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Freedom on the Net 2019: The Crisis of Social Media
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Washington, DC; New York: Freedom House (2019), 32 pp.

"Social media allow ordinary people, civic groups, and journalists to reach a vast audience at little or no cost, but they have also provided an extremely useful and inexpensive platform for malign influence operations by foreign and domestic actors alike. Political leaders employed individuals to s ... more

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The Business of Misinformation: Hungary. Pushing Politics, Picking Pockets

Judit Szakács

Budapest: Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS) (2019), 20 pp.

"It is almost impossible to obtain information about who is behind Hungarian misinformation websites; financial information about them is even harder to come by; Hungarian misinformation websites fall on the spectrum from purely ideological sites to simple moneymaking machines; Facebook appears to b ... more

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“Fake News” and Cyber-Propaganda in Sub-Saharan Africa: Recentering the Research Agenda

Admire Mare, Hayes Mawindi Mabweazara, Dumisani Moyo

African Journalism Studies, volume 40, issue 4 (2019), pp. 1-12

"Dominant narratives about the contemporary problem of “fake news” and cyber-propaganda have focused on how its evolution and manifestation has been closely linked with the rise of populist politics, digital capitalism, the transformation of the public sphere and structural weaknesses of liberal ... more

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Digital News Report 2019
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Nic Newman, Richard Fletcher, Antonis Kalogeropoulos, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (eds.)

Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (2019), 153 pp.

"Despite the efforts of the news industry, we find only a small increase in the numbers paying for any online news – whether by subscription, membership, or donation. Growth is limited to a handful of countries mainly in the Nordic region (Norway 34%, Sweden 27%) while the number paying in the US ... (16%) remains stable after a big jump in 2017. • Even in countries with higher levels of payment, the vast majority only have ONE online subscription – suggesting that ‘winner takes all’ dynamics are likely to be important. One encouraging development though is that most payments are now ‘ongoing’, rather than one-offs. In some countries, subscription fatigue may also be setting in, with the majority preferring to spend their limited budget on entertainment (Netflix/Spotify) rather than news. With many seeing news as a ‘chore’, publishers may struggle to substantially increase the market for high-priced ‘single title’ subscriptions. As more publishers launch pay models, over two-thirds (70%) of our sample in Norway and half (50%) in the United States now come across one or more barriers each week when trying to read online news. In many countries, people are spending less time with Facebook and more time with WhatsApp and Instagram than this time last year. Few users are abandoning Facebook entirely, though, and it remains by far the most important social network for news. Social communication around news is becoming more private as messaging apps continue to grow everywhere. WhatsApp has become a primary network for discussing and sharing news in non-Western countries like Brazil (53%) Malaysia (50%), and South Africa (49%). People in these countries are also far more likely than in the West to be part of large WhatsApp groups with people they don’t know – a trend that reflects how messaging applications can be used to easily share information at scale, potentially encouraging the spread of misinformation. Public and private Facebook Groups discussing news and politics have become popular in Turkey (29%) and Brazil (22%) but are much less used in Western countries such as Canada (7%) or Australia (7%). Concern about misinformation and disinformation remains high despite efforts by platforms and publishers to build public confidence. In Brazil 85% agree with a statement that they are worried about what is real and fake on the internet." (Summary, page 9) more

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Patriotic Trolling: A Survey of State-Sponsored Trolling Worldwide

Nick Monaco, Carly Nyst

In: Media and Mass Atrocity: The Rwanda Genocide and Beyond

Allan Thompson (ed.)

Waterloo, Ontario: Centre for International Governance Innovation (2019), pp. 501-529

"In this chapter we begin by surveying the digital political landscape, which has provided a fertile breeding ground for trolling as a state tool for suppression of dissenting ideas. We observe the tactical move by states from an ideology of information scarcity to one of information abundance, whic ... more

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Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent

Alan MacLeod (ed.)

London; New York: Routledge (2019), x, 171 pp.

