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Why Conspirational Propaganda Works and What We Can Do About It: Audience Vulnerability and Resistance to Anti-Western, Pro-Kremlin Disinformation in Ukraine

Peter Pomerantsev et al.

London School of Economics and Political Science; Internews Ukraine; Cardiff University, Crime and Security Research Institute (2021), 45 pp.

"The most effective propaganda resonates with audiences’ underlying worldviews and personal experiences. In order to fight it, one has to understand the mindsets that it preys on. This paper sets out to do exactly that. We first track a set of Kremlin-aligned propaganda narratives across Ukrainian ... more

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Coronavirus-Pandemie: Auswirkungen auf die Medienfreiheit in globaler Perspektive

Alexander Matschke

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2021), 55 pp.

"Die Coronavirus-Pandemie hat sich in weiten Teilen der Welt negativ auf die Meinungs- und Medienfreiheit ausgewirkt. Betroffen sind viele Partnerländer der deutschen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit: Menschen können nicht auf relevante Informationen zugreifen, unter anderem, weil sie keinen adäquaten ... more

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Fake News is Bad News: Hoaxes, Half-Truths and the Nature of Today's Journalism

Ján Visnovský, Jana Radosinská (eds.)

Intech Open (2021), 260 pp.

"The publication is focused on the ways fake news, disinformation, misinformation and hateful statements are spread across society, predominantly within the online environment. Its main ambition is to offer an interdisciplinary body of scholarly knowledge on fake news, disinformation and propaganda ... more

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El periodismo ante la desinformación

Andrés Martínez Zalamea, Daniel Marquínez Fernández, Karen De la Hoz Rodríguez

Cartagena: Fundación Gabo (2021), 66 pp.

"Este libro digital descargable de la Fundación Gabo es una macro-relatoría, un esfuerzo por sintetizar y difundir el conocimiento emanado de una serie de actividades -talleres, clases magistrales, charlas- que llevamos a cabo en el marco del Festival Gabo 2020, el cual tuvo como uno de sus temas ... more

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GFMD Impact: Disinformation
Deep Insights

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD); USAID (2021)

"On 17th June 2021 GFMD's International Media Policy and Advisory Centre hosted a meeting of 54 media development donors, practitioners and academics to discuss effective responses to disinformation. Disinformation was chosen after it was selected as a priority in a survey of those engaged with GFMD ... 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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Harmful Information: Misinformation, Disinformation and Hate Speech in Armed Conflict and Other Situations of Violence. ICRC Initial Findings and Perspectives on Adapting Protection Approaches

Delphine van Solinge, Mark Silverman et al.

Geneva: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) (2021), 20 pp.

"The present document .. first proposes a working definition of what misinformation, disinformation and hate speech” (MDH) are and how they can be framed conceptually. It then explains why MDH is of such significant concern to the ICRC and the wider humanitarian sector. Next, it outlines the key c ... more

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A Systematic Literature Review on Disinformation: Toward a Unified Taxonomical Framework

Eleni Kapantai, Androniki Christopoulou, Christos Berberidis, Vassilios Peristeras

New Media & Society, volume 23, issue 5 (2021), pp. 1301-1326

"There is no commonly agreed typology framework, specific categorization criteria, and explicit definitions as a basis to assist the further investigation of the area. Our work is focused on filling this need. Our contribution is twofold. First, we collect the various implicit and explicit disinform ... more

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The Critical Risk of Disinformation for Humanitarians: The Case of the MV Aquarius

Sean Healy, Victoria Russell

Journal of Humanitarian Affairs, volume 3, issue 1 (2021), pp. 28-39

"The search and rescue of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants on the Mediterranean has become a site of major political contestation in Europe, on the seas, in parliaments and government offices and in online public opinion. This article summarises one particular set of controversies, namely, fals ... more

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How Close Should We Get? Media and Conflict

Antje Bauer (ed.)

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2021), 101 pp.

"Those working in media face plenty of challenges when it comes to handling issues around conflict more sensitively. In some countries, these difficulties could include forced or unsolicited loyalty, a lack of information, or physical and psychological threats. In others, challenges could arise from ... more

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Pakistan's Internet Landscape 2020

Jahanzaib Haque, Shah Bano Ali Khan

Islamabad: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES); Bytes for All (2021), 89 pp.

