanding Listener Behavior: 2021 South Sudan National Audience Survey

Forcier Consulting; Internews; USAID (2021), 77 pp.

"Conclusions and actionable recommendations to media stakeholders and Internews including: improving access to radio and television in Unity State would likely produce a substantial increase in overall media consumption in Unity State; improving access to smartphones in Warrap State would potentiall ... more

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Understudied Digital Platforms in the Philippines

José Mari Hall Lanuza, Rossine Fallorina, Samuel Cabbuag

Internews (2021), 92 pp.

"Internews’ work on disinformation in the Philippines aims at uniting the strengths of stakeholders in the media community, civil society, academia, private sector, and social media companies, along six axes: factchecking and myth busting, media and information literacy, public policy advocacy, di ... more

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Information Ecosystem Assessment: Malaysia

Internews (2021), 113 pp.

"The overarching themes identified from the national information ecosystem analysis findings: Lack of basic infrastructure such as electricity cuts and poor/non-existent internet coverage, is a major barrier to accessing information; Pusat Internet 1Malaysia is highly in demand in rural communities; ... more

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Situational Analysis of Digital Security in Cameroon

Internews (2021), 14 pp.

"Based on the needs assessment, a high proportion of women in Cameroon face online violence and are increasingly concerned about their safety in digital spaces. However, many of these respondents are unaware of any legal protections offered to them. Additionally, they believe that they lack the appr ... more

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Moving Mountains: The Challenges of Religious Representation in Malaysia

Projek Dialog; Internews (2021), 25 pp.

"[...] Faith communities in Malaysia seem to constantly find ways to reach out to each other and to Malaysians who may not necessarily share their backgrounds. This already contradicts the assumption that local religions are often intolerant towards each other. Rather, what is required is a platform ... more

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Internews COVID-19 Media Bulletin: Reporting on COVID-19 in South Sudan, Issue 10

Internews (2021), 10 pp.

"Internews in South Sudan has now been on the ground for 7 months, providing lifesaving information about the COVID-19 pandemic to at risk and affected populations, including to refugees, IDPs and those living in PoCs. With the publication of our 10th Lugara newsletter we would like to first say tha ... more

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The Business Environment for News Media in Zimbabwe

Michelle Foster, Jason Lambert

Internews (2021), 22 pp.

"There is a growing market for factual, independent, reliable, and affordable news delivered in diverse languages in southern Zimbabwe. The local revenue sources to fund those efforts are not apparent. In an area of deep poverty, which has only been amplified by natural disasters and pandemic, large ... more

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Port-Au-Prince Information Ecosystem Assessment

Internews; Panos Caribbean (2020), 70 pp.

"Key finding 1: A trusted thirdperson is the most important information provider. When asked for their main source of information, family, friends, and religious leaders accounted for 89% of the response choices combined. Additionally, 97% stated they trust their family and friends. Key finding 2: S ... ocial media, the new player in the game? Even though radio remains the main channel of information used by the population (76%) – followed by television (48%) – WhatsApp (29%) and Facebook (28%) combined total 57% of respondents’ choice. Moreover, among participants who have Internet access, the leading applications to receive news areWhatsApp (82%) and Facebook (70%). Key finding 3: News on current events and sports are the most preferred content in traditional media channels. Participants mostly responded they like to see “news on current events” and “sports news” in traditional media channels. Radio listeners mostly enjoy “news on current events” (61%), newspapers readers like to read about “news on current events” (65%) and “sports” (33%), and television consumers mostly favor “news on current events” (49%) and “sports” (37%). Sports are ahead of educational and/or health programs in all types of media. Key finding 4: Residents in Port-au-Prince have unmet information needs. When asked about the information they need the most – at the time –, 52% of participants selected “how to find a job”, followed closely by “general news about what is happening in the country including COVID-19” (51%). Respondents also mentioned the need for information on “access to food and drinking water” (48%), as well as information about the “security situation in Port-au-Prince” (47%). Key finding 5: Information consumers are not passive actors: trust and relevance are key points. Content and source are the two main factors affecting the information ecosystem in Port-auPrince. Even among their preferred source of information – family and friends – or their preferred channel – radio –, trust is not blindly granted. In the focus groups, participants point out the lack of training of journalists, the fact that many confuse facts with opinions or place greater value in sensationalism, often leading to unsubstantiated claims and misinformation [...]" (Pages 5-14) more

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Global Rumour Bulletin

Internews (2020), 10 pp.

"For the last 6 months, the Internews' Rooted in Trust project has collected more than 5,238 rumours from seven countries: Afghanistan, Lebanon, Philippines, Colombia, Central African Republic, Mali and Sudan. We work in 12 local languages and collect data across seven major social media platforms a ... more

Information Dystopia and Philippine Democracy: Protecting the Public Sphere from Disinformation Deep Insights

Information Dystopia and Philippine Democracy: Protecting the Public Sphere from Disinformation
Deep Insights