"Disinformation existed in the past, but the growing ubiquity of social media grants political actors increasing capacity to spread dangerous rhetoric and imagery in their pursuit of power. Incendiary content has the potential to catalyze mob violence, riots, and vigilantes taking the law into their
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own hands. Disinformation and fostered distrust in legitimate news sources can lead to threats and violence against journalists, further undermining the institutions that could provide accurate information. In the cases we discuss here—the U.S.-Mexico border, India and Sri Lanka, and three Latin American 2018 elections—disinformation inflamed existing cleavages and caused violence. While these illustrative cases are spread across the world, and the violence in each place is related to distinct histories, close analysis highlights five common challenges for addressing disinformation in areas vulnerable to violence. These common challenges include: • The growing ubiquity of social media, usually combined with low trust in traditional forms of media, creating a situation in which disinformation can spread quickly. • Low or declining trust in government institutions, causing a rise in vigilantism—which social media encourages and fuels. • Low levels of media literacy, and sometimes also low levels of general literacy, among perpetrators who do not have consistent access to formal school systems. • No transparency in social media company policies, making it difficult to evaluate and improve upon content moderation policies that could quell or spur violence. • Finally, government actors that could legislate change have an interest using disinformation to their own ends." (Page 2)
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"This document serves as a reading list and primer on digital disinformation. While the proliferation of literature on the subject is a positive reaction to an otherwise vague yet troubling threat, it can be difficult to grasp how much has been accomplished and what questions remain unanswered. This
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document will therefore give readers a foundational understanding of the immense amount of work that has been done in the last few years on digital disinformation and where future research may be heading. The sources are divided into nine categories of interest and include articles and reports from academic journals, research institutes, non-profit organizations, and news media, reflecting the multidisciplinary and sociotechnical nature of the subject. Although many of the sources can fit into more than one category, having a classification framework is useful for conceptualizing the kinds of research being done and provides direction for those new to the literature. And finally, like a well-run state-sponsored troll farm, the scholarship of digital disinformation continues to produce new content every day. We would be remiss if we did not stress that this document is only a snapshot of a particular moment in this expanding field. As such, we’ve included a list of additional resources that are regularly updated with research and news on disinformation and media manipulation more broadly." (Introduction)
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"El módulo explora la importancia crítica de la ética para medios tradicionales, como el periodismo, y para medios modernos, como las redes sociales. La presencia de las redes sociales y las noticias digitales ha aumentado la responsabilidad ética de la gente que opera en este campo, especialmen
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te teniendo en cuenta el alcance global y el poderoso impacto de estos nuevos tipos de medios de comunicación. Estos cambios, junto con las noticias falsas y el aumento de las restricciones a los medios de todo el mundo, hacen que este módulo sea importante y relevante para alumnos de cualquier disciplina. Reconociendo este panorama cambiante, el módulo extiende la discusión de las responsabilidades éticas más allá de los periodistas profesionales hasta la gente que consume las noticias, los usuarios de las redes sociales y los llamados "periodistas ciudadanos". Está diseñado para ayudar a los ponentes a ampliar la comprensión de sus alumnos de quién es exactamente un proveedor o un consumidor de medios de comunicación, y qué tipo de consideraciones éticas deben tener en cuenta quienes desempeñan estas funciones. Este módulo también busca hacer que los alumnos comprendan el efecto perjudicial que puede tener la falta de integridad y ética en la provisión y el consumo de medios de comunicación." (Introducción)
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"This book investigates ways in which global media coverage of conflicts affects the worldviews of the social and cultural values of nationals from the war regions. It identifies the cultural patterns in remote communities that have been 'diluted' by IT and the extent to which the changes impacted t
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he values of the indigenes. It also describes the role that IT especially social media and broadcast media play in the understanding of war among residents in highly wired and remote communities, respectively." (Publisher description)
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"When comparing media freedom in Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand, so-called “fake news” appears as threats to a deliberative (online) public sphere in these three diverse contexts. However, “racist propaganda”, “information operations” and “negative campaigning” might be more accurat
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e terms that explain these forms of systematic manipulative political communication. The three cases show forms of disinformation in under-researched contexts and thereby expand the often Western focused discourses on hate speech and fake news. Additionally, the analysis shows that harmful disinformation disseminated online originates from differing contextual trajectories and is not an “online phenomenon”. Drawing on an analysis of connotative context factors, this explorative comparative study enables an understanding of different forms of harmful disinformation in Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. The connotative context factors were inductively inferred from 32 expert interviews providing explanations for the formation of political communication (control) mechanisms." (Abstract)
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"The findings of a recent Ipsos survey conducted on behalf of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) reveal that fake news is very much a global epidemic and that its impact is widespread. The poll of over 25,000 interviews in over 25 economies finds that well over four in five (8
