"This article brings the results of an investigation into the role of WhatsApp audio messages in the 2018 Brazilian presidential elections, proposing that instant voice messaging borrows elements from radio language. We started from a broader research, conducted by the Brazilian National Institute o
...
f Science and Technology in Digital Democracy (INCT.DD, in its Portuguese acronym), which identified a network composed of 220 WhatsApp groups – all of them with open-entry links – supporting six different candidates. Those groups put together thousands of anonymized profiles linked through connections to similar groups, configuring an extensive network. More than 1 million messages, including 98,000 audios, were gathered and downloaded during 2018 Brazilian electoral period (from June to October). We focused on eighteen audios with major circulation (totalling 3622 appearances) among the ones shared at least 100 times, which were extracted and analysed. The use of radio content analysis techniques pointed out strong evidence that audio messaging remediate radiophonic elements such as intimacy and colloquial language to accelerate disinformation campaigns." (Abstract)
more
"According to neo-institutional theory, the survival of institutions in society is predicated on a cultural discourse. Dubbed “the institutional myth,” this discourse reflects the core values, practices and aspirations of an institution and legitimizes its existence to internal and external stak
...
eholders alike. In this paper we suggest that recent attacks on mainstream news outlets—notably President Trump’s accusations that they constitute “fake news”—have led journalists to defend the journalistic institutional myth as part of their efforts to re-legitimize their profession. Our findings indicate that journalists seek to bolster and uphold their institutional myth through a range of discursive strategies ranging from highlighting established journalistic norms and practices and emphasizing journalism’s central role in the maintenance of democracy, to attacking the accuser and calls to action in which journalists make a case for ignoring the president’s rhetorical assaults and continuing to do their job." (Abstract)
more
"The Afrobarometer survey conducted in late 2019 shows that although radio and television remain the most dominant news sources, daily news consumption via social media (by 22% of Ghanaians) and the Internet (19%) is steadily increasing. Social media is less trusted as a source of information – on
...
ly 39% of Ghanaians say they trust it “somewhat” or “a lot” – than private and public media (55% each) and government sources (54%). Close to eight in 10 Ghanaians (78%) say politicians and political parties spread information that they know is false. But smaller majorities also blame government officials, journalists, social media users, and activists and interest groups. Although an overwhelming majority (92%) of Ghanaians who have heard of social media think social media usage makes people more aware of current happenings, almost as many (86%) say it makes people more likely to believe fake news. One-third (32%) of Ghanaians support government regulation of access to the Internet and social media, but close to half (48%) prefer unrestricted access. Large majorities of Ghanaians “agree” or “strongly agree” that the government should be able to limit or prohibit the sharing of false news (77%), hate speech (69%), and news and opinions that criticize or insult the president (57%). Close to half (48%) also say the government should be able to limit the spread of information it disapproves of." (Key findings, page 2)
more
"This book serves as a convenient entry point for researchers, practitioners, and students to understand the problems and challenges, learn state-of-the-art solutions for their specific needs, and quickly identify new research problems in their domains. The contributors to this volume describe the r
...
ecent advancements in three related parts: (1) user engagements in the dissemination of information disorder; (2) techniques on detecting and mitigating disinformation; and (3) trending issues such as ethics, blockchain, clickbaits, etc. This edited volume will appeal to students, researchers, and professionals working on disinformation, misinformation and fake news in social media from a unique lens. (Publisher description)
more
"Since the start of the Trump era, the United States and the Western world has finally begun to wake up to the threat of online warfare and the attacks from Russia. The question no one seems to be able to answer is: what can the West do about it? Central and Eastern European states, however, have be
...
en aware of the threat for years. Nina Jankowicz has advised these governments on the front lines of the information war. The lessons she learnt from that fight, and from her attempts to get US congress to act, make for essential reading. How to Lose the Information War takes the reader on a journey through five Western governments' responses to Russian information warfare tactics - all of which have failed. She journeys into the campaigns the Russian operatives run, and shows how we can better understand the motivations behind these attacks and how to beat them. Above all, this book shows what is at stake: the future of civil discourse and democracy, and the value of truth itself." (Publisher description)
more
"This handbook and additional dossiers, freely available at the Digital Resistance project homepage (www.digi-res.eu), provide all the information teachers need to conduct a short module on the topic of “fake news” in the classroom or other settings with a group of students aged between 14 and 2
...