"Propaganda in the Information Age is a collaborative volume which updates Herman and Chomsky’s propaganda model for the twenty-first-century media landscape and makes the case for the continuing relevance of their original ideas. It includes an exclusive interview with Noam Chomsky himself. 2018 ... more

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CIGI-Ipsos Global Survey Internet Security & Trust 2019, Part 3: Social Media, Fake News & Algorithms

Ipsos;Centre for International Governance Innovation (2019), 213 slides

"1. Majorities around the globe say that social media has increased their ease of communications & access to information, but are mixed on its impact on civility. On balance, it is seen as a positive, but not without its problems. (slides 8-34). 2. Four in ten (44%) admit to being duped by fake news ... more

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The Business of Misinformation: Slovakia. Snake Oil Spills Onto the Web

Jozef Michal Mintal, Alex Rusnák

Budapest: Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS) (2019), 12 pp.

"The presented report looks at 49 major Slovak disinformation and misinformation websites and sketches out their ownership as well as financial background. The report succeeds in identifying the ownership or operational structure behind 35 websites. In terms of financial data, the report canvasses f ... more

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Influencers and Influencing for Better Accountability in the DRC: Sources and Circulation of Information in the DRC - the Case of North Kivu
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Fondation Hirondelle;Demos, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative;ICREDES (2019), 39 pp.

"The information ecosystem in DRC is fragmented and fragile. It is characterised by a great number of media outlets, however their level of professionalism is low and their vulnerability to partisan capture is high. This fragility is replicated in the online space. The Congolese population rely heav ... ily on informal sources of information such as word of mouth, interpersonal communication with family and friends. The scarcity of reliable information open avenues for the rumours and misinformation to spread. This context presents serious challenges for the promotion of good governance and accountability that requires well informed citizens. To better address those challenges, it is necessary to understand the main sources and dynamics of information flows both offline and online, and through media and non-media channels. A consortium composed of Fondation Hirondelle (FH), Demos, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) and the Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES) was created in order to provide a more holistic view of the Congolese information ecosystem and to identify opportunities for entry. Due to the limited time and resources of the study, and because of the pre-existing networks and capacities of the consortium in this region, its focus is on North Kivu. To identify the voices, networks and themes that dominated this information ecosystem in this region, three levels of analysis were chosen: 1. The sources and level of information of the local populations. This analysis was provided by HHI that implemented household surveys of large samples of populations in Eastern DRC; 2. The sources of information of local journalists. This analysis was provided by FH that surveyed a network of 18 local radios in North Kivu; 3. The network and content analysis of digital and social media provided by DEMOS [...] Findings: Radio is the primary media source of information for the population of Eastern DRC (78% of the sample listens to it occasionally and 43% daily [...] The main sources of information depend on the context and the nature of the information people are seeking [...] The results highlight the lack of reliability of information sources (46% of respondents expressed a moderate to high level of confidence in local radio, and 39% for national radio) ..." (Executive summary) more

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#meinung #macht #digital #plattformkapitalismus