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6%) online global citizens believe they’ve been exposed to fake news. Among them, nearly nine in ten (86%) report having initially believed that the news was real, at least once. Indeed, the results suggest that misinformation is woven deep within the fabric of social media, most notably on Facebook, where as many as two-thirds (67%) report encountering fake news. Other common sources of fake news include: social media platforms more generally (65%), websites (60%), YouTube (56%), and television (51%)." (Page 1)
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"Para contestar la pregunta de qué hacer frente a las “Fake News”, se prohíbe dar respuestas simplistas. El presente dictamen argumenta que borrar “Fake News” de las redes sociales no es una panacea. Todo lo contrario: Los populistas percibirían su eliminación como una confirmación de s
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us actitudes basadas en teorías conspirativas y verían otro motivo para criticar a las élites. También es probable que los usuarios más susceptibles en este sentido se retiren hacia lugares más apartados del Internet, con lo cual se refuerza la fragmentación de la sociedad. Por lo tanto, la Ley sobre la Exigibilidad Jurídica en las Redes (Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz, NetzDG) es el enfoque equivocado. También los mensajes de advertencia que de manera generalizada marcan noticias como “Fake News” pueden desplegar efectos más bien negativos: Por un lado, estas advertencias en el News Feed caen fácilmente en el olvido, mientras que la noticia en sí se queda en la memoria del usuario. Por el otro lado, los usuarios pueden percibir advertencias generales en su News Feed como una intervención en su libertad de decisión autónoma y por consiguiente enojarse. Por lo tanto, es importante aplicar estos instrumentos con un enfoque hacia la responsabilidad propia de los usuarios. Las libertades de información y de expresión como libertades fundamentales son indispensables para el funcionamiento de las sociedades democráticas. Las medidas, ya sean dictadas por el Estado o desarrolladas por las propias redes sociales, tienen que tomarlo en cuenta. Por lo tanto, el dictamen recomienda las siguientes medidas: Promoción escolar y extraescolar de la competencia mediática para proteger contra influencias mediáticas nocivas y fomentar un espíritu crítico en el usuario. Utilización de mensajes de advertencia antes de difundir las “Fake News”. Esta medida hace un llamamiento a la responsabilidad de los usuarios, por lo cual tiene sentido. Fomento y cultivo de un diálogo sociopolítico respetuoso para evitar la formación de grupos a favor y en contra de las élites. Intensificación y coordinación de la investigación nacional e internacional sobre el uso de los medios de comunicación y el efecto de las “Fake News” para llegar a una evaluación final de los peligros y un tra bajo informativo eficiente." (Sinopsis, página 5)
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"Based on an extensive literature review, we suggest that ‘fake news’ alludes to two dimensions of political communication: the fake news genre (i.e. the deliberate creation of pseudojournalistic disinformation) and the fake news label (i.e. the instrumentalization of the term to delegitimize ne
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ws media). While public worries about the use of the label by politicians are increasing, scholarly interest is heavily focused on the genre aspect of fake news. We connect the existing literature on fake news to related concepts from political communication and journalism research, present a theoretical framework to study fake news, and formulate a research agenda. Thus, we bring clarity to the discourse about fake news and suggest shifting scholarly attention to the neglected fake news label." (Abstract)
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"Over the past few years, internet access and adoption in India has grown tremendously, giving Indians more access to the online information ecosystem than ever before. Today, India is one of the largest markets for technology platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook. However, the adoption of these t
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echnology platforms has also enabled misinformation and disinformation to spread at scale in the country. This has resulted in the eruption of violence and even the deaths of dozens of people. This policy brief explores the false information ecosystem in India, highlighting the key players and approaches they have implemented to curb the spread of misinformation and disinformation. It also offers a set of recommendations for how these efforts can be improved going forward." (Abstract)
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"The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has great humanitarian responsibilities towards a war-torn region. Deliberately referred to as a regional entrepreneurship hub, over eight million of Jordan’s citizens (86.4%) have access to the internet, and they produce more than half of the digital content avail
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able online in the Arabic language. As Jordanians navigate together through an ongoing humanitarian, economic and political crisis, the mainstream social media platforms to which they are active contributors, such as Twitter and Facebook, with the latter being the top app in the country, are turning into interactive spaces critical for public debate and socio-political transformation. The uses of mainstream social media include coping with the consequences of war, displacement, and the identity negotiations of a young nation. This policy brief identifies gaps and opportunities uncovered by the current programmes offered by organisations aiming at serving groups such as disadvantaged Jordanians and refugees. Overall, the country’s social media landscape reveals underlying societal tensions, collective concerns, and hopes for progress, equity and stability. This policy brief analyses social media impacts on the Jordanian society in 2018-2019." (Overview)
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"In the last few years, the world information ecosystem has been flooded by the “fake news” phenomena, augmented by the widespread use of social media. The fragmentation and scale of the new communication tools help spread old ideologies, that uphold racism, homophobia, and oppression. This phen