"The internet brought new opportunities for Pakistan to develop into a progressive society and a more democratic country, and it opened doors for more forms of criminal activity (like fraud, child pornography, etc.), more intimidation and the spreading extremism, and more information gathering on ci ... more

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Understanding the Context Around Content: Looking Behind Misinformation Narratives

Laura Livingston

Global Insights, issue December (2021), pp. 16-22

"Misinformation is not solely an online problem; offline dynamics and activities also contribute to misinformation’s spread and resonance. - Political conflict, social upheaval, economic stress, and other sociological or psychological are among the offline dynamics that contribute to misinformatio ... more

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The Digital Enquirer Kit

Tactical Tech (2021)

"The Digital Enquirer Kit is an e-learning course that guides learners through lessons on how to prevent the spread of misinformation, available on the free platform atingi.org. The course covers topics including media literacy, verification, and how to navigate the internet safely. The first four m ... more

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Singaporeans' Susceptibility to False Information

Carol Soon, Shwan Goh

Singapore: National University of Singapore, Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) (2021), 141 pp.

"Drawing from various disciplines including media studies, political science, and cognitive science, this study adopts a holistic approach to understand the dynamics that influence the impact of false information on Singaporeans. We provide empirical evidence on Singaporeans’ susceptibility to fal ... more

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Final Report

Commission on Information Disorder

Aspen Institute (2021), 78 pp.

"This report is the culmination of an in-depth investigation aimed at better defining the causes and challenges of information disorder, and offering a viable framework for action [...] The Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder invited voices from across our society to help build up ... more

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Social Media and the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Dilemma of Fake News Clutter Vs. Social Responsibility

Moez Ben Messaoud

Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research, volume 14, issue 1 (2021), pp. 25-45

"This article examines the relationship between fake news and social media as increasingly important sources of news, at a time when mainstream media no longer have exclusive control over news production and dissemination. It has been evident that few media outlets and professionals tend to draw con ... flicting news about COVID-19 from social media feeds, which are largely produced by common citizens with mostly no journalism training. This pervasive use makes social media key sources to scores of media outlets for news, whether it is related to COVID-19 or public affairs issues, even though it is susceptible to torrents of credibility and accuracy issues. As a result, of the overwhelming spread of fake news on coronavirus, which is contributing to framing events from several angles, media professionals are now obliged to track and vet information circulating on social media. Due to the scale of disinformation spreading on the Web, it has become imperative that the credibility and accuracy of news is thoroughly verified. Media organizations have already been putting in place various mechanisms to monitor false news. This article will attempt to identify and assess these monitoring efforts in the Arab world. For this purpose, I have put together a list of Arab observatories launched on the internet in order to monitor fake news circulating in relation to COVID-19, and to discuss their methods of monitoring work, in the context of mobilization carried out by governments and many organizations such as the World Health Organization. This article is pinned down on social responsibility approach which helps pave the way the differentpropositions to combat fake news and avoid abuses in social media uses. This article proposes an evaluation of the monitoring initiative viaa- vis fake news and proposes a set of guidelines for improving the work of such monitoring bodies. Hence, this research reveals that social media outlets have diversified their goals to match the power of the conventional media in disseminating information and bringing up issues for debate. However, in the light of the framework of social responsibility, social media actors have to constantly develop a set of ethical practices to be observed by users, establish codes of conduct regulating content production, and lay down a code of integrity to assure accuracy in news and information transmission." (Abstract). more

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Media Influence Matrix: Israel. Technology, Public Sphere and Journalism

Roni Dorot

Budapest: CEU Center for Media, Data and Society (2021), 30 pp.