ila, issue 426 (2019), pp. 4-40

"WhatsApp und Facebook werden auch in Lateinamerika massiv genutzt, vor allem aufgrund ihres vermeintlich kostenlosen Charakters. Auch dort wird das Problem der rechten Meinungsmache und der Fake News diskutiert, denn die Tatsache, dass sich die Leute heute vor allem über Werbeplattformen informier ... en, die unzutreffend „soziale Medien“ genannt werden, hat handfeste politische Auswirkungen. In Brasilien und El Salvador wurden die jüngsten Wahlen nicht über Präsenz und Debatten in den traditionellen Medien gewonnen, sondern über gut vorbereitete und teure WhatsApp-Kampagnen. In Brasilien siegt so der Rechtsextremist Jair Bolsonaro, in El Salvador der politische Wende-hals und PR-Profi Nayib Bukele. Die brasilianischen WhatsApp-Nutzer*innen wurden während des Wahlkampfs mit gefälschtem, häufig explizit sexuellem Inhalt geflutet, wie etwa der Meldung, dass die Arbeiterpartei plane, Babyfläschchen mit Nuckel in Penisform zu verteilen, um die Homosexualisierung der Kleinkinder voranzutreiben. Haarsträubendes postfaktisches Zeitalter – warum fallen Fake News auf fruchtbaren Boden? Klar ist: Klassische Medien haben ihre Funktion als „Gatekeeper“, als Instanzen, die sortieren und filtern, längst eingebüßt. Die Gesellschaften werden vielfältiger und unübersichtlicher: mehr Pluralität auf der einen Seite, andererseits immer tiefere Gräben, die sich durch die Gesellschaften ziehen. Die mediale Öffentlichkeit und die Zugangsbedingungen zu ihr wandeln sich. Die Menschen misstrauen „denen da oben“ durchaus zu Recht. Aber die kommerziellen Global Tech Player beherrschen die Räume für Kommunikation, Information und Meinungsbildung mit Algorithmen. Das hat Folgen. Das Geschäftsmodell basiert auf Datenschürfen, kombiniert mit persönlich zugeschnittener Werbung. Du bekommst das, was du sehen und hören willst, nicht was wahr ist und den Tatsachen entspricht. Und davon profitieren vor allem rechtspopulistische Akteure. Gibt es dazu einen funktionierenden linken Gegenentwurf? Wir, die Macher*innen der ila und ähnlich Gesinnte, wollten eigentlich schon immer zur Bildung einer Gegenöffentlichkeit beitragen, positionierten uns gegen den „bürgerlichen Journalismus als Stellvertreterjournalismus“, wollten „Betroffenenberichterstattung“. Heute haben Rechte und Rechtsextreme den Begriff „Gegenöffentlichkeit“ für sich gekapert. Und jetzt haben wir den Salat. Aktuell existiert eine Öffentlichkeit jenseits der Dichotomie „staatlich geregelt oder privat“. Wir haben kein Problem mehr damit, unsere eigenen Inhalte zu verbreiten und eigene Medien zu schaffen. Das stellt allerdings noch längst nicht sicher, dass wir auch gehört werden. Der springende Punkt ist nicht mehr der Zugang, sondern die Reichweite. Wir konkurrieren mit allen anderen Anbietern von welcher Information auch immer um Aufmerksamkeit. Und dabei verfügen wir, kaum anders als früher, immer noch über die schwächeren Möglichkeiten. Wie sieht also das Überleben im „Plattformkapitalismus“ aus, wie sich darin bewegen, schützen, informieren, seine Meinung bilden und als politisch Aktive oder alternative Medienschaffende die eigenen Inhalte verbreiten? Dazu ein paar Ideen, die sich aus der Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema und lateinamerikanischen Gesprächspartner*innen herauskristallisieren: Versteht, die Technik zu verstehen (in Lateinamerika ist die Rede von hackear la tecnología, also die Technologie für die eigenen Zwecke zu nutzen wissen), wahrt eine kritische Distanz, haltet eure Informationsquellen vielfältig (was vor allem auch Kindern und Jugendlichen vermittelt werden sollte), schafft und nutzt alternative Plattformen. Manchmal kann auch digitales Fasten das Gebot der Stunde sein. Handy aus und raus auf die Straße – oder in den Wald." (Editorial) more

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Digital Threats to Democracy

Marianne Elliott, Jess Berentson-Shaw, Kathleen Kuehn, Leon Salter, Ella Brownlie

The Workshop;Law Foundation;Luminate Foundation (2019), 244 pp.

"At the heart of the challenges to democracy posed by digital media are three core problems: 1. Platform monopolies: two or three corporations control not only our means of communication, but also the content which is distributed, both of which are core aspects of our democracy. Whilst the market po ... more

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The Business of Misinformation: Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lying for Profit

Semir Dzebo

Budapest: Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS) (2019), 8 pp.

"The websites creating misinformation content in Bosnia and Herzegovina can be classified into four categories based on their financial and/or political motivations and the extent to which they provide valuable journalistic contributions. The majority of misinformation websites are motivated solely ... more

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Nachgefragt: Medienkompetenz in Zeiten von Fake News

Manfred Theisen

Berlin: Zentralen für Politische Bildung, Sonderausg. (2019), 130 pp.

