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Defending Democracy in Exile: Policy Responses to Transnational Repression

Yana Gorokhovskaia, Linzer. Isabel

Washington, DC: Freedom House (2022), 42 pp.

"Transnational repression is strategically employed by autocrats, enabled by underprepared host governments, and spreading rapidly around the world. This report aims to assess the strengths and weaknesses in the global understanding of and responses to transnational repression, so that governments, ... more

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Misinformation and disinformation: An international effort using behavioural science to tackle the spread of misinformation

Chiara Varazzani, Michaela Sullivan-Paul, Lauryn Conway, Andrea Colasanti, Nicholas Diamond

Paris: OECD; OPSI (2022), 31 pp.

"The OECD convened a first-of-its kind international partnership on behavioural science and misinformation between the Canadian and the French governments to develop and disseminate behaviourally-informed and evidence-based solutions that can guide government response to misinformation. The study te ... more

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Supply Chain Analysis: Jordan

Washington, DC: Global Book Alliance; Education Development Center (EDC); USAID (2022), viii, 85 pp.

"Jordan has an active and vibrant children’s book publishing sector, enhanced by the many international organizations that are working in education and health to create children’s reading materials. Reports indicate that certain types of books are widely available in Jordanian schools: 99.3% of ... Jordanian students have textbooks, and 67.6% of classrooms have additional reading materials. Although the quantity of books in many classrooms meets international norms, the mix of book types, including decodable and leveled readers for the youngest grades, is often inadequate for teaching beginning students to read. This, combined with some 30%−35% of classrooms functioning only with textbooks, creates inequities that improvements to book supply chains can address. The book issue is part of a larger set of challenges that limit literacy. Until recently, teachers have not been trained in early-grade reading techniques that use explicit phonics instruction. Because of this historical lack of an explicit phonics approach, leveled and decodable readers are still an unfamiliar concept in Jordan, and ERMs are not included in the MoE’s textbook procurement system. Because the MoE doesn't procure these kinds of books, they aren't produced en masse, and because they're not produced en masse, they're not procured, which leads to a vicious cycle and a broken chain of supply and demand. Teaching also has not taken into account the important role of reading aloud to children. This is critical, given the situation of diglossia in Jordan, in which students speak a dialect of Arabic at home but learn to read Modern Standard Arabic when they start school. Exposure to oral Modern Standard Arabic, which could be provided through reading aloud to children, has been proven to lift literacy rates among Arabic speakers. Books are too expensive for many low-income families, and reading for pleasure is not common, which leads to reduced demand for books at home. This means that a child’s only exposure to print is during school hours, which are too short a window of time in which to acquire reading skills. The traditional definition of literacy has rested on recitation of Qur’anic texts; only recently has the emphasis shifted toward a definition based on deriving meaning from text. In addition, the content of children’s books can be poor, with serious spelling and grammatical mistakes that reduce public perception of the quality of these books, and may reduce demand. Libraries, which could fill the gap left by lack of books at home, are not very attractive; while libraries in private schools tend to have books and learning resources for all ages, most libraries are stocked with books that either do not interest or address the needs of students or that have quickly eteriorated. Less educated parents tend to give all importance to the textbook and do not encourage their children to borrow and read books for general reading pleasure." (Executive summary, pages 2-3) more

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Estudio de mercado y audiencias de medios de comunicación en América Central: Guatemala

Proyecto VIMES; Free Press Unlimited; A-01 (2022), 70 pp.

"Esta publicación presenta información sobre el mercado actual de los medios de comunicación en Guatemala; sobre cómo la población percibe estos medios y cuáles son los hábitos de la audiencia en el consumo de la información. Además, ofrece recomendaciones para mejorar la viabilidad de los ... more

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Finding the Funds for Journalism to Thrive: Policy Options to Support Media Viability
Deep Insights

Anya Schiffrin, Emily Bell, Julie Posetti, Francesca Edgerton

Paris: UNESCO (2022), 16 pp.

"The traditional business model of the news media has been deeply eroded by a shift in advertising revenues to online platforms. Media outlets must intensify efforts towards more inclusive journalism, alternative business models and diversified revenue streams. Urgent action from other actors is als ... more

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Trapped in a Web: The Exploitation of Personal Data in Hungary’s 2022 Elections

Human Rights Watch (2022), 94 pp.

