"This companion brings together various concepts used to analyse dimensions of media disinformation and populism. The companion is theoretically and methodologically comprehensive and features various historical and critical approaches providing a full and incisive understanding of media, misinforma
...
tion and populism. It is both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary consisting of contributions from scholars analysing aspects of misinformation, disinformation and populism across countries, political systems and media systems. A global, comparative approach to the study of misinformation and populism is important in identifying common elements and particular characteristics, and these individual essays cover a wide range of topics and themes, with contributions from both leading and young scholars. The distinctiveness of the companion is its encompassing of a variety of subject areas: Political Communication, Journalism, Law, Sociology, Cultural studies, International Politics, and International Relations." (Publisher description)
more
"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
...
IMPACT's activities, as well as in previous consultations with media development actors [...] The meeting report summarises the presentations and discussions that took place in the breakout groups and main session. Ideas put forward on how to make media development responses more effective included: the need for coordination and coalition building; emphasizing the “do no harm” principle, reframing the discussion on disinformation to focus resources on support for journalism; how to effectively make the case for journalism support. Language barriers and sustainability were identified as challenges for fact-checking programmes. Fact-checking services adopting critical media literacy approaches was among many suggestions on how to more effectively engage vulnerable/polarised communities. Research and researchers on disinformation need to be broader and more diverse. Creative solutions were proposed for improving data & information sharing. More research is needed on "production" disinformation. Support to journalism must address: the fact that newsrooms and journalists themselves can be obstacles to building resilience in societies; polarization within journalism. A working paper on measuring and evaluating disinformation programmes identified five key challenges for evaluators and argues for building a community of practice around countering disinformation; carrying out a comparative, impact study; creating a diagnostic tool for program design." (Main takeaways)
more
"Drawing on a host of different primary and secondary sources and more than 150 original interviews from across the U.S. government, the joint force, industry, civil society, and subject-matter experts from nine countries around the world, researchers examined how China, Russia, and North Korea have
...
used disinformation on social media and what the United States and its allies and partners are doing in response. The authors found that disinformation campaigns on social media may be more nuanced than they are commonly portrayed. Still, much of the response to disinformation remains ad hoc and uncoordinated. Disinformation campaigns on social media will likely increase over the coming decade, but it remains unclear who has the competitive edge in this race; disinformation techniques and countermeasures are evolving at the same time." (Back cover)
more
"L’étude de base du projet « Renforcer la résilience communautaire et la désinformation dans les régions du nord et du centre du Mali intitulé “Tabalé Kunkan’’ a pour but d’établir la situation de référence du projet à partir de laquelle les progrès seront mesurés. Elle a util
...
isé une approche mixte incluant la revue documentaire, la collecte de données quantitatives et qualitatives sur la base de questionnaires et de guides d’entretien pour répondre aux objectifs indiqués dans les termes de référence." (Résumé exécutif)
more
"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
...
odules have been authored by Tactical Tech: Module 1: Identifying and Responding to Misinformation; Module 2: Verifying Online Information; Module 3: Collaborating on and Documenting Your Digital Enquiry; Module 4: Examining and Sharing Your Findings. Access the course on digitalenquirer.org or track your progress and earn a certificate on atingi.org. The content contains simple explanations and real-world examples, illustrating secure research and information-gathering methods. The modules feature engaging and creative formats such as tutorials, quizzes, and interactive games. The contents are data-light and available in offline mode via the free atingi Android app. The Digital Enquirer Kit is available in English (including West African, East African, South African, and Southeast Asian dialects), Arabic, Bahasa Indonesian, Brazilian Portuguese, French, Hausa, Hindi, Sinhala, and Swahili, among other languages." (https://tacticaltech.org/projects/Digital-Enquirer-Kit)
more
"In Moldova, a series of hackathons led to the development of tech-based solutions to misinformation. In Ecuador, indigenous groups wrote their own stories on Wikipedia to strengthen their culture's representation and publicly correct misinformation. In Uganda, citizen journalists established a netw
...
