"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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rmation. This study delves into the history of disinformation in Iraq, particularly during and after the fall of the Baathist regime, and investigates how national and international actors utilise disinformation as a political tool. Through three case studies, the overlapping interests of regional, international, and local actors are explored, focusing on their use of social and legacy media platforms to execute influence operations targeting the Iraqi public. The first case study examines the Iranian-aligned Iraqi Radio and Television Union and their deployment of disinformation narratives during the 2021 national election. The second case study investigates unofficial Iranian-aligned Telegram media outlets and their promotion of the Russian narrative in the Russia-Ukraine War. The final case study analyses Pro-China and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Facebook influencers in Iraq and their engagement in coordinated inauthentic behavior. By connecting the interactions of these actors, this paper reveals a complex web of disinformation in the Iraqi digital information ecosystem, emphasising the role played by national and international actors in perpetuating it. The findings contribute to a better understanding of disinformation dynamics, enabling more effective strategies to combat disinformation and foster informed and democratic societies." (Abstract)
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"This report examines the characteristics and consequences of influence operations in the 2022 presidential election in the Philippines. The report makes three main claims: a) the term "influence operations" provides a broader frame to identify personalities, platforms, and practices that hack publi
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c attention, mobilize publics, and influence electoral out; b) influence operations build on cumulative impacts of longitudinal disinformation; c) The main consequence of influence operations in 2022 is the creation of parallel public spheres or two separate information ecosystems aligned with hardened political identities. The document concludes with pathways forward as the nation seeks to rebuild today's distorted public sphere." (Executive summary, page 7)
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"Analisamos uma amostra do conteúdo denunciado ao TSE, a fim de verificar se, de fato, a Meta removeu ou indicou a presença de desinformação nestas publicações. Os resultados apontam que parcelas expressivas das publicações denunciadas e já diagnosticadas como nocivas por checadores de fato
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s não foram removidas das redes da Meta e/ou não receberam o rótulo de desinformação. A Meta está permitindo a circulação de conteúdo nocivo à democracia brasileira no Facebook e Instagram, sem cumprir de forma efetiva com as suas políticas e a parceria com o TSE." (Apresentação)
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"Africa's Voices Foundation in partnership with Rift Valley institute (RVI)'s Somali Dialogue Platform implemented a 3-month project between February 8th - May 7th 2022. The project promoted public dialogue around elections so as to understand citizens' perspectives on Somalia's national elections.
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It also amplified citizen voices in political processes and promoted peaceful messaging by using media spaces to contribute to the prevention - of violence. AVF utilized its existing Common Social Accountability Platform (CSAP) to deliver the project. The project aimed to contribute to RVI's Somali Dialogue Platform program by facilitating dialogue amongst Somalis on contentious political issues. At the end of the radio programming, AVF analyzed the rich audience engagement that emerged from the six interactive radio shows to generate insight from public opinion on the election and political processes from different demographic groups. The insights were synthesized to generate actionable recommendations for our partner, RVI, based on citizens' experiences and feedback on elections." (Executive summary)
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"This handbook offers a comprehensive overview of international and regional standards and commitments related to the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, political participation, and privacy in the area of the internet, social media and Artificial Intelligence in elections. It al
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so maps a series of good practices implemented by diverse stakeholders worldwide during electoral processes. It is organized in eight sections: six sections dedicated to the analysis of the challenges and the general situation of elections in digital times, a section dedicated to conclusions and a section with suggestions for possible action. Each of the first six sections has a guide of suggested questions at the end in case the publication is used for trainings and workshops." (Methodological note, page 14)
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"En este documento presentamos una secuencia didáctica para que las y los docentes trabajen en el aula sobre las desinformaciones en contextos electorales teniendo en cuenta que las y los adolescentes son parte fundamental de los debates públicos e incluso en varios países pueden ejercer el derec
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ho al voto. Si bien es de esperar que los contenidos específicos de las desinformaciones puedan variar a lo largo del tiempo y de país en país (y en niveles subnacionales), hay algunos elementos del fenómeno que son comunes en toda la región y en todos los períodos electorales. Proponemos abordar estos elementos en las aulas como una estrategia para mitigar la masiva circulación de estos contenidos y propiciar que jóvenes tomen decisiones informadas, un desafío que, por supuesto, tenemos también las personas adultas. En el Programa de Educación de Chequeado sabemos que la escuela en general y los docentes en particular pueden promover espacios de participación que fomenten la construcción de habilidades de pensamiento crítico para que, al momento de votar, las y los jóvenes lo hagan a partir de información verificada. Entendemos que enseñar en la escuela estas habilidades, especialmente aquellas vinculadas con la identificación de desinformación, como parte de la Alfabetización Mediática e Informacional (AMI) es prioritario para el fortalecimiento del sistema democrático." (Introducción)