"On April 3, 2022, Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party won a fourth term in national elections, cementing its dominance with a two-thirds majority that will allow it to continue traveling what critics of the party and many others would describe as the path of centralizing power and rolling back democrat ... more

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Mapping the nexus between media reporting of violence against girls: The normalization of violence, and the perpetuation of harmful gender norms and stereotypes. Evidence review

Lorena Fuentes, Abha Shri Saxena, Jennifer Bitterly

UNICEF; UN Women (2022), 66 pp.

"It finds broad consensus across the literature that mainstream news media outlets tend to make use of harmful tropes and stereotypes when reporting on cases of gender-based violence, and that this contributes to the normalization of violence and perpetuation of discriminatory gender norms and stere ... otypes. The key modalities considered in the scholarly literature relate to the visual and textual features of news stories, and the sourcing practices used by journalists. Studies highlight a tendency for mainstream news reporting to mirror and reinforce the dynamics that contribute to gender-based violence in the first place, such as victim blaming, decentring the responsibility of perpetrators, and deploying stigmatizing or sensationalizing language that draws upon harmful gender norms and stereotypes about women’s and girls’ ‘appropriate roles’. Overall, the effect of these reporting modalities is to direct the public’s attention towards the behaviour and actions of victims and to suggest that the transgression is in the violation of a gender norm, rather than in the exercise of violence. Evidence from the scholarly literature also highlights that incidents of gender-based violence are largely reported as episodic events or independent incidents of crime, that such reports deploy language that blames the victim by suggesting that she violated established or expected gender norms and rules, and that the level of sensationalism or ‘shock value’ in the case determines its ‘newsworthiness’. Evidence also suggests that reporters still largely neglect to include inputs from gender-based violence, women’s rights or child protection experts. Subsequent sections dig deeper into the evidence of the nexus between news media reporting of violence against girls and the normalization of that violence. This involves analysing some of the more common tropes and stereotypes that circulate in relation to victims and perpetrators, and providing illustrative examples of how these shape interpretations of gender-based violence and its victims. These tropes and stereotypes are also shaped by vectors of intersectional discrimination across regional contexts, and evidence highlights that media reports play a crucial role in reinforcing hierarchies by differentiating between ‘types’ of victims (where some victims matter, or matter more than others). Significantly, from the age analysis perspective, evidence from media reports also indicates that there is often an ‘expiration date’ after which girl victims may not ‘count’ as children. Specifically, sexualization in news media coverage of cases of gender-based violence can function as a mechanism to portray adolescent girls as adult women, and thus to obscure not only the gender dimension but also age-based rights violations at play. Notably, while this review identifies a burgeoning literature analysing the dynamics of media reporting on gender-based violence against women and how these relate to the perpetuation of discriminatory gender norms and stereotypes, there is a concerning gap in similar scholarly literature analysing these dynamics in relation to girls. Specifically, while there is a rich body of literature that includes gender and intersectional analyses of media reporting of gender-based violence, research that centres the age-related lens and analysis alongside the gender lens is relatively thin or nascent. The final section spotlights the range of existing frameworks and guidelines for promoting more gender- and age-sensitive as well as victim-/survivor-centred reporting. It notes that, while there is a relatively clear path forward in terms of what needs to be done to drive positive change, a pressing gap remains in how to incentivize and ensure uptake and implementation of these frameworks and strategies for more responsible reporting of GBV within and across media organizations and among media practitioners. This section leverages insights from stakeholders, as well as the literature, to flag additional ‘enablers’ that may be key to unlocking the potential within these existing frameworks. These include dynamics that may have more or less impact at scale, including the values and commitments of individual journalists, networks of feminist journalists and gender editors, the presence of strong feminist and women’s movements that mobilize civil society in response to cases of violence and push for greater accountability from the state and media organizations, and advocacy and engagement with local news organizations and media practitioners by international organizations. Reflecting on the evidence, the review concludes by suggesting that achieving the kinds of changes needed to enable more gender- and age-sensitive reporting will require a combination of formal and informal mechanisms, strategies, and long-term efforts and investments. These need to acknowledge that, even though gender norms and stereotypes are ‘sticky’ and take time to change, the vast sphere of influence of news reporting, and of the media more broadly, means that it presents a tremendous opportunity and entry point for catalysing positive changes in how gender-based violence against girls is represented, and thus how we as a society interpret and respond to it." (Overview, pages 7-8) more

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The Universal Periodic Review (UPR): Model Recommendations in the Field of Freedom of Expression, Safety of Journalists and Access to Information

UNESCO (2022), 14 pp.