"Jugendliche informieren sich heute primär digital. Umso wichtiger ist es, dass sie bei der Nutzung von digitalen Medien in der Lage sind, Nachrichten und Informationsquellen richtig einzuordnen und wahre von falschen Meldungen zu unterscheiden. Dieses Buch gibt kompetent Auskunft zum Thema. Google ... more

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Fake News: Moderne Lügen entlarven und entspannt reagieren

Thorben Prenzel

Frankfurt am Main: Wochenschau-Verlag (2019), 174 pp.

"Thorben Prenzel stellt in seinem Buch die Triple-A-Methode vor, die eine einfache Handlungsanleitung für den Alltag bietet. Diese verständliche Schritt-für-Schritt Anleitung hilft Ihnen, gekonnt die richtigen Argumente zur richtigen Zeit anzubringen." (Verlagsbeschreibung)

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Fake News, Filter Bubbles, Post-Truth and Trust: A Study Across 27 Countries

Ipsos (2018), 35 slides

"Fake news, post-truth and filter bubbles are other people’s problems, not ours…: 65% think that other people live in a bubble on the internet, mostly looking for opinions they already agree with – but only 34% say they live in their own bubble; 63% are confident they can identify fake news - ... more

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Perspectives on Political Communication in Africa

Bruce Mutsvairo, Beschara Karam (eds.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2018), xxiii, 272 pp.

"Focusing on sub-Saharan Africa and occasionally drawing comparisons with other regions of the world, this book critically addresses the development of the field focusing on the current opportunities and challenges within the African context. By using a wide variety of case studies that include Moza ... more

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"Nichts ist, wie es scheint": Über Verschwörungstheorien

Michael Butter

Berlin: Suhrkamp (2018), 270 pp.

"Seit 2015 Hunderttausende Flüchtlinge in die Bundesrepublik kamen, kursiert im Netz die Theorie vom »Großen Austausch«: Das Land solle von einer globalen »Finanzoligarchie« mittels der »Migrationswaffe« ausgeschaltet werden. Neben mangelndem Vertrauen in die Politik ist der Glaube an Versch ... more

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Defining “Fake News”: A Typology of Scholarly Definitions

Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Zheng Wei Lim, Richard Ling

Digital Journalism, issue 6 (2018), pp. 137-153

"This paper is based on a review of how previous studies have defined and operationalized the term “fake news.” An examination of 34 academic articles that used the term “fake news” between 2003 and 2017 resulted in a typology of types of fake news: news satire, news parody, fabrication, man ... more

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Architects of Networked Disinformation: Behind the Scenes of Troll Accounts and Fake News Production in the Philippines
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Jonathan Corpus Ong, Jason Vincent A. Cabañes

Newton Tech4Dev Network;University of Leeds;British Council (2018), 74 pp.

"The study explains how strategists set campaign objectives based on input from their political clients, then delegate political marketing responsibility to a team of digital influencers and fake account operators. These operators infiltrate online communities, artificially trend hashtags to hijack ... more

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A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Disinformation: Report of the Independent High Level Group on Fake News and Online Disinformation
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Luxembourg: European Union (2018), 39 pp.

"In this report, we favour the word “disinformation” over “fake news.” Disinformation, as used in the Report, includes all forms of false, inaccurate, or misleading information designed, presented and promoted to intentionally cause public harm or for profit. Our main message is that the bes ... more

Freedom on the Net 2019: The Crisis of Social Media Top Insights

Digital News Report 2019 Top Insights

Influencers and Influencing for Better Accountability in the DRC: Sources and Circulation of Information in the DRC - the Case of North Kivu Top Insights

Architects of Networked Disinformation: Behind the Scenes of Troll Accounts and Fake News Production in the Philippines Top Insights

A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Disinformation: Report of the Independent High Level Group on Fake News and Online Disinformation Top Insights

Freedom on the Net 2019: The Crisis of Social Media
Top Insights

Digital News Report 2019
Top Insights

Influencers and Influencing for Better Accountability in the DRC: Sources and Circulation of Information in the DRC - the Case of North Kivu
Top Insights

Architects of Networked Disinformation: Behind the Scenes of Troll Accounts and Fake News Production in the Philippines
Top Insights

A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Disinformation: Report of the Independent High Level Group on Fake News and Online Disinformation
Top Insights