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"Como la desigualdad es una decisión política y no una fatalidad, este es el momento para preguntarse ¿qué piensan hacer nuestros próximos gobernantes para que haya menos pobreza y mayor acceso a oportunidades? ¿Cuáles fórmulas o herramientas desarrollarían para contribuir a que la cancha e
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sté menos inclinada a favor de algunos pocos y en contra de muchos? ¿Cómo garantizar que toda la ciudadanía tenga acceso a información sobre su entorno y participe en el debate público? ¿Qué tipo de iniciativas o estímulos plantean para que comunidades y grupos poblacionales tengan capacidad y resonancia a la hora de plantear de manera amplia las problemáticas que las aquejan?" (Página 7)
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"The Moroccan elections of September 2021 were unusual for various reasons. As electoral campaigning took place under pandemic circumstances, social media played a role previously unseen and contributed significantly to the unexpected victory of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), a liberal pa
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rty, against the Justice and Development Party (PJD), an Islamist party. The use of social media for campaigning purposes is not a completely new phenomenon in Morocco, given its prominent use by numerous social movements in the past. However, social media became a game-changer during the last elections. Considering the COVID-19 measures imposed, political parties shifted much of their campaigning online. Today, online spaces are no longer exclusively used by grassroots activists but have become increasingly popular among Moroccan political parties. While political parties converged in resorting to online spaces to compensate for the restrictions on offline campaigns, they diverged in their approaches; additionally, not all parties have the same financial capacity to exploit the full potential of social media. The huge disproportion in resources invested in online platforms was a main contributor to the victory of the RNI and the unexpected electoral wipeout of the PJD." (Abstract)
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"En el primer capítulo se expone cómo se están dando las dinámicas de participación ciudadana en la TV abierta. El segundo capítulo ahonda en la caracterización de los controlantes de los operadores de TV abierta. El tercer capítulo expone las tendencias en materia de pluralismo de los progr
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amas informativos y de opinión y el cuarto capítulo presenta los hallazgos obtenidos con la aplicación del instrumento para determinar tipologías, factores y niveles de riesgo, tanto en el pluralismo informativo como en la independencia de los medios, que fue desarrollado mediante talleres focales y acompañamiento del equipo consultor, en los cuales participaron expertos, académicos y periodistas, además de miembros de la autoridad regulatoria." (Introducción, página 4)
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"This report examines at Kenyan news media coverage of the 2022 elections, focusing on four key publications, nine television stations, 11 radio stations, and three digital media channels. The report further pays particular attention to the coverage of the four presidential candidates, focusing on w
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ho appeared on the front pages of the newspapers, the volume of coverage on each of them, how much space or airtime was dedicated to each candidate across the three media platforms monitored, and the tone of coverage of the contenders. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are shared." (Introduction)
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"This article examines the connection between political parties’ perceptions of the importance of news media as source of political information, and the extent to which they adapt their communications to the standards, routines, formats and logic of the news media in Cameroon. This, with the objec
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tive of being attractive to the news media and gain coverage. The contextual focus of the study is the 2018 presidential election campaign in Cameroon. Theoretically, the study is guided by the mediatization of politics hypothesis. Empirically, it utilizes in-depth interviews with spokespersons of political parties which presented candidates to the election. The findings show that most parties cared very little about adapting their campaign communications to the news media logic, because they believe the news media in Cameroon have a negligible significance for election performance. Instead, political parties largely focalized their strategies on oral face-to-face rallies and door-to-door canvassing, which they perceive as more effective and efficient for reaching the electorate." (Abstract)
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"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
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ic safeguards. International observers characterized the elections as free but raised serious concerns about their fairness. These included blurring the lines between the government and the ruling party in campaigning, which amplified the advantage of the ruling coalition, the absence of a level playing field, and lack of balance in campaign coverage in the press, on television, and on billboards. Fidesz’s effective control over large sections of the media, undermining the independence of the judiciary and public institutions, and curbing of civil society has received considerable attention from international media and international observers. However, its misuse of people’s personal data, which helped the party reach voters in new, opaque ways, has received relatively little scrutiny. This report examines how data-driven campaigning in Hungary’s 2022 elections exacerbated an already uneven playing field and undermined the right to privacy. It also documents new forms of misuse of personal data collected by the government and used for political campaigning by Fidesz in the 2022 elections." (Summary)
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