"This note provides suggestions for Member States on how to word the recommendations for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in the field of freedom of expression, safety of journalists and access to information. The background and recommendations below can also assist UN Country Teams, National Hum ... more

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Government Internet Shutdowns Are Changing: How Should Citizens and Democracies Respond?

Steven Feldstein

Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (2022), 45 pp.

"The most promising strategies to help citizens circumvent internet shutdowns do not involve deploying satellite internet devices or floating balloons. Instead, simpler solutions, such as encouraging citizens to download anticensorship apps or software ahead of time, are much more useful. But they d ... more

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Journalismus in sozialen Netzwerken: ARD und ZDF im Bann der Algorithmen?

Henning Eichler

Frankfurt am Main: Otto Brenner Stiftung (2022), 112 pp.

"[...] Durch ausführliche Interviews mit Redaktionsmitgliedern und (Digital-)Verantwortlichen bei ARD und ZDF kann er [ = der Autor dieser Studie] ein detailliertes Bild ihrer gegenwärtigen Social-Media-Praxis zeichnen. Das Dilemma wird deutlich: Eine Orientierung der redaktionellen Tätigkeiten a ... more

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Stronger Digital Voices from Africa: Building African Digital Foreign Policy and Diplomacy

Sorina Teleanu, Jovan Kurbalija

DiploFoundation (2022), 201 pp.

"As Africa’s digital dynamism grows, its participation in global digital policy must increase. In this transition, African countries have to navigate the geopolitical realities of our times. This study provides a snapshot of Africa’s digital diplomacy by examining the holistic representations of ... more

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Researching the Evolving Online Ecosystem: Barriers, Methods and Future Challenges

Jakob Guhl, Oliver Marsh, Henry Tuck

London: Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) (2022), 35 pp.

"This report outlines the findings from the initial scoping phase of a project supported by a grant from Omidyar Network and launched by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) and CASM Technology to identify online spaces used by extremist, hate and disinformation actors and communities as they ... more

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Charity campaigning: Where next?

Katie Tiffin

London: International Broadcasting Trust (IBT) (2022), 27 pp.

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Klüfte überwinden, Machtstrukturen abbauen! Feministische Entwicklungspolitik und die digitale Transformation verknüpfen

Isabel Gahren, Jelena Jovicic, Julian Reiter

Bonn; Eschborn: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) (2022), 43 pp.

"Die vorliegende Publikation ist ein erster Versuch, die Querschnittsthemen digitale Transformation und Geschlechtergerechtigkeit auf der Grundlage der feministischen Entwicklungspolitik Deutschlands zusammenzudenken. Die deutsche feministische Entwicklungspolitik will in einem globalen System, das ... weiterhin von einer ungleichen Verteilung sozialer, wirtschaftlicher und politischer Macht geprägt ist, entscheidende Veränderungen erwirken. Die Herausforderungen und Hindernisse sind jedoch vielfältig: von bewaffneten Konflikten über Klimaextreme, zunehmenden Hunger und Armut bis hin zum weltweiten Erstarken von Anti-Gender-Bewegungen. Die digitale Transformation fügt der Komplexität hier eine weitere Ebene hinzu. Digitale Technologien – von Smartphones, intelligenten Geräten und Software bis hin zu künstlicher Intelligenz (KI), digitalen Plattformen und Blockchain – eröffnen viele Möglichkeiten für Empowerment und sozialen Wandel. Gleichzeitig spiegeln Technologien die physische Welt und ihre Systeme der Marginalisierung und Unterdrückung wie Patriarchat, Rassismus und Kolonialismus wider. Trotz der in ihr verankerten und reproduzierten Ungleichheiten bleibt das Anliegen, die Potenziale der digitalen Transformation zu nutzen, weiterhin ein Handlungsfeld der deutschen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit. Die neue feministische Entwicklungspolitik Deutschlands baut auf dem bisherigen Engagement auf und geht gleichzeitig neue Wege. Sie setzt sich für eine geschlechtergerechte digitale Transformation und digitale Teilhabe für alle ein. Gleichzeitig ist das zukünftige Ziel, alle Formen struktureller und systemischer Ursachen von Ungleichheit zu überwinden, die in der heutigen globalen Gesellschaft tief verwurzelt sind. Insbesondere letzterer Aspekt bedeutet auch, den Status quo der gegenwärtigen digitalen Transformation und digitalen Entwicklungspolitik grundlegend in Frage zu stellen. Die vorliegende Studie verdeutlicht, dass eine feministische Entwicklungspolitik im digitalen Raum vielschichtig ist und umfasst eine Bandbreite sich überschneidender Themen. In erster Linie bedeutet eine feministische Entwicklungspolitik für den digitalen Raum jedoch die Überwindung der anhaltenden digitalen Geschlechterkluft." (Zusammenfassung, Seite 6) more