ork to report on underrepresented issues and groups. And in the Middle East, innovative concepts in journalism training are helping the next generation of journalists to become fit for the challenges of the future. These four case studies illustrate the approaches that DW Akademie and its partners are pursuing worldwide to strengthen the public dialogue. The goal is to foster innovation and increase the visibility of underrepresented topics, and to bring together innovators and experts to pool their knowledge and skills." (Publisher description)
more
"The HKS Misinformation Review is a new format of peer-reviewed, scholarly publication. Content is produced and “fast-reviewed” by misinformation scientists and scholars, released under open access licensing, and geared towards emphasizing real-world implications. All content is targeted towards
...
a specialized audience of researchers, journalists, fact checkers, educators, policy makers, and other practitioners working in the information, media, and platform landscape. We review and publish high-quality interdisciplinary research that examines misinformation from different perspectives, from its prevalence and impact to the effectiveness of possible interventions. We currently publish six regular issues per year. We also publish special issues on themes of particular relevance curated by guest editors. Every other month, we distribute a bimonthly digest to our subscribers. The bimonthly Digests contain all articles published in the previous two months on the HKS Misinformation Review." (Our mission)
more
"El análisis revela los desafíos al proceso de construcción de soluciones reguladoras que protejan derechos y sean efectivas para promover el acceso a información confiable. La desinformación está profundamente entrelazada con los procesos políticos y sociales, y no es posible pensar en soluc
...
iones legales y reguladoras aisladamente del entendimiento de estos procesos y de los contextos nacionales y locales." (Resumen)
more
"This report ties together young Pakistani people’s experiences of hate and extremism – with contextual research and questions put to young people in Pakistan, centred around their views on identity, media consumption patterns and perceptions of the state and national news media. This research h
...
as resulted in a series of ten lessons for creating more effective counter-narrative campaigns that will help practitioners better understand the perceptions, media habits and experiences of Pakistani youth in relation to hate speech and extremism. The lessons have been modelled according to the methodology for creating counter-narratives, as developed by ISD’s YouthCAN project in 2016." (Page 7)
more
"Artificially intelligent “bot” accounts attack politicians and public figures on social media. Conspiracy theorists publish junk news sites to promote their outlandish beliefs. Campaigners create fake dating profiles to attract young voters. We live in a world of technologies that misdirect our
...
attention, poison our political conversations, and jeopardize our democracies. With massive amounts of social media and public polling data, and in-depth interviews with political consultants, bot writers, and journalists, Philip N. Howard offers ways to take these “lie machines” apart. 'Lie Machines' is full of riveting behind-the-scenes stories from the world’s biggest and most damagingly successful misinformation initiatives—including those used in Brexit and U.S. elections. Howard not only shows how these campaigns evolved from older propaganda operations but also exposes their new powers, gives us insight into their effectiveness, and explains how to shut them down." (Publisher description)
more
"This document presents a vision for a grand, civil societal response to online manipulation: developing the capability to detect it; the coalitions to confront it, the strategies to prevent it, and the structures of cooperation and funding that are needed to do both across all the causes and issues
...
that it now threatens to undermine. It is a response that must combine the specialisation and sophistication that comes with scale with those particular strengths that civil society always has: its diversity, transparency, capacity to connect with marginalised voices, and its bedrock of humane and humanising values." (Vision, page 1)
more
"Internews, Translators without Borders, and BBC Media Action collaborated to track and analyse rumours and misinformation circulating on social media in a range of languages. At the same time, Evidence Aid produced plain-language summaries of existing high-quality research to inform the decisions o
...
f health professionals and policy makers. While TWB translated these to expand their reach, Internews and BBC Media Action incorporated them in guidance and training. These resources in turn supported local media to provide factual responses to people’s concerns and questions using the channels people use, in languages people understand. BBC Media Action also created clear, fact-based content for social media, radio, television, and grassroots community engagement. TWB further supported communication in local languages by mapping language and literacy among at-risk populations, creating a multilingual terminology resource of commonly used technical terms about Covid-19, and translating partners’ community-facing content. The net result was a regular and extensive program of information, guidance, and training based on scientific evidence, tailored to local needs and delivered in local languages. The four organisations engaged with Covid-19 coordination mechanisms globally and in the Asia-Pacific to integrate this expertise into the wider response." (Page 2)
more
"Focusing predominantly on efforts countering Salafi-Jihadi extremism, this book examines how feasible it is to prevent or counter radicalization and violent extremism with countermessaging efforts. It investigates important principles to consider when devising such a program. The authors provide bo
...