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omenon particularly afflicts developing countries, because of the persistent inequality and political polarisation. The results of this socio-economic inequality, like the digital divide, high rates of illiteracy and the lack of trust in institutions, pave the way to an expansion of indiscriminate hate as a political tool Christian evangelicism provides a conducive environment for neoconservatism and intolerance. This policy brief analyses the weakest points in Brazilian information ecosystem and demonstrates how that structure created a nurturing environment for disinformation and hate speech before and after the 2018 elections. It concludes with short- and medium-term strategies for governments, institutions and civil society, as well as tech and social media companies that will mitigate the negative societal disturbances of hate speech and disinformation." (Abstract)
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"The collection of essays in this volume seek among other things to draw attention to the virtues of conflict-sensitive journalism as a way of transforming the negative effects of ‘war’ journalism. Contributors to the handbook include journalists drawn from the following countries: eSwatini, Les
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otho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, who participated in a workshop in Windhoek in July 2018." (Foreword)
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"This edited volume examines how the growth of social media and ancillary computer systems is affecting the relationship between journalism and the pursuit of truth. Experts explore how news is perceived and identified, presented to the public, and how the public responds to news. They consider soci
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al media’s effect on the craft of journalism as well as the growing role of algorithms, big data, and automatic content production regimes. The volume’s aim is to confront these issues in a way that will be of enduring relevance; the discussions about contemporary journalism inform current students and help scholars in the future. Chapters reflect on questions such as what is different and what remains the same in journalism’s pursuit of truth now that social media has become such a prominent force in news gathering, dissemination, and reinterpretation? How has reader participation and responses changed? What are the implications for journalistic information gathering and truth claims? What is different now about the social roles of journalists and media institutions? How does interaction between journalists and social media affect democratic practices? The chapters offer a mix of empirical and critical work that reflects on journalism’s past, present, and future roles in our lives and in society." (Publisher description)
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Combining theory and practice, Mobile-First Journalism examines how audiences view, share and engage with journalism on internet-connected devices and through social media platforms. The book examines the interlinked relationship between mobile technology, social media and apps, covering the entire
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news production process from generating ideas for visual multimedia news content, to skills in verification and newsgathering, and outputting interactive content on websites, apps and social media platforms. These skills are underpinned with a consideration of ethical and legal concerns involving fake news, online trolling and the economics of mobile journalism. Topics include: understanding how mobile devices, social media platforms and apps are interlinked; making journalistic content more engaging and interactive; advice on how successful news publishers have developed mobile and social media strategies; adopting an approach that is entrepreneurial and user-centered; expert interviews with journalists, academics and software developers; learning key skills to launch and develop news websites, apps and social media outputs." (Publisher description)
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"Policy discourse about disinformation focuses heavily on the technological dimensions of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns. Unfortunately, this myopic focus on technology has led to insufficient attention being paid to the underlying human factors driving the success of state-sponsored disin
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formation campaigns. Academic research on disinformation strongly suggests that belief in false or misleading information is driven more by individual emotional and cognitive responses — amplified by macro social, political and cultural trends — than specific information technologies. Thus, attention given to countering the distribution and promulgation of disinformation through specific technological platforms, at the expense of understanding the human factors at play, hampers the ability of public diplomacy efforts countering it. This article addresses this lacuna by reviewing the underlying psychology of three common types of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns and identifying lessons for designing effective public diplomacy counter-strategies in the future." (Abstract)
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"This introduction to the special issue considers how independent research on mis/disinformation campaigns can be conducted in a corporate environment hostile to academic research. We provide an overview of the disinformation landscape in the wake of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal and
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social platforms’ decision to enforce access lockdowns and the throttling of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for data collection. We argue that the governance shift from user communities to social media algorithms, along with social platforms’ intensive emphasis on generating revenue from user data, has eroded the mutual trust of networked publics and opened the way for dis/ isinformation campaigns. We discuss the importance of open, public APIs for academic research as well as the unique challenges of collecting social media data to study highly ephemeral is/disinformation campaigns. The introduction concludes with an assessment of the growing data access gap that not only hinders research of public interest, but that may also preclude researchers from identifying meaningful research questions as activity on social platforms becomes increasingly more inscrutable and unobservable." (Abstract)
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