0 years. The methodology suggested in this handbook can easily be adapted by other actors in the educational sector working in different learning contexts. It begins by providing background knowledge about the topic of fake news and digital competences, followed by guiding steps on how to work on this topic with students in a short module. The learning methodology used is based on enquiry-based learning, so students can be supported to conduct a small-scale research project on a self-chosen topic connected to fake news. Information on this can be found in Chapter 3 of this handbook. In Chapter 5, the concept of peer-to-peer learning is used to set up learning processes between students attending the short module." (Executive summary, page 5)
more
"Concerns surrounding the threats that digital platforms pose to the functioning of Western liberal democracies have grown since the 2016 U.S. election. Yet despite a preponderance of academic work in this area, the precise nature of these threats, empirical solutions for their redress, and their re
...
lationship to the wider digital political economy remain undertheorized. This article addresses these gaps with a semisystematic literature review that identifies and defines four prominent threats—fake news, filter bubbles/echo chambers, online hate speech, and surveillance—and constructs a typology of “workable solutions” for combating these threats that highlights the tendency to silo technical, regulatory, or culturally embedded approaches." (Abstract)
more
"This paper provides a holistic policy approach to the challenge of disinformation by exploring a range of governance responses that rest on the open government principles of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholder participation. It offers an analysis of the significant changes that
...
are affecting media and information ecosystems, chief among them the growth of digital platforms. Drawing on the implications of this changing landscape, the paper focuses on four policy areas of intervention: public communication for a better dialogue between government and citizens; direct responses to identify and combat disinformation; legal and regulatory policy; and media and civic responses that support better information ecosystems. The paper concludes with proposed steps the OECD can take to build evidence and support policy in this space." (Abstract)
more
"The cases discussed in this chapter have demonstrated how disinformation and rhetoric that is spread through social media in the developing world often meets the Benesch criteria for dangerous speech. It comes from influential sources, which can include family and friends who share it. It plays on
...
audience fears by persuading them that members of their group are being attacked by a rival group. It sometimes dehumanizes other groups and issues direct calls for violence against them. It happens where there are longstanding ethnic tensions and grievances. And where the media landscape is weak or suppressed, social media becomes a primary source of information, making it an especially influential means of transmission. There are several characteristics shared by developing countries, particularly those with a recent history of conflict and/or government repression, that make them more vulnerable to dangerous speech spread by social media. This includes low media or digital literacy, a lack of available alternative media and the prevalence of untraceable messaging platforms such as WhatsApp." (Conclusion)
more
"Verschwörungstheorien sind kein Alleinstellungsmerkmal der Rechten und des Rechtspopulismus, sie reichen bis weit in gesellschaftliche Mitte. Auch die linke Szene ist anfällig dafür. Das unreflektierte Gerede von »den Herrschenden«, »den Eliten« oder »den Großmächten« eröffnet eine Quer
...
front zu ähnlich skurrilen Weltbildern der rechten Szene. Wahlweise werden die CIA, der Mossad, die Nato, der Westen, die USA, China oder Russland für die Unterdrückung der Völker verantwortlich gemacht, und immer verfolgen sie dabei angeblich größere Geheimpläne. Dass beispielsweise die CIA tatsächlich massiv in andere Staaten eingreift, ist aber kein Geheimnis und beruht nicht auf einer Verschwörung, sondern ist ihr offen kommunizierter machtpolitischer Auftrag, über dessen Details mehr bekannt ist, als die Meisten glauben. Und doch arbeiten viele PolitikerInnen wie derzeit etwa Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela mit obskuren Sündenbocktheorien, um von selbst verursachten Missständen abzulenken. Gegen den Irrsinn der Verschwörungstheorien hilft nur Aufklärung. Man kommt nicht umhin, sich über sie zu informieren und immer wieder dagegen zu argumentieren." (Editorial, Seite 19)
more
"Our research revealed that the deepfake phenomenon is growing rapidly online, with the number of deepfake videos almost doubling over the last seven months to 14,678. This increase is supported by the growing commodification of tools and services that lower the barrier for non-experts to create dee
...
