"This report presents a summary analysis of research on current practices of content moderation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Indonesia, and Kenya, with a specific focus on 'harmful content' such as 'hate speech' and disinformation. The methodology combined desk research with qualitative interviews wit
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h key informants (representatives from local stakeholders). Findings from the country reports indicate that social media platforms, rather than serving as spaces for democratic debate and participatory citizenship, have increased ethnic-driven disinformation and politically motivated hatred, and reinforced the exclusion of marginalised groups. Given the importance of social media platforms, in countries where such tensions have in the past caused real-life violence, addressing the weaknesses of content moderation practices is of the utmost importance to ensure sustainable peace and enduring democracies." (Executive summary)
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"Entre todos los tipos de problemas a los que se enfrentaron los trabajadores de protección de la niñez y adolescencia, el 18% de sus casos totales indicaron alguna forma de abuso y explotación sexual de niñas, niños y adolescentes en línea. Esto significa que uno de cada cinco niñas, niños
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y adolescentes que recibía asistencia tenía este problema. Se debe tener en cuenta que se trata de una muestra de conveniencia, por consiguiente, las organizaciones que apoyan las problemáticas que se generan del abuso de niñas, niños y adolescentes, fueron seleccionadas para participar en la encuesta. No obstante, se tiene un fuerte indicio de la magnitud de la preocupación que tienen los trabajadores de primera línea [...] Se identificó que las niñas o adolescentes son sometidas más frecuentemente al abuso y la explotación sexual en línea, ya que alrededor del 54% de los trabajadores dijeron que las formas de abuso y explotación sexual de niñas, niños y adolescentes en línea surgían en “más de la mitad” de sus casos con niñas o mujeres jóvenes." (Principales hallazgos, página 9)
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"This ground-breaking three-year global study on gender-based online violence against women journalists represents collaborative research covering 15 countries. It is the most geographically, linguistically, and ethnically diverse scoping of the crisis conducted up until late 2022. The research draw
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s on: the inputs of nearly 1,100 survey participants and interviewees; 2 big data case studies examining 2.5 million social media posts directed at Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa (The Philippines) and multi award-winning investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr (UK); 15 detailed individual country case studies. The Chilling illuminates the evolving challenges faced by women journalists dealing with prolific and/or sustained online violence around the world. It calls out the victim-blaming and slut-shaming that perpetuates sexist and misogynistic responses to offline violence against women in the online environment, where patriarchal norms are being aggressively reinforced. It also clearly demonstrates that the incidence and impacts of gender-based online violence are worse at the intersection of misogyny and other forms of discrimination, such as racism, religious bigotry, antisemitism, homophobia and transphobia. Further, it identifies political actors who leverage misogyny and anti-news media narratives in their attacks as top perpetrators of online violence against women journalists, while the main vectors are social media platforms - most notably Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube." (Exexutive summary)
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"Platforms have power. But this power is not unchecked. Governments have an important role to play in protecting their citizens' rights vis-à-vis third parties and ensuring a communication order in which rights are not violated. (And in addition, of course, they need to respect human rights themsel
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ves and not arbitrarily shut down sites or use their power to make the Internet less free and open). As leader of working group 2 it is my distinct privilege to present this collection which unites studies by researchers within the Global Digital Human Rights Networks on issues connected to the overarching question of how platforms deal with human rights and their human rights obligations. This study is a key deliverable of our working group in the second year of the Global Digital Human Rights Network's activities. We will follow-up with Guidelines for platforms and an Assessment Model for states and other stakeholders in 2024. We developed this study under Corona conditions but were able to meet in the Tyrolean Alps in Obergurgl, Austria, in July 2022 to finalize this study." (Preface, page 7)
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"The 2022 Europe and Eurasia Vibrant Information Barometer (VIBE) sees the addition of the five countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) to the study, bringing the total number of countries examined to 18. With VIBE, IREX strives to capture a moder
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n and evolving media space where people are simultaneously producers, transmitters, consumers, and actors in the information that influences their lives and environments [...] For countries in Europe and Eurasia (E&E) included in this year’s publication, country-level scores were, again, mainly split into two VIBE classifications: Somewhat Vibrant (North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, Armenia, Moldova, and Ukraine) and Slightly Vibrant (Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Serbia). Azerbaijan held the lowest score in E&E, putting it in the Not Vibrant classification. In Central Asia, this year’s study put Kyrgyzstan the Somewhat Vibrant category, while Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan were Slightly Vibrant. While Uzbekistan’s score characterized it as Slightly Vibrant, Turkmenistan joined Azerbaijan in the Not Vibrant classification." (Executive summary)