th a comprehensive theoretical overview and a review of the available literature, as well as policy recommendations for governments and the role they can play in counter-narrative efforts." (Back cover)
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
"Disinformation in armed conflict may pose several distinctive forms of harm to civilians: exposure to retaliatory violence, distortion of information vital to securing human needs, and severe mental suffering. The gravity of these harms, along with the modern nature of wartime disinformation, is ou
...
t of keeping with the traditional classification of disinformation in international humanitarian law (IHL) as a permissible ruse of war. A patchwork set of protections drawn from IHL, international human rights law and international criminal law may be used to limit disinformation operations during armed conflict, but numerous gaps and ambiguities undermine the force of this legal framework, calling for further scholarly attention and clarification." (Abstract)
more
"A timely call for a new ethic of journalism engagement for today's troubled media sphere, Objectively Engaged Journalism argues that media should be neither neutral nor partisan but engaged in protecting egalitarian democracy. It shows how journalists, professional or citizen, can be both objective
...
in method and dedicated to improving a global public sphere toxic with disinformation, fake news, and extremism. Drawing from history, ethics, and current media issues, Stephen Ward rejects the ideals of neutrality and "just the facts" objectivity, showing how they are based on invalid dualistic thinking with deep roots in Western culture. He presents a theory of pragmatic objectivity and applies it to journalism. Journalism's role in interpreting culture, he argues, needs a form of objectivity that embraces human strengths and limitations. Defining responsible journalism as situated, imperfect inquiry, Objectively Engaged Journalism is one of the first systematic studies of the ethical foundations of engaged journalism for a media that is increasingly perspectival and embedded in society." (Publisher description)
more
"For some users the current Internet epoch can be considered the Internet of Hate which poses serious human rights concerns. Reflecting the scale and seriousness of the problem, innovations in governance tools for online hate have been initiated by national governments, intergovernmental organisatio
...
ns and Internet intermediaries across Europe in past years. This study maps, explains and critically evaluates these emerging innovations covering three levels: moderation, oversight, and regulatory level. It reviews whether and how these innovations deliver a victim sensitive approach; uphold human rights including freedom of expression and prohibition of discrimination; and fulfil goals, aims, values and expectations of governmental agencies, Internet platforms, civil society organisations and the general public when it comes to the governance of online hate speech. The study identifies 30 indicators that could assess the success or progress of different governance tools for online hate speech and makes many practical recommendations covering ten key areas." (Back cover)
more
"In this paper, we provide recommendations for protecting freedom of expression and opinion and the right to impart and receive information to enable governments to fight the COVID-19 health crisis in a rights-respecting manner. There will be an aftermath to the COVID-19 outbreak and the measures go
...
vernments put in place right now will determine what it will look like. The recommendations outlined below will help ensure that the rule of law, and the rights to freedom of expression and opinion, as well as the right to receive and to impart information, are protected throughout this crisis and in the future. Under no circumstances should any government allow people’s fundamental rights to fall victim to this pandemic." (Executive summary)
more
"Die technischen Möglichkeiten der Cyberwelt haben gänzlich neue Potenziale zur Beeinflussung von politischen Präferenzen in anderen Staaten eröffnet. Die Meinungsbildung in offenen Gesellschaften wird zunehmend durch subversive Maßnahmen autoritärer Regime im Internet beeinflusst, wodurch der
...
öffentliche Raum Internet stark eingeschränkt wird. In dieser Studie wird untersucht, wie die Resilienz von offenen Gesellschaften gegen Subversion aus dem Cyberraum gestärkt werden kann, ohne dabei die eigenen Grundsätze preiszugeben. Zunächst wird ein Überblick zu den Diskursen über Cyberbedrohungen gegeben, um sich dann auf die Frage nach der gesellschaftlichen Resilienz zu konzentrieren." (Zusammenfassung)
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