"Although internet penetration rate in Israel stands at 88%, internet infrastructure, and notably the roll-out of fiber-optics, was not properly regulated until December 2020. Therefore, among other things, Israel’s internet speed was in decline in comparison to OECD countries, although it is expe ... cted to rise in mid-2021. Moreover, frequencies for 5G network deployment have been allocated only as late as August 2020, in significant delay compared to technologically progressed countries. Following global trends, Israelis draw on different technological means to use the internet, and especially to consume media. While fixed telephony demand is in decline, smartphones took over the market with 88% of smartphone ownership. Israel records a specific digital divide among marginalized groups like the Arab population and ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews. Together with the 65+ age group, these three main sectors are susceptible to be affected by digital illiteracy. The international technology conglomerates that control the Israeli market are Facebook (with its daughter company WhatsApp) in the field of messaging applications and social media, and Google Chrome browser, while the operating system (OS) market is dominated by Microsoft (on desktop) and Google (Android on mobile). The four main Israeli groups operating in the communications market are: Bezeq, HOT, Cellcom and Partner. They are all active in five telecom segments and market them in bundle packages for relatively low prices: cellular, fixed (telephony and internet) infrastructure, internet providing, international calls and multichannel TV. This highly saturated and competitive market has damaged the revenues and future incentives of these companies to invest in cutting-edge infrastructure. Israelis get most of their political information from online news sites. Some 76% of the public in Israel consume news content on social media at least once a day (40% of Jews and 66% of Arabs). The leading social media platforms are YouTube, Facebook and Twitter; they make a central source for the dissemination of politics, and have significant power in shaping public opinion. Nevertheless, “fake news” is also circulating fast and efficiently on these platforms, making disinformation a troubling phenomenon for Israeli society. Few journalistic initiatives took upon themselves the responsibility for public fact-checking. Traditional media struggles with fragile financial sustainability and business models. Given the populist effect that fake news has on consumers and, consequentially, on revenues, it is risky to rely on traditional media solely, in this matter." (Page 4) more

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Media Influence Matrix: Jordan. Technology, Public Sphere and Journalism

Mohammad Abu Hawash, Marius Dragomir

Budapest: Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS) (2021), 28 pp.

"As for internet use, the percentage of the population with access to internet rose to 89% in 2019 from 48% in 2015. Access to a mobile phone and internet in Jordan has become a matter of choice rather than affordability or accessibility. The Syrian refugee crisis explains the overshooting in mobile ... phone penetration in Jordan during the 2010s. During the past decade, the Jordanian telecommunications industry has transformed from duopoly to oligopoly. Jordan’s three major telecommunications companies together worked to protect their positions in the Jordanian telecoms market. The market saw constant growth and a rapid introduction of new media technologies. Due to these technological advancements, the country has become known in the region as an increasingly influential tech hub [...] In the public sphere, Jordan has experienced an unstable legal and regulatory landscape for the media. The government constantly revises its audiovisual media and publications laws. This places those media networks with a proximity to the state at an advantage, since they have deeper insight into the expectations of the state. Independent media, on the other hand, suffers from the successive governments’ meddling in the foundational laws of the media industry. The work of journalists has been often obstructed by the blocking of hundreds of websites for failing to comply with one or another rendition of the publications law. Many journalists found their employers losing investors and/or funding after the state issued a registration requirement for websites publishing content out of Jordan. Due to strong public pressure, this requirement in the publications law was later revised. Jordan’s journalism sphere had a more difficult decade than the technology field. Restrictions on internet access and high taxes on independent media (compared with tax-exemption status for some media agencies that are close to the government) hurt several media organizations. Stagnation and decline in consumption of print media added to the woes. Jordanian newspapers are enjoying higher readership than ever but also the lowest revenues per reader in history. This is due to declining subscription rates. Jordanian journalists were stunned in the first half of the 2010s to see Jordan’s daily newspaper Al-Arab Al-Yawm end print circulation and shut down operations completely a few years later. Subscriptions to daily newspapers declined by 50% compared to their 2000s levels." (Pages 4-5) more

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Post-Mortem: Russian and Chinese Covid-19 Information Operations

Edward Lucas, Ben Dubow, James Lamond, Jake Morris, Corina Rebegea, Vera Zakem

Washington, DC: Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) (2021), 72 pp.

"Russia recycled previous narratives and exacerbated tensions in Western society while attempting some propaganda about Russian scientific prowess. Russia’s approach evolved little; it recycled previous narratives, spreading a broad range of COVID-19 disinformation. Evidence supports the theory th ... more

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Google Scholar (217)

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From Grassroots Activism to Disinformation: Social Media in Southeast Asia

Aim Sinpeng, Ross Tapsell (eds.)

Singapore: ISEAS (2021), 277 pp.

"This book reflects on the role of social media in the past two decades in Southeast Asia. It traces the emergence of social media discourse in Southeast Asia, and its potential as a "liberation technology" in both democratizing and authoritarian states. It explains the growing decline in internet f ... more

GFMD Impact: Disinformation Deep Insights

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

GFMD Impact: Disinformation
Deep Insights

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