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"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
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the continuities and evolution in Russia’s strategies, channels and narratives for disseminating disinformation since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine and the extent to which other foreign authoritarian states -Turkey, the Gulf states, Iran, have amplified Russian propaganda. The research further traces the personal and institutional pathways through which China has been able to establish its media foothold in Southeast European countries. The report offers policy recommendations for safeguarding democracy and media freedom in the Balkans against the ever-increasing pressures from authoritarianism." (Publisher description)
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"Structured along two broad themes and providing empirical examples for how socio-technical changes and political responses interact, the first part of the book looks at the current use of cyberspace in conflictual settings, while the second focuses on political responses by state and non-state acto
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rs in an environment defined by uncertainties. Within this, it highlights four key debates that encapsulate the complexities and paradoxes of cyber security politics from a Western perspective – how much political influence states can achieve via cyber operations and what context factors condition the (limited) strategic utility of such operations; the role of emerging digital technologies and how the dynamics of the tech innovation process reinforce the fragmentation of the governance space; how states attempt to uphold stability in cyberspace and, more generally, in their strategic relations; and how the shared responsibility of state, economy, and society for cyber security continues to be re-negotiated in an increasingly trans-sectoral and transnational governance space." (Publisher description)
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"The overall objective of this UNESCO project is to strengthen the resilience of societies to potentially harmful content spread online, in particular hate speech inciting violence while protecting freedom of expression and enhancing the promotion of peace through digital technologies, notably socia
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l media. The project runs from January 2021 - December 2023. There are four (4) pilot countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Indonesia, and Kenya. The lessons learnt at the local level will feed-in for the global discussion at the international level." (Publisher description)
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"The influence of Russian state-run foreign media (RT, Sputnik et al.) on public opinion in Western democracies is now common knowledge - regardless of its political qualification. Well-documented analyses are available, e.g., from the USA, France and Germany. The German government has also repeated
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ly pointed out the dangers of Russian state propaganda for the German media landscape. The European Parliament has repeatedly called for member states to adopt strategies against "hostile propaganda" from Moscow. The EU Commission has set up a small department to detect fake Russian news." (Introduction)
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"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
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e initial open support for Russia has softened since the beginning of the war, the media continue to report in favour of Russia, and against the West. Television stations with national coverage (especially their morning news programmes), as well as parts of the daily press, are at the forefront of supporting Russia. Internet portals have a more balanced approach. Among state officials, President Vucic has monopolized the discussions of the war in Ukraine, and he is the person most credited in the media for establishing Serbia's neutral stance on this issue. Disinformation in the media is placed in such a way as to present Russia in a positive light, and the West negatively. Disinformation was most prevalent on internet portals and the printed edition of Vecernje novosti, the daily Informer, and television stations Pink and Happy." (Key findings)
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"Our main findings show that, numerically, disinformation overpowers the news. More precisely, this study identified 559 different types of disinformation cases in 494 news items disseminated in 14 (out of 15 analysed) Serbian news media. Our study found that false, misleading and manipulative infor
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mation occupy a significant portion of news in some of the analysed media. Online editions of tabloids Alo and Kurir account for more than half of all the news containing disinformation. They are followed by two printed dailies Vecernje novosti and Informer. Among the TV channels with national coverage, TV Pink more frequently disseminated disinformation than other news media. Central news of the public broadcaster Radio-television of Serbia 1 (RTS 1) had the fewest disinformation." (https://crta.rs/en/report-mapping-disinformation-in-the-serbian-media)
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"The study specifically focuses on five types of harmful content: a) hate speech and hate narratives; b) denials of war crimes and glorification of war criminals; c) ethno-nationally and/or politically biased media reporting; d) disinformation; and e) attacks, threats and smear campaigns against ind
