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Authoritarians on a Media Offensive in the Midst of War: The Informational Influence of Russia, China, Turkey, Iran and the Gulf States in Southeast Europe

Rumena Filipova, Vladimir Shopov

Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) (2022), iii, 127 pp.

"The publication analyzes the emerging trends of foreign authoritarian-state disinformation in the context of the war in Ukraine in a comparative manner focusing on 7 states of Southeast Europe (Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania). It examines ... more

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The Vladimirror Network: Pro-Putin Power-Users on Facebook

Moustafa Ayad

London: Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) (2022), 11 pp.

"Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) researchers identified key pro-Putin accounts with two or more duplicates engaged in administering, moderating, and contributing to large public Facebook groups with hundreds of thousands of members fawning over the Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russia ... more

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Turning Social Listening Data Into Action: Barriers and Recommendations Observed Through a COVID-19 Rumor Response

Alejandro Posada, Rocio Lopez Iñigo, Jamie Sport

Internews (2022), 23 pp.

"[...] seven key informant interviews were conducted with humanitarian organizations that have been at the forefront of social listening projects throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Although we anchored the research in the COVID-19 response, our findings suggest that the uses and impacts of social lis ... tening are applicable across all elements of humanitarian response besides COVID-19 and even beyond health. The paper is structured around three components: (1) the differences between what organizations are hoping for (expected results) and what they have observed so far (observed results) in relation to the impacts of social listening, (2) the major barriers affecting the utilization of findings derived from social listening, (3) a preliminary brainstorm around recommendations that could mitigate the effects ofthe barriers identified and contribute to a realization of the expected results. Interviewees expressed expectations for long-term and structural benefits from the ongoing use of social listening findings. The most common expected results include contributions to improved infodemic management that is receptive to community concerns, stronger community engagement, more responsive programming and policy design, and more collaboration between humanitarian and health actors. Our findings suggest that, although some of these structural promises have not yet been realized, significant foundations have been laid. Organizations have observed that social listening findings are already contributing to improvements in RCCE, internal adaptations of program design, growth and acceptance of social listening throughout organizations, and a growing influence on public health policy. Despite these important results, there are still major challenges preventing the realization of social listening as a transformational tool for humanitarian response. Thirteen major barriers were identified, which exist at every stage of the traditional social listening project workflow. For data collection and analysis, the study found that the qualitative nature of the data, the predominance of a social media-only listening approach without an offline component, a reliance on traditional engagement statistics, limited qualified human resources, and issues around collaboration all hamper the effective use of social listening findings." (Conclusion) more

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Comunicação e ciência: Reflexões sobre a desinformação

Nair Prata, Sônia Jaconi, Rodrigo Gabrioti, Genio Nascimento, Hendryo André, Silvio Simão de Matos (eds.)

São Paulo: Intercom – Sociedade Brasileira de Estudos Interdisciplinares da Comunicação (2022), 476 pp.

"Como indica o título do livro há em seus 21 textos diversos cenários que se apresentam em torno daquilo que conceitualmente é definido como “desinformação”, ou seja, reflexões sobre o nosso tempo concomitante de vida em que se dá crédito a teorias absurdas, se reescreve o passado a par ... more

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Misinformation and disinformation: An international effort using behavioural science to tackle the spread of misinformation

Chiara Varazzani, Michaela Sullivan-Paul, Lauryn Conway, Andrea Colasanti, Nicholas Diamond

Paris: OECD; OPSI (2022), 31 pp.

"The OECD convened a first-of-its kind international partnership on behavioural science and misinformation between the Canadian and the French governments to develop and disseminate behaviourally-informed and evidence-based solutions that can guide government response to misinformation. The study te ... more

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Artificial Intelligence and Disinformation: State-Aligned Information Operations and the Distortion of the Public Sphere

Courtney Radsch

Vienna: OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (2022), 28 pp.

"In light of the role played by state-aligned actors, the private sector and lawmakers in countries with strong democratic institutions should adopt policies that mitigate the ability of state actors to manipulate AI and weaponize communication platforms. Efforts to combat disinformation must recogn ... more

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Russian Information Warfare 2 Months After the Invasion in Ukraine

Tamar Kintsurashvili, Sandro Gigauri

Media Development Foundation (MDF) (2022), 46 pp.

"During the monitoring period (February 24 – April 24) the following tendencies have been identified: Out of the 160 false information and manipulative content, mainly disseminated in Russian and Georgian sources, the largest share (49.4%) was directed against Ukraine, followed by disinformation a ... more

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A Human Rights Approach to Tackle Disinformation: Submission to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Amnesty International (2022), 16 pp.

"Instead of criminalising or otherwise silencing people to address misinformation and disinformation, States should step up their efforts to ensure credible, reliable, objective, evidence-based and accessible information is disseminated to all." (Back cover)

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Mapping the Website and Mobile App Audiences of Russia’s Foreign Communication Outlets, RT and Sputnik, Across 21 Countries

Julia Kling, Neil Thurman, Florian Toepel, Richard Flechter

Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, volume 3, issue 6 (2022), 17 pp.

"Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, policymakers worldwide have taken measures to curb the reach of Russia’s foreign communication outlets, RT and Sputnik. Mapping the audiences of these outlets in 21 countries, we show that in the quarter before the invasion, at least via their official we ... more

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Brazil's Electoral Justice Permanent Program on Countering Disinformation: Strategic Plan Elections 2022

Aline Rezende Peres Osorio, Frederico Franco Alvim, Giselly Siqueira et al.

Brasilia: Brazil Superior Electoral Court; Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE) (2022), 61 pp.

"The actions to be developed are distributed in three axes: (i) Inform, aimed at the dissemination of official, reliable and quality information; (ii) Empower, aimed at media literacy and training the whole of society to understand the phenomenon of disinformation and the functioning of the electora ... l process; and (iii) Respond, related to the identification of cases of disinformation and the adoption of strategies, both preventive and repressive, to contain its negative effects. For the 2022 electoral cycle, the first axis has five projects with their own purposes and goals. They are: (i) mass dissemination network of truthful and official information about elections and the Electoral Justice; (ii) chatbot – electoral queries on WhatsApp; (iii) access, dissemination and enhancement of the scope of fact checking on the electoral process; (iv) deepening electoral transparency; (v) development and improvement of other technological tools and digital channels to disseminate true and quality information. In this strategic point, the Court’s action is guided by the preferential position of freedom of expression, in the legal system, by encouraging plurality of information. Likewise, information actions meet the recommendations for “prophylactic” prebunking actions (that is, strategies to reduce citizens’ susceptibility to disinformation by exposing examples of how disinformation operates). The second axis, in turn, includes seven initiatives: (i) training for internal and external audiences on disinformation, on the integrity of Brazilian elections and on the fundamentality of the Electoral Justice as an institution that guarantees democracy; (ii) prevention of the mental health of members, agents and collaborators of the Electoral Justice who deal directly with actions to contain disinformation; (iii) training the internal and external public on the electoral process, including the functions performed by it in the context of the democratic rule of Law; (iv) awareness campaigns on disinformation and media and information education actions for the external public; (v) cooperation and actions to enhance reaching partners’ media and information literacy initiatives; (vi) dialog with political parties and party federations to make them aware of their responsibility in the context of fighting against disinformation; (vii) support to other public institutions to implement actions to confronting disinformation. Finally, the response axis encompasses eight projects: (i) permanent coalition for verification; (ii) engagement of digital platforms and their technological resources in confronting structured networks of disinformation and inauthentic behavior; (iii) reporting channel for mass shooting of content in partnership with WhatsApp; (iv) creating a network to monitor disinformation practices against the electoral process; (v) containment of disinformation on Telegram; (vi) partnership and dialog with the Federal Police and the Electoral Prosecutor Office; (vii) Strategic Cyberintelligence Committee and (viii) review and elaboration of norms that acts against the practice of disinformation in the Electoral Justice, as a way of preventing the phenomenon in question. Concerning to this point, the planning met the parameters of timely response, appreciation of fact checking, importance of engagement and transparency of platforms, as well as the expansion and improvement of channels for complaints." (Presentation, page 5-6) more

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Narrative russischer staatlicher Medien über Corona-Impfstoffe im Westen

Daria Zakharova

Russland-Analysen, issue 418 (2022), pp. 2-5

"Die überwiegende Mehrheit der Beiträge in russischen staatlichen Medien über Impfkampagnen im Westen haben eine negative Konnotation. Die Übertreibung der negativen Folgen einer Impfung mit Präparaten von BionTech/Pfizer und Moderna sowie die Überzeichnung der angeblich massenhaften Unzufried ... more

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Fact-Checking Initiatives in Portuguese Language Countries: Checking Methods and Financing Strategies

Lucas Durr Missau, Laura Strelow Storch

Online Media and Global Communication, volume 1, issue 3 (2022), pp. 600-625

"This work examines more closely the standardizing and the customizing aspects of active factchecking outlets in Portuguese-speaking countries, focusing on the verification methods and organizational models in use. Based on Content Analysis, we collected manually 318 posts during June 2019 from each ... more

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We Love to Hate George Soros: A Cross-Platform Analysis of the Globalism Conspiracy Theory Campaign in Brazil

Rose Marie Santini, Débora Salles, Carlos Eduardo Barros

Convergence, volume 28, issue 4 (2022), pp. 983–1006

"The proliferation of conspiracy theories surrounding George Soros and the ‘Globalist invasion’ had been concentrated primarily in Eastern Europe, Russia and the United States. However, since Jair Bolsonaro’s presidential victory in Brazil, Soros has become a target of the far-right in the cou ... more

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Building Trust and Reinforcing Democracy: Preparing the Ground for Government Action

Paris: OECD (2022), 229 pp.

"Democracies are at a critical juncture, under growing internal and external pressures. This publication sheds light on the important public governance challenges countries face today in preserving and strengthening their democracies, including fighting mis- and disinformation; improving government ... more

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The Terror Times: The Depth and Breadth of the Islamic State Alternative News Outlet Ecosystem Online

Moustafa Ayad, Nadeem Khan, Aymenn Al-Tamimi

London et al.: Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) (2022), 21 pp.

"This report highlights the networks, supporters, and the platforms of Islamic State disinformation disseminators, focusing on popular social media platforms as well as encrypted messaging applications. These disinformation networks are creating self-branded media outlets with followers in the tens ... more

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Effect of a social media-based counselling intervention in countering fake news on COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria

Felix Olajide Talabi, Ikechukwu Peter Ugbor, Moyinoluwa Joseph Talabi et al.

Health Promotion International, volume 37, issue 2: daab140 (2022), 10 pp.

"The aim of this study was to understand the impact of counselling in countering fake news-related COVID-19 vaccine. We conducted two separate experiments. In the first experiment, we exposed the treatment group to fake news on COVID-19 vaccine through a WhatsApp group chat while the control group w ... more

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The Role of Religions and Conspiracy Theories in Democratic and Authoritarian Regimes

Oliver Hidalgo, Alexander Yendell (eds.)

Politics and Governance, volume 10, issue 4 (2022), pp. 132-242

"This thematic issue asks about the role of religions and religious actors and conspiracy theories/theorists in democratic and authoritarian regimes in general. Special attention is given to the current Covid]19 pandemic, since the relevant state of emergency obviously endorses the persuasiveness ... more

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Deadly Disinformation: How Online Conspiracies About Syria Cause Real-World Harm

Syria Campaign; Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD); Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) (2022), 27 pp.

"Since Syrians took to the streets more than 11 years ago demanding freedom from decades of dictatorship, the Syrian regime has used violence and disinformation as tools to silence those who dare to oppose it, especially those brave enough to expose the war crimes being committed. Civilians, doctors ... more

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Tracking the Propaganda and Disinformation About Foreign Influence in Serbia. Case Study: Serbian Media on the Ukraine War

Beograd: CRTA (2022), 15 pp.

"The topic of the war in Ukraine dominated the media during the first three months of the war and completely marginalized all other topics. The most foreign actor reported on most in the media was Russia, while the countries of the West, the US, the EU, and NATO were far less noticeable. Although th ... more

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The detection of political deepfakes

Markus Appel, Fabian Prietzel

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, volume 27, issue 4, zmac008 (2022), 13 pp.

"In this article, a theoretical model on the detection of deepfakes by ordinary citizens is introduced. The authors conducted three studies in which deepfakes with political content were presented. The deepfakes showed UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson or Barack Obama. In the deepfake videos, the ... more