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Unpacking Affective Polarization in Afghanistan: Ethnic Politics, Elite Competition, and Online Divisive Content
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2024), 25 pp.
"Affective polarization has been a persistent feature of Afghanistan’s society and politics in the past decades. However, with the instantaneous collapse of the republic’s government and the return of the Taliban, the country has witnessed heightened affective polarization along ethnic and ideol
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The Digital Battlefield: The Taliban’s Case of Co-opting Social Media for Warfare and Governance
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2023), 20 pp.
"This paper delves into the paramount significance of social media in contemporary warfare, shedding light on the critical need for effective measures to counter online radical narratives and prevent the spread of violent extremism. It explores how autocratic and repressive groups like the Taliban e
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Social Media Activism for Civilian Supremacy in Myanmar and Pakistan
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2023), 14 pp.
"In Myanmar and Pakistan, anti-democratic forces including an alliance of military and right-wing political factions are dominating political affairs despite both countries’ constitutions defining democratic processes. Consequently, the authoritarian rule has been looming in these countries. The a
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Digital Warfare and Peace: Learning from Ukraine’s Response to the Russian Invasion
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2023), 15 pp.
"Before launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Russia had maintained a low-scale war with Ukraine since early 2014. That conflict, which culminated in the annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the ongoing Donbas war, received less international attention than the 2022 ful
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Counter Recruiting in the Online Gaming Community
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2023), 9 pp.
"Organisations ranging from violent extremist groups to the US Army have used online gaming, a popular form of entertainment among the world’s youth, for recruiting purposes. To date, efforts to curtail online recruiting have been siloed to reduce recruitment of certain groups, such as violent ext
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Exploring Disinformation in Fragile States: Iraq as a Case Study of Influence of International Political Actors
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2023), 18 pp.
"This paper examines the influence of international political actors in perpetuating disinformation in fragile states, using Iraq as a case study. The advent of modern technology and social media has transformed the global information landscape, providing new avenues for the dissemination of disinfo
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How Big Data Can Bolster Autocratic Legitimacy (Via the Rhetoric of Safety and Convenience)
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2022), 14 pp.
"This Policy Brief examines the different ways in which big data collection serves autocratic agendas by hiding the oppressive potential of heightened surveillance through promises of enhanced safety, convenience, and modernisation. Political actors with autocratic agendas can package their governan
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Comparing Guidance for Tech Companies in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute; JustPeace Labs (2022), 44 pp.
"This research report explores the strengths and weaknesses of four different frameworks tech companies, governments, and civil society can use to assess harms and benefits of new technologies. The four frameworks include human rights, conflict sensitivity, ethics, and human security. The research m
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Kazakhstan’s Bloody January: Digital Repression on the “New Silk Road”
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2022), 24 pp.
"In January 2022, Kazakhstan’s government shut down internet access for several days while enacting a violent crackdown on initially peaceful protests triggered by hikes in fuel prices. This policy brief examines Kazakhstan’s internet and media landscape, the (re)actions of civil society and the
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From Airtable to Zoom: An A-to-Z Guide to Digital Tech and Activism 2021
Deep Insights
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2021), 18 pp.
"This policy brief maps how activists are using technology to pursue public interests in human rights, democracy and a livable environment. It begins with a look at how cell phone tech has upped the outreach and mobilising game for campaigns, dives into digital storytelling and fundraising, explores
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Cognitive-Affective Mapping and Digital Peacebuilding
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2021), 15 pp.
"Ideologies play a fundamental role in the emergence, escalation and resolution of conflict by underpinning divergent narratives and worldviews. These ideologies are often developed and sustained through a combination of interrelated and deeply-held core beliefs, values and emotions which have been
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Social Media Impacts on Conflict Dynamics: A Synthesis of Ten Case Studies & A Peacebuilding Plan for Tech
Deep Insights
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2020), 21 pp.
"Social media’s relationship with violent conflict is complex; there is no simple cause-effect relationship. These ten case studies indicate that there are a variety of factors at play that im-pact how social media affects conflict dynamics. This report documents an array of observable patterns as
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The Role of Social Media in Fomenting Violence: Myanmar
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2020), 20 pp.
"Myanmar was originally portrayed as an internet success story. Connected in a matter of months after five decades of military dictatorship, Myanmar people were supposed to be able to communicate freely, access unimpeded information online, experience the benefits of a range of compelling and empowe
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Conflict and Social Media: Activism of Civil Society for Peace Between India-Pakistan
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2020), 15 pp.
"This policy brief examines the work of civil society activists struggling for peace by using social media around the world. Drawing from extensive field research, as well as the social media actions of activists and civil society members of India, Pakistan and beyond, this brief explains how the so
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25 Spheres of Digital Peacebuilding and PeaceTech
Deep Insights
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute; Alliance for Peacebuilding (2020), 28 pp.
"This report outlines twenty-fives spheres where technology can contribute to peacebuilding goals and describes five generations of thinking related to the evolution of technology’s impact on peacebuilding. Digital peacebuilding contributes to democratic deliberation, violence prevention, social c
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The False Information Ecosystem in India
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2019), 20 pp.
"Over the past few years, internet access and adoption in India has grown tremendously, giving Indians more access to the online information ecosystem than ever before. Today, India is one of the largest markets for technology platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook. However, the adoption of these t
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Social Media Dynamics in Boko Haram’s Terrorist Insurgence
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2019), 15 pp.
"This policy brief analyses the use of social media by different groups affected by Boko Haram’s terrorist insurgence, including the group itself. The rate, speed, spread and belief which information from social media commands has changed theatres of war and amplified terrorist threats. The Nigeri
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Polarisation and Peacebuilding Strategy on Digital Media Platforms: Current Strategies and their Discontents
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2019), 17 pp.
This is the second of two policy briefs on polarisation. The first policy brief, “Polarisation and Peacebuilding Strategy on Digital Media Platforms: The Current Research,” reviewed the research, and concluded by recommending directions for future research. This brief describes interventions: (a
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Social Media Literacy, Ethnicity and Peacebuilding in Kenya
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2019), 14 pp.
"Kenya has experienced a cycle of political violence following a series of controversial elections that have centred on ethnic competition, leading to human rights abuses, deaths, destruction of property and a downward economic spiral. At the core of election violence, witnessed in 2007/8 and in 201
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Venezuela’s 21st Century Authoritarianism in the Digital Sphere
Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2019), 14 pp.
"This policy brief summarises extensive information on digital rights violations and politically motivated information disorders affecting Venezuelans, principally social media users. The brief focuses on the conflict dynamic between an authoritarian government and those fighting for re-democratisat
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