pfakes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we observed a significant contribution to the creation and use of synthetic media tools from web users in China and South Korea, despite the totality of our sources coming from the English-speaking Internet. Another key trend we identified is the prominence of non-consensual deepfake pornography, which accounted for 96% of the total deepfake videos online. We also found that the top four websites dedicated to deepfake pornography received more than 134 million views on videos targeting hundreds of female celebrities worldwide. This significant viewership demonstrates a market for websites creating and hosting deepfake pornography, a trend that will continue to grow unless decisive action is taken. Deepfakes are also making a significant impact on the political sphere. Two landmark cases from Gabon and Malaysia that received minimal Western media coverage saw deepfakes linked to an alleged government cover-up and a political smear campaign. One of these cases was related to an attempted military coup, while the other continues to threaten a highprofile politician with imprisonment. Seen together, these examples are possibly the most powerful indications of how deepfakes are already destabilizing political processes. Without defensive countermeasures, the integrity of democracies around the world are at risk."
more
"Jugendliche informieren sich heute primär digital. Umso wichtiger ist es, dass sie bei der Nutzung von digitalen Medien in der Lage sind, Nachrichten und Informationsquellen richtig einzuordnen und wahre von falschen Meldungen zu unterscheiden. Dieses Buch gibt kompetent Auskunft zum Thema. Google
...
, YouTube und andere Suchmaschinen und Soziale Netzwerke gehören heute ganz selbstverständlich zu unserem Alltag. Man kann sich rund um die Uhr informieren, sich mit seinen Freunden austauschen und eigene Fotos, Erlebnisse und Ideen posten. Bei der Informationsrecherche im Netz sind seriöse Angebote aber oft schwer zu unterscheiden von Werbung, manipulierten oder falschen Beiträgen. Quelle und Herkunft sind oft nicht ausfindig zu machen. Um sich nicht in den Filterblasen von Suchmaschinen und sozialen Netzwerken zu verlieren und nicht auf Fake News, gefakte Profile oder andere Manipulationen hereinzufallen, ist es wichtig, verschiedene Informationsquellen zu nutzen und sich eine eigene, unabhängige Meinung zu bilden. Dieses Buch gibt einen umfassenden Einblick in die vielfältige Welt der Medien und vermittelt Tipps und Hilfestellungen zum richtigen Umgang mit ihnen." (Verlagsbeschreibung Loewe Verlag)
more
"Computational propaganda is an emergent form of political manipulation that occurs over the Internet. The term describes the assemblage of social media platforms, autonomous agents, algorithms, and big data tasked with the manipulation of public opinion. Our research shows that this new mode of int
...
errupting and influencing communication is on the rise around the globe. Advances in computing technology, especially around social automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence mean that computational propaganda is becoming more sophisticated and harder to track at an alarming rate. This introduction explores the foundations of computational propaganda. It describes the key role that automated manipulation of algorithms plays in recent efforts to control political communication worldwide. We discuss the social data science of political communication and build upon the argument that algorithms and other computational tools now play an important political role in areas like news consumption, issue awareness, and cultural understanding. We unpack the key findings of the nine country case studies that follow—exploring the role of computational propaganda during events from local and national elections in Brazil to the ongoing security crisis between Ukraine and Russia. Our methodology in this work has been purposefully mixed, we make use of quantitative analysis of data from several social media platforms and qualitative work that includes interviews with the people who design and deploy political bots and disinformation campaigns. Finally, we highlight original evidence about how this manipulation and amplification of disinformation is produced, managed, and circulated by political operatives and governments and describe paths for both democratic intervention and future research in this space." (Abstract)
more
"1. Majorities around the globe say that social media has increased their ease of communications & access to information, but are mixed on its impact on civility. On balance, it is seen as a positive, but not without its problems. (slides 8-34). 2. Four in ten (44%) admit to being duped by fake news
...
at least sometimes. Fake news is seen as most prevalent on social media & the Internet, less prevalent in mainstream media. Online trolls & social media platforms are most commonly cited as the actors responsible for spreading fake news, but governments and regular users play a part. Few can agree who should police and determine what is fake. Strong majorities support all forms of actions to resist fake news, save for government censorship. (slides 35-61; 83-147). 3. The vast majority think that fake news is made worse by the internet & that it has negatively impacted their economy, and political discourse. The United States takes the lion’s share of the blame for spreading fake news, even among its own citizens. As many as two in five now trust the media less, as a result of fake news. (slides 62-82; 148-176). 4. Fewer than half express at least some degree of confidence that algorithms used in daily life are unbiased, in any context. Citizens living in more developed economies tend to be less confident in the unbiasedness of algorithms. (slides 177-195). 5. The most common reasons for a lack of confidence in the unbiasedness of algorithms include: a lack of transparency, a perception that they are exploitative by design & the absence of a human element from decision-making. By contrast, objectivity, a lack of human emotion to cloud decision-making & the absence of human influence are most frequently mentioned by those who express confidence in the unbiasedness of algorithms. (slides 196-210)" (Five key take-aways, page 6)
more
"Internews Rumour Tracking Methodology consists of four key functions: 1. A mechanism to determine and document which rumours are circulating; 2. An effective strategy to fact-check information and rumours; 3. A variety of accessible and inclusive mechanisms to share accurate responses to rumours; 4
...