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Content Moderation in autoritären Staaten: Wie soziale Medien zu Komplizen autoritärer Herrscher zu werden drohen

Paula Köhler, Daniel Voelsen

Berlin: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) (2022), 8 pp.

"Täglich gibt es Berichte darüber, wie private Betreiber sozialer Medien sich problematischen Vorgaben autoritärer Herrscher beugen. Ob in Thailand, Kasachstan oder Russland, immer wieder werden als Teil von Content Moderation (CM) gezielt Inhalte entfernt oder Konten gelöscht, weil Regierungen ... more

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Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA): Peru

Gabriela Corbera, Jacqueline Foelster, Carlos Guerrero, Susannah Horton

USAID, Digital Frontiers Project (2022), 82 pp.

"Key findings include: 1. Peru’s digital ecosystem is one of many contrasts. There have been sustained advances over the last 30 years in connectivity, digital literacy, digital rights, digital government, and the digital economy; 2. Challenges in digital policy implementation and coordination cap ... more

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Report: Coordinating Media Assistance and Journalism Support Efforts

Michael Randall, Aida Al-Kaisy

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2022), 40 pp.

"All respondents in the interviews—including those who shared a negative experience of coordination—agreed that at a minimum, sharing information and exploring synergies should be fixtures of the media development landscape in any given country. The positive impact of such activities on value fo ... r money, aid effectiveness, and public perceptions of development programmes was recognised across the board and particularly in the context of the fundamental principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Clearly, the scale of coordination work will depend largely on the volume of programming on the ground. However, even in those countries that see low levels of activity or have a single dominant programme, there was perceived value in introducing media development as a separate thematic strand in wider coordination efforts. The format and structure inherent in the selected coordination mechanism will also be shaped by the needs and priorities of local actors, but in general, a scheduled exchange of information combined with a platform for knowledge management was welcomed. The recommended level of involvement of donor organisations is a moot point since few if any coordination mechanisms have succeeded in regularly bringing donors and implementing agencies to the table. In 2016, as part of the MedMedia project, EC officials attempted to organise a roundtable for EU donors and development agencies committed to supporting media in the MENA region. Despite the best efforts of those concerned, the event was attended by representatives from just two member states—Austria and Latvia—neither of which was active in this field. Conversely, the donor coordination process that was set up in Ukraine in 2015 includes only limited representation from implementing agencies and exists in parallel to the coordination group assembled by GFMD in the wake of the Russian invasion. While GFMD invites donors to its meetings and shares information via email and online documents, the donors have yet to reciprocate. Thus, in real terms, there is no silver bullet or single best-practice model. However, based on its findings and conclusions, this report recommends that a strong level of interagency engagement should become the default position for all media development projects." (Recommendations, page 34-35) more

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Supply Chain Analysis: Nigeria

Washington, DC: Global Book Alliance; Education Development Center (EDC); USAID (2022), viii, 217 pp.

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Towards a Safer and More Free Internet: Expert Opinion on the Draft Digital Services Act

Henrike Weiden

Potsdam: Friedrich Naumann Foundation (2022), 29 pp.

"With the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) package, the European Union will adopt what is probably the most significant international standard-setting project besides the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is expected that the DSA will have far-reaching impact ... more

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Online Antisemitism: A Toolkit for Civil Society

Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD); B’nai B’rith International; UNESCO (2022), 37 pp.

"As the online space becomes increasingly centre stage in the fight against antisemitism, this guide from ISD and B’nai B’rith International, in partnership with UNESCO, aims to build capacity among civil society to tackle this growing threat. Recognising the enormous capacity for positive actio ... more

Finding the Funds for Journalism to Thrive: Policy Options to Support Media Viability Deep Insights

Finding the Funds for Journalism to Thrive: Policy Options to Support Media Viability
Deep Insights