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Social Media, Political Polarization, and Political Disinformation: A Review of the Scientific Literature

Joshua A. Trucker, Andrew Guess et al.

Hewlett Foundation (2018), 95 pp.

"The following report is intended to provide an overview of the current state of the literature on the relationship between social media; political polarization; and political “disinformation,” a term used to encompass a wide range of types of information about politics found online, including � ... more

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Loving Hate: Anti-Muslim Extremism, Radical Islamism and the Spiral of Polarization

Maik Fielitz, Julia Ebner, Jakob Guhl, Matthias Quent

Jena (DE); London; Berlin: Institute for Democracy and Civil Society (IDZ);Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) (2018), 75 pp.

"This report focuses on the interactional dynamics between anti-Muslim extremists and radical Islamists in Germany and beyond. It reveals ideological underpinnings, approaches to mobilization and communication patterns, which all prove to be analogous on both sides, and it places emphasis on the rec ... iprocity of hate that may serve to intensify processes of individual and group radicalization. Our study presents the first systematic analysis of the interplay between both forms of extremism that plays out on different places on the Internet. It provides direct evidence showing that Islamist and far-right movements converge at different levels and mutually amplify one another. The analysis focuses on measuring the online interaction between extremist content, individuals and events. Overall, over 10,000 Islamist and far-right Facebook posts and over one million German anti-Muslim tweets between 1 January 2013 and 30 November 2017 were analyzed for this study. Additionally, we conducted three months of ethnographic research into encrypted pro-IS and pro-Al-Qaeda groups on Telegram as well as into far-right chat groups. Key Findings Radical Islamism and anti-Muslim racism, which manifest themselves in the form of far-right extremism and right-wing populism exhibit a symbiotic relationship. In the context of glocal interaction patterns, the far right operates as a national sphere of resonance for international jihadism. Both negate and dismantle basic democratic values such as the inviolability of human dignity and religious freedom. What’s more, racism against Muslims paves the way for radicalization through Islamic fundamentalists. We identified three key patterns that reveal common worldviews and argumentative resemblance: First, the demonization of enemies based on a clear distinction between friend and foe. Second, the victimization of one’s own group as both sides take advantage of the alleged discrimination of their own group and the constructed dominance of the other. Third, conspiracy, which is the basic explanation provided for why the respective milieus do not share their exclusionary claim to truth. The alleged systematic blindness caused by the Jews or fake news are needed to balance the dissonance between claims and reality as well as to contribute to demonizing other groups." (Executive summary) more

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Division in the Land of ‘the Unspoken’: Examining Journalistic Practice in Contemporary New Caledonia

Marie M’Balla-Ndi

MedieKultur: Journal of Media and Communication Research, volume 33, issue 62 (2017), pp. 52-71

"While the Kanaks’ pro-independence protests against French settlers have been extensively documented in the global media and academic literature, another protest – more subtle and diffused, but deeply embedded – is now taking place in New Caledonia (South Pacific) to decide whether to remain ... more

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Una cartografía de la blogósfera cubana: Entre «oficialistas» y «mercenarios»

Ted Henken

Nueva Sociedad, issue 235 (2011), pp. 90-109

"Pese al clima –por momentos agobiante– de polarización, en Cuba ha emergido una variedad de blogs y de blogueros que buscan sobreponerse a las dificultades políticas y materiales. Más allá de los adjetivos con que cada «bando» busca descalificar a los otros, en los últimos años la exten ... more

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Entre rivalidad y complicidad: Relación entre los medios de comunicación privados y la polarización política nacional en Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Carmen Laura Gimenez Solar

Santa Cruz de la Sierra; Amsterdam: Centro de Estudios y Documentación Latinoamericanos (CEDLA), Maestría en Estudios Latinoamericanos (2010), 119 pp.

"La cobertura mediática de lo sucedido en el departamento boliviano de Pando sobre la masacre de campesinos afines al gobierno, ejemplifica una tendencia mucho mayor, relacionada con el papel desempeñado por los medios de comunicación durante la polarización política vivida en Bolivia entre el ... more

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El Salvador's Media System: Political Polarization and Ideological Alignment

Ricardo José Valencia Pineda, Catrin Zander

Hamburg: University of Hamburg, Media Systems in an International Comparative Perspective (2009), 25 pp.