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ividuals. After giving overviews of the five types of harmful content, their targets and consequences, the following chapters are dedicated to the legislative, regulatory and self-regulatory frameworks for the five types of harmful content, how effectively they are used online, what the major obstacles are in their implementation and to what extent they are aligned with international standards. The study also addresses the practices of the courts, the Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Press Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina and other relevant actors in countering harmful content. The final parts of the study are dedicated to the community guidelines of social networks and examples of frameworks in other countries. The scope of harmful content online in Bosnia and Herzegovina is worrying and calls for a comprehensive response. The study emphasizes the need to safeguard freedom of expression and to find responses and practices that are aligned with international human rights law and that do not chill or censor online speech or discourage the flow of diverse sources of information and opinions." (Executive summary)
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"Key findings include: Moldova is home to a competitive telecommunications market, affordable internet, and well developed internet infrastructure, much of which has been achieved over the last 10 years; cybersecurity implementation and capacity have not kept pace with policy development. The govern
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ment introduced regulatory and policy measures on cybersecurity in an effort to harmonize with EU protocols. However, implementation requires support due in part to a fragmented cybersecurity ecosystem, a shallow cybersecurity talent pool, and gaps in government technical capacity; digital literacy is a clear policy priority and Moldova is on par with its regional counterparts when it comes to the public’s general digital skill levels; Moldova’s digital government systems and services are advanced with more than 200 public services partially or fully digitalized; Moldova has a relatively open environment in terms of internet freedom but gaps persist with regard to key legislation on data protection, access to information, and the protection of children and youth from digital harms; The ICT sector is experiencing exponential growth, but it is afflicted by an undersupply of technically skilled talent and a shortage of promising technology startups; while the National Bank of Moldova does not have a dedicated financial inclusion unit or a strategy to improve outcomes, e-commerce is at the forefront of the government’s agenda." (https://www.usaid.gov/digital-development)
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"Across the types of issues that child protection workers were facing, forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse with an online element were indicated in 18% of their total caseloads. This means that one in five children they were supporting had related concerns. It is noted this was a convenienc
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e sample, and organisations supporting issues related to child abuse were targeted for participation in the survey, yet this is still a strong indication of the extent of this concern at the frontline. Under-reporting of child sexual exploitation and abuse, as well as the under-identification of the role of technology and the Internet in cases, may also be an issue. Girls were more frequently identified as being subjected to sexual exploitation and abuse online, with about 54% of workers saying that online forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse were emerging in ‘more than half’ of their cases with girls." (Key findings, page 9)
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"This report summarised the findings of the focus group discussions, held in November-December 2021, which were organised in Free Press Unlimited in cooperation with BH Novinari. Through these focus group discussions, Free Press Unlimited got a good understanding of the following: The participants'
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experiences with and perceptions on the safety of women journalists; The safety risks that are most prevalent in Bosnia-Herzegovina; The way that women journalists deal with safety risks and the information they rely on; The participants' needs regarding future safety trainings." (Conclusions and recommendations)
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"This report examines the destabilizing effects of social media in two key places in the Balkans: Serbia and Republika Srpska, the majority Serb entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The leaders of both – President Aleksandar Vucic in Serbia and President Milorad Dodik in Republika Srpska – ar
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e key allies of Vladimir Putin in Europe. Social media has been weaponized by their ruling parties to consolidate political power. This is exacerbated by the control exercised over traditional forms of media such as television, radio and print. Rather than offering a space where political debate and the freedom of the press can thrive, social media platforms have in large part become a tool for advancing pro-government narratives and attacking critical voices. Understanding the role of social media in the declining information environment is of particular importance at this time, as both Serbia and BiH will hold elections in 2022." (Page 5)
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"Als Fazit ist festzuhalten, dass Investigativ-Journalisten in Rumänien mit großem Elan und Engagement bei der Arbeit sind. Sie erzählten in den Gesprächen immer wieder, dass sie die beste und sinnvollste Arbeit ihres Lebens machten. Es besteht ein großes Bedürfnis, die Dinge zum Besseren zu w
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enden." (