"This handbook offers a comprehensive overview of international and regional standards and commitments related to the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, political participation, and privacy in the area of the internet, social media and Artificial Intelligence in elections. It al
...
so maps a series of good practices implemented by diverse stakeholders worldwide during electoral processes. It is organized in eight sections: six sections dedicated to the analysis of the challenges and the general situation of elections in digital times, a section dedicated to conclusions and a section with suggestions for possible action. Each of the first six sections has a guide of suggested questions at the end in case the publication is used for trainings and workshops." (Methodological note, page 14)
more
"En este documento presentamos una secuencia didáctica para que las y los docentes trabajen en el aula sobre las desinformaciones en contextos electorales teniendo en cuenta que las y los adolescentes son parte fundamental de los debates públicos e incluso en varios países pueden ejercer el derec
...
ho al voto. Si bien es de esperar que los contenidos específicos de las desinformaciones puedan variar a lo largo del tiempo y de país en país (y en niveles subnacionales), hay algunos elementos del fenómeno que son comunes en toda la región y en todos los períodos electorales. Proponemos abordar estos elementos en las aulas como una estrategia para mitigar la masiva circulación de estos contenidos y propiciar que jóvenes tomen decisiones informadas, un desafío que, por supuesto, tenemos también las personas adultas. En el Programa de Educación de Chequeado sabemos que la escuela en general y los docentes en particular pueden promover espacios de participación que fomenten la construcción de habilidades de pensamiento crítico para que, al momento de votar, las y los jóvenes lo hagan a partir de información verificada. Entendemos que enseñar en la escuela estas habilidades, especialmente aquellas vinculadas con la identificación de desinformación, como parte de la Alfabetización Mediática e Informacional (AMI) es prioritario para el fortalecimiento del sistema democrático." (Introducción)
more
"Como la desigualdad es una decisión política y no una fatalidad, este es el momento para preguntarse ¿qué piensan hacer nuestros próximos gobernantes para que haya menos pobreza y mayor acceso a oportunidades? ¿Cuáles fórmulas o herramientas desarrollarían para contribuir a que la cancha e
...
sté menos inclinada a favor de algunos pocos y en contra de muchos? ¿Cómo garantizar que toda la ciudadanía tenga acceso a información sobre su entorno y participe en el debate público? ¿Qué tipo de iniciativas o estímulos plantean para que comunidades y grupos poblacionales tengan capacidad y resonancia a la hora de plantear de manera amplia las problemáticas que las aquejan?" (Página 7)
more
"The Moroccan elections of September 2021 were unusual for various reasons. As electoral campaigning took place under pandemic circumstances, social media played a role previously unseen and contributed significantly to the unexpected victory of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), a liberal pa
...
rty, against the Justice and Development Party (PJD), an Islamist party. The use of social media for campaigning purposes is not a completely new phenomenon in Morocco, given its prominent use by numerous social movements in the past. However, social media became a game-changer during the last elections. Considering the COVID-19 measures imposed, political parties shifted much of their campaigning online. Today, online spaces are no longer exclusively used by grassroots activists but have become increasingly popular among Moroccan political parties. While political parties converged in resorting to online spaces to compensate for the restrictions on offline campaigns, they diverged in their approaches; additionally, not all parties have the same financial capacity to exploit the full potential of social media. The huge disproportion in resources invested in online platforms was a main contributor to the victory of the RNI and the unexpected electoral wipeout of the PJD." (Abstract)
more
"This article examines the roles of social media on youth’s political participation in the 2019 General Elections in Nigeria. It interrogates the roles played by these communication tools in the emancipation and agency of youths while revealing the double-edged implications the devices may have on
...
the democratic processes and aspirants. The article employs both primary and secondary methods of data sourcing. Primary data were obtained from in-depth interviews with social media ‘influencers’ who played vital roles during the 2019 General Election in Nigeria. Further data were obtained from selected social media accounts of prominent politicians and analysed using content analysis. Secondary data were extracted from books, articles, newspapers and magazines. Also, the study was contextualised using use and gratification theory. The study concluded that social media played a vital role in the 2019 General Election in Nigeria. It revealed how social media contributed to citizens’ power and agency through debates and narratives which were instrumental in agenda-setting for the ruling class and citizens’ democratic expectations." (Abstract)
more
"En el primer capítulo se expone cómo se están dando las dinámicas de participación ciudadana en la TV abierta. El segundo capítulo ahonda en la caracterización de los controlantes de los operadores de TV abierta. El tercer capítulo expone las tendencias en materia de pluralismo de los progr
...