. A mechanism to share community voices with humanitarians and other stakeholders. Internews programs enable the community to access relevant and trusted information and provide community feedback to foster more inclusive decision making within humanitarian programs. These bridges are based on symmetrical two-way relationships that are attuned to listening as much as producing information and that link the national, local, and hyper-local information levels. This Learning Collection manual offers case studies, practical instructions and a template library to implement Internews rumour tracking methodology and through this effectively address rumours in humanitarian crisis and conflicts around the world. "Part I. Context" describes the importance of access to fair, accurate and actionable information; the damage rumours can do in a humanitarian context; and the value of Internews Rumour Tracking Methodology as a tool for communicating with communities and humanitarian accountability. "Part II. Case Study" gives an overview of several Internews rumour tracking projects and an in-depth case study of rumour tracking in Greece. The case study also covers challenges and lessons learned in order to offer recommendations for future rumour tracking activities." (Page 9)
more
"A luta contra a desinformação não é nova, mas atingiu proporções inimagináveis há algumas décadas. O volume de conteúdos, a velocidade e o alcance conferiram mudanças qualitativas ao problema, exigindo um esforço para a descoberta de novas formas de enfrentá-lo. Longe de esgotarmos o a
...
ssunto nesta publicação, procuramos destacar alguns dos aspectos que nos parece ser mais relevantes para a compreensão do fenômeno e para buscar soluções para confrontá-lo. São poucas as soluções globais, mas já existem princípios e dispositivos suficientes para nos orientar no bom caminho da manutenção dos direitos fundamentais, do fortalecimento dos dispositivos democráticos e da imprescindibilidade da transparência. Fortalecer as soluções coletivas, a busca de regulação dos agentes privados a partir dos dispositivos democráticos e o amplo debate crítico com a sociedade ainda nos parecem ser a melhor abordagem para avançarmos no combate a este problema em consonância com a garantia do direito à comunicação, compreendido em sua interdependência com os demais direitos fundamentais." (Conclusão, página 46)
more
"The dynamism of Russia’s information warfare is best illustrated by the fact that over the last decade it underwent at least two strategic shifts—after the Russian-Georgian war in 2008 and in 2014 when Russia went from being risk-averse and stealthy to increasingly aggressive and risk-taking. E
...
ffective countermeasures, especially those applied in Central and Eastern Europe, must reflect this reality by being highly adaptable and agile—a factor that local anti-information-warfare capacities often lack." (Executive summary)
more
"Efforts to fight the spread of disinformation have had mixed results. Self-regulation by online platforms such as Twitter or Facebook puts a great deal of power in their hands, with potentially negative effects on independent news outlets that depend on social media for their outreach. State regula
...
tion, meanwhile, raises concerns of censorship. There is a danger that methods intended to reduce disinformation, implemented clumsily or without sufficient regard for their effects, will actually exacerbate the anti-establishment feeling that drives disinformation in the first place. Just as the disinformation problem can, to a great extent, be traced back to wider structural faults in the political system, the solution, too, must be partly structural. There must be a shift in commercial practices to disrupt the commercial motivations driving disinformation, make online platforms more fair, transparent and open, and reduce the pressure on media outlets to compete for attention." (Executive summary)
more
"Facebook is the Internet in Myanmar, and it presents both opportunities for and challenges to the government, the opposition, and the people in a country that is in transition. Facebook has gained notoriety as a platform for hate speech and fake news in Myanmar over the past seven years. Facebook h
...
as removed hundreds of accounts and pages allied with or supportive of the Myanmar military, or engaged in coordinated deceptive behaviour. The National League for Democracy government has sought to control and regulate social media by establishing a social media monitoring body and preparing a cyber law, but without much impact to date. Both Facebook’s close monitoring of accounts and defamation suits have made Facebook users in Myanmar more cautious, but supporters of the National League for Democracy, the military and opposition parties still rely heavily on Facebook for partisan political communication." (Executive summary)
more