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Digital Disinformation in Africa: Hashtag Politics, Power and Propaganda

Tony Roberts, George Hamandishe Karekwaivanane (ed.)

London: Zed Books (2024), xiv, 242 pp.

"In an era when hashtag campaigns like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter capture global attention for victims of injustice, politicians and corporations are now spending billions employing Cambridge Analytica-type consultancies to manufacture disinformation - employing trolls, cyborgs and bots to disrupt ... more

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Understanding climate change conspiracy beliefs: A comparative outlook

Daniel Stockemer, Jean-Nicolas Bordeleau

Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, volume 5, issue 6 (2024), 12 pp.

"Are climate change conspiracy theories widespread across the world, or do we find climate change conspiracy beliefs more so in some countries than in others? This research note explores the prevalence of conspiracy beliefs that identify climate change as a hoax across eight geographically and cultu ... more

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The Fragility of Freedom: Online Holocaust Denial and Distortion

London: Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD);Coalition to Counter Online Antisemitism (CCOA) (2024), 37 pp.

"The antisemitism landscape, including Holocaust denial and distortion, had shifted so drastically since October 7 that previous assumptions and understands now demand re-examination. In the run up to Holocaust Memorial Day 2024, this research compilation by members of the Coalition to Counter Onlin ... more

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Social media and mis/disinformation in electoral context in the DRC

Pierre N'sana, Patient Ligodi, Pierre Bahati Ndamwenge et al.

USAID;FHI 360;Internews (2024), 57 pp.

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Mapping a Surge of Disinformation in Africa

Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, March 13 (2024)

"Disinformation campaigns have targeted every region of the continent. At least 39 African countries have been the target of a specific disinformation campaign. Disinformation tends to be concentrated. Half of the countries subjected to disinformation (20 of the 39) have been targeted three or more ... times, up from just seven countries meeting that threshold in 2022. African countries experiencing conflict are subject to much greater levels of disinformation—facing a median of 5 campaigns– highlighting the connection between instability and disinformation. Countries confronting disinformation typically face multiple disinformation actors. At times, these actors amplify one another’s misleading narratives, while at others, they clash or stay in separate lanes. Nearly 60 percent of disinformation campaigns on the continent are foreign state-sponsored—with Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Qatar as the primary sponsors. Russia continues to be the primary purveyor of disinformation in Africa, sponsoring 80 documented campaigns, targeting more than 22 countries. This represents nearly 40 percent of all disinformation campaigns in Africa. These 80 campaigns have reached many millions of users through tens of thousands of coordinated fake pages and posts. Aggressively leveraging disinformation is a mainstay of Russia’s use of irregular channels to gain influence in Africa. Russia has promulgated disinformation to undermine democracy in at least 19 African countries, contributingto the continent’s backsliding on this front. African elections provide prime opportunities for disinformation. Some employ mercenary disinfo-ops teams. One private Israeli group, dubbed “Team Jorge,” has reportedly implemented disinformation campaigns to disrupt over 20 African elections since 2015. Domestic actors have also increasingly integrated disinformation into their political playbooks, notably during Kenya’s 2022 and Nigeria’s 2023 election. African countries that uphold presidential term limits (i.e., those with stronger checks and balances) are less exposed to foreign sponsored disinformation, with an average of 1.5 campaigns compared to an average of over 3 campaigns for countries without term limits. This underscores the common aim of foreign disinformation to prop up authoritarian actors." (Highlights) more

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Winning the Battle of Ideas: Exposing Global Authoritarian Narratives and Revitalizing Democratic Principles

Joseph Siegle

Washington, DC: National Endowment for Democracy (NED) (2024), 23 pp.

"Rather than selling authoritarianism as such, authoritarian narratives focus on themes that have popular appeal—while attributing a wide range of visceral grievances to the shortcomings of democracy. Authoritarian narratives fall into four broad categories: 1. Noninterference, Choice, and Threats ... to Sovereignty: Narrative attempts to invoke universal themes such as sovereignty, noninterference, and choice which are presented as under threat from the spread of democracy. 2. Exploiting Grievances in the Global South: Tactics designed to attribute the numerous grievances in the Global South to exploitation by the West. 3. Democracies Failing to Deliver: A narrative that takes aim at the efficacy of democracy and, by implication, amplifies the ill-informed narratives about effectiveness of authoritarian governance. 4. Need for a New World Order: Collectively, the claims of Western interference, exploitation, and governance failures are intended to generate disillusionment with democracy and receptiveness to nondemocratic rule. Autocrats use a variety of channels to disseminate these preferred narratives at scale. The four following methods are particularly noteworthy: 1. Social Media: Authoritarians have taken advantage of the enormous—and still growing—social media sphere to promote narratives legitimizing autocracy. They exploit many users’ limited digital literacy skills through information influence campaigns and the employment of bots and online “troll farms” to peddle their preferred worldview. 2. State Broadcasters: Authoritarian actors also disseminate narratives through state media like RT, Sputnik, Xinhua, and China Global Television Network (CGTN). These outlets have the tone and imprimatur of an official news service, giving them a veneer of credibility that expands their reach. 3. Partnerships with Local Media: Authoritarian state-backed outlets aim to embed their content within national information environments. By disseminating preferred narratives through local media outlets and training foreign journalists, authoritarian actors are able to propagate norms of state control over the public information sphere. 4. Foreign Media Cooptation: Finally, authoritarian states are forging partnerships with other state broadcasters. These relationships have the indirect effect of incentivizing self-censorship and enable the intimidation of journalists and activists who criticize authoritarian leadership." (Executive summary, page 1-.2) more

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Debunking and exposing misinformation among fringe communities: Testing source exposure and debunking anti-Ukrainian misinformation among German fringe communities

Johannes Christiern Santos Okholm, Amir Ebrahimi Fard, Marijn ten Thij

Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, volume 5, issue 1 (2024), 13 pp.

"Through an online field experiment, we test traditional and novel counter-misinformation strategies among fringe communities. Though generally effective, traditional strategies have not been tested in fringe communities, and do not address the online infrastructure of misinformation sources support ... more

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A guide to counter fake news

Abeer Kapoor, Nitika Kakkar, Praveen Kr. Tiwari

New Delhi: Seeking Modern Applications for Real Transformation (SMART) (2024), 77 pp.

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The Routledge Handbook of Discourse and Disinformation

Stefania Maci, Massimiliano Demata, Mark McGlashan, Philip Seargeant (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), xxi, 431 pp.

"This handbook offers a comprehensive overview of research into discourses of disinformation, misinformation, post-truth, alternative facts, hate speech, conspiracy theories, and 'fake news'. Divided into two sections, it provides a detailed look at the methodological challenges and approaches for s ... more

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Two Years On: An Analysis of Russian State and Pro-Kremlin Information Warfare in the Context of the Invasion of Ukraine

London: Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) (2024), 25 pp.

"This report provides an overview of how Russian state and pro-Kremlin propaganda undermining international support for Ukraine has evolved over the two years since the beginning of the full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022. It outlines a range of semi-covert tactics through which Russian state an ... more

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“We don’t believe in [the] Coronavirus; we believe in Allah. Whatever happens, it happens from Allah”: Pakistani media’s response to countering conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic

Madeeha Naz, Amir Hamza Marwan

Newspaper Research Journal (2024), [no pag.]

"This study examines the coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic by the four leading newspapers of Pakistan—Dawn, The News, Daily Times and The Nation—when they were responsible for informing and educating the public during a health crisis hit by conspiracy theories. The researchers utilized content a ... more

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The Impact of Cognitive Biases on the Believability of Fake News

Aaron M French, Storey Veda C., Linda Wallace

European Journal of Information Systems (2023), 22 pp.

"Modern technologies, especially social networks, contribute to the rapid evolution and spread of fake news. Although the creation of fake news is a serious issue, it is the believability of fake news and subsequent actions that produce negative outcomes that can be harmful to individuals and societ ... more

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Censorship from Plato to Social Media: The Complexity of Social Media's Content Regulation and Moderation Practices

Gergely Gosztonyi

Cham: Springer (2023), xiv, 189 pp.

"In many countries, censorship, blocking of internet access and internet content for political purposes are still part of everyday life. Will filtering, blocking, and hacking replace scissors and black ink? This book argues that only a broader understanding of censorship can effectively protect free ... more

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Survey on the impact of online disinformation and hate speech
Quick Overview

Paris: UNESCO;Ipsos (2023), 35 slides

"On average in the 16 countries surveyed, 56% of internet users frequently use social media to stay informed about current events, far ahead of television (44%). However, it is worth noting that differences exist among population groups: television is the primary source in the most developed countri ... more

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Political Economy of Covert Influence Operations in the 2022 Philippine Elections
Top Insights

Fatima Gaw, Jon Benedik A. Bunquin, Samuel Cabbuag, Jose Mari H. Lanuza, Noreen H. Sapalo, Yusoph Al-Habbyel B.

Internews (2023), 168 pp.

"This report investigates the political economy of covert influence in the 2022 Philippine Elections, with a focus on social media influencers involved in covert political campaigning. This interdisciplinary research (1) examines political influencers and peripheral actors in the field engaged in po ... more

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Online Gendered Disinformation and Sexist Hate Speech

Malin Palm, Nynne Storm Refsing

International Media Support (IMS) (2023), 6 pp.

"This learning brief focuses on the issues of online gendered disinformation and sexist hate speech against women, girls and non-binary people who work or appear in the media and what media development organisations can do to address them." (Page 1)

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From Disinformation to Influence Operations: The Evolution of Disinformation in Three Electoral Cycles

Rossine Fallorina, Jose Mari Hall Lanuza, Juan Gabriel Felix, Ferdinand Sanchez, Jonathan Corpus Ong, Nicole Curato

Internews (2023), 56 pp.

"How has the Philippine disinformation landscape evolved since 2016? How different was the 2022 presidential election from previous electoral cycles? And what lessons can we learn from electoral triumphs and defeats often associated with disinformation? This report goes to the heart of these questio ... more

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Disinformation exports: How foreign anti-vaccine narratives reached West African communities online

Carlotta Dotto, Seb Cubbon

First Draft (2023)

"Pro-Russian disinformation networks and American anti-science websites are pushing anti-vaccine content that is reaching large West African Facebook Pages and Groups. These networks are spreading social media posts and articles that contain misleading messages about Covid-19 vaccines. These message ... more

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The Media Manipulation Casebook

Cambridge, MA: Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy (2023)

"The Media Manipulation Casebook is a research platform [launched in 2019] that advances knowledge of misinformation and disinformation and their threats to democracy, public health, and security. The Casebook is a resource for building the field of Critical Internet Studies by equipping researchers ... more

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Information Integrity to Sustain Peace during Electoral Processes. Sustaining Peace during Electoral Processes (SELECT) Project

New York: UNDP (2023), 48 pp.

"The purpose of this report is to gain a better understanding of the pertinent dynamics and to bolster the design of programming to support the information ecosystem around elections. In aid of this, UNDP sought information through a number of channels, in a review of the relevant literature, a seri ... more

Survey on the impact of online disinformation and hate speech Quick Overview

Political Economy of Covert Influence Operations in the 2022 Philippine Elections Top Insights

Survey on the impact of online disinformation and hate speech
Quick Overview

Political Economy of Covert Influence Operations in the 2022 Philippine Elections
Top Insights