amas informativos y de opinión y el cuarto capítulo presenta los hallazgos obtenidos con la aplicación del instrumento para determinar tipologías, factores y niveles de riesgo, tanto en el pluralismo informativo como en la independencia de los medios, que fue desarrollado mediante talleres focales y acompañamiento del equipo consultor, en los cuales participaron expertos, académicos y periodistas, además de miembros de la autoridad regulatoria." (Introducción, página 4)
more
"This report examines at Kenyan news media coverage of the 2022 elections, focusing on four key publications, nine television stations, 11 radio stations, and three digital media channels. The report further pays particular attention to the coverage of the four presidential candidates, focusing on w
...
ho appeared on the front pages of the newspapers, the volume of coverage on each of them, how much space or airtime was dedicated to each candidate across the three media platforms monitored, and the tone of coverage of the contenders. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are shared." (Introduction)
more
"This article examines the connection between political parties’ perceptions of the importance of news media as source of political information, and the extent to which they adapt their communications to the standards, routines, formats and logic of the news media in Cameroon. This, with the objec
...
tive of being attractive to the news media and gain coverage. The contextual focus of the study is the 2018 presidential election campaign in Cameroon. Theoretically, the study is guided by the mediatization of politics hypothesis. Empirically, it utilizes in-depth interviews with spokespersons of political parties which presented candidates to the election. The findings show that most parties cared very little about adapting their campaign communications to the news media logic, because they believe the news media in Cameroon have a negligible significance for election performance. Instead, political parties largely focalized their strategies on oral face-to-face rallies and door-to-door canvassing, which they perceive as more effective and efficient for reaching the electorate." (Abstract)
more
"Analisamos uma amostra do conteúdo denunciado ao TSE, a fim de verificar se, de fato, a Meta removeu ou indicou a presença de desinformação nestas publicações. Os resultados apontam que parcelas expressivas das publicações denunciadas e já diagnosticadas como nocivas por checadores de fato
...
s não foram removidas das redes da Meta e/ou não receberam o rótulo de desinformação. A Meta está permitindo a circulação de conteúdo nocivo à democracia brasileira no Facebook e Instagram, sem cumprir de forma efetiva com as suas políticas e a parceria com o TSE." (Apresentação)
more
"Neste relatório, o NetLab UFRJ reúne os principais resultados do monitoramento de redes de desinformação multiplataforma a partir dos aplicativos de mensageria. Analisando 115,3 mil mensagens veiculadas em grupos públicos do Whatsapp e 180,9 mil em grupos e canais públicos do Telegram, identi
...
ficamos o compartilhamento de links externos, narrativas segmentadas, e tendências que podem contribuir para compreender e mitigar os efeitos da desinformação no segundo turno das eleições." (Netlab Blog)
more
"Narrativas de desinformação - principais achados: 1. Entre alegações de fraude e apelos moralistas, a Integridade Eleitoral e os Valores Cristãos despontam como as principais pautas do segundo turno. 2. Parte da relevância dos valores cristãos se dá pelo reenquadramento de outras pautas ger
...
ais da campanha permanente pela ótica e moral religiosas. 3. A pauta de Gênero e Família cresce nas plataformas durante o período do 2º turno, graças à discussão sobre aborto, comumente associada à moral religiosa. 4. A discussão sobre integridade eleitoral aumenta em momentos estratégicos, como o 7 de setembro e a votação do primeiro turno. Cresce o risco associado à pauta, com “previsões” de fraude que abrem espaço à contestação no segundo turno. 5. No Facebook e Instagram, predomina a atividade regular e institucionalizada de organizações e lideranças que trabalham com gênero e meio ambiente." (Página 2)
more
"On April 3, 2022, Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party won a fourth term in national elections, cementing its dominance with a two-thirds majority that will allow it to continue traveling what critics of the party and many others would describe as the path of centralizing power and rolling back democrat
...
ic safeguards. International observers characterized the elections as free but raised serious concerns about their fairness. These included blurring the lines between the government and the ruling party in campaigning, which amplified the advantage of the ruling coalition, the absence of a level playing field, and lack of balance in campaign coverage in the press, on television, and on billboards. Fidesz’s effective control over large sections of the media, undermining the independence of the judiciary and public institutions, and curbing of civil society has received considerable attention from international media and international observers. However, its misuse of people’s personal data, which helped the party reach voters in new, opaque ways, has received relatively little scrutiny. This report examines how data-driven campaigning in Hungary’s 2022 elections exacerbated an already uneven playing field and undermined the right to privacy. It also documents new forms of misuse of personal data collected by the government and used for political campaigning by Fidesz in the 2022 elections." (Summary)
more
"This research scrutinizes the content, spread, and implications of disinformation in Brazil’s 2018 pre-election period. It focuses specifically on the most widely shared fake news about Lula da Silva and links these with the preexisting polarization and political radicalization, ascertaining the
...
role of context. The research relied on a case study and mixed-methods approach that combined an online data collection of content, spread, propagators, and interactions’ analyses, with in-depth analysis of the meaning of such fake news. The results show that the most successful fake news about Lula capitalized on prior hostility toward him, several originated or were spread by conservative right-wing politicians and mainstream journalists, and that the pro-Lula fake news circulated in smaller networks and had overall less global reach. Facebook and WhatsApp were the main dissemination platforms of these contents." (Abstract)
more
"In this article, we analyze the spread of political disinformation in events of discursive struggles on Twitter, during the 2018 presidential election in Brazil. These were disputes for the hegemonic narrative between two stories based on opposed hashtags: one based on news from mainstream media an
...
d the other, based on disinformation, mostly from hyperpartisan outlets. Our goal was to understand how hyperpartisan outlets created and shaped these discursive struggles and the strategies used to spread disinformation to create an “alternative narrative” to the facts. Our case study is focused on two discursive struggles, for which we will use critical discourse analysis and social network analysis. Our findings suggest that (1) the structure of the hashtag wars was very polarized and right-wing groups had higher exposure to hyperpartisan content and disinformation, while traditional media discourse circulates more among other different ideological clusters; (2) rightwing hyperpartisan media mostly used biased framing and polarized ideological discourse structure as manipulative strategies to reframe the events and create a counter-narrative (and thus, to create the dispute); and (3) opinion leaders were major spreaders of disinformation among far-right users, as they reinforced hyperpartisan content and became key actors in the discursive struggles (and thus, reinforced the dispute)." (Abstract)
more
"Este informe de UNESCO en Perú analiza una variedad de respuestas que han sido implementadas en el país para contrarrestar los efectos de la desinformación durante las Elecciones Generales 2021. El estudio reconoce que diversas organizaciones han contribuido en la lucha contra las llamadas fake
...
news en un contexto nacional de crisis sanitaria, polarización y baja credibilidad institucional. Dada la relevancia de los diferentes tipos de respuestas que se han generado, el presente informe los sistematiza y analiza con el propósito de generar reflexión sobre la problemática de la desinformación en el país, así como con la intención que este documento sea de utilidad en futuros procesos electorales." (Resumen ejecutivo)
more
"This article contributes to the scholarship on Latin American campaigning by presenting data on the use of social media by presidential candidates in Guatemala’s 2019 election, including a content analysis of more than 2,000 Facebook posts along fifteen variables. The data show that Facebook use
...
by presidential campaigns is ubiquitous and allows campaigns to disseminate messages in non-traditional formats. Candidates use their Facebook accounts to mention issues of concern to voters and to make promises to fix the country’s problems, but offer far more slogans and vague promises than detailed policy proposals. They also rarely attack other candidates or tout their own qualifications for the presidency. The data also reveal systematic differences in campaign messaging between frontrunner and long-shot candidates." (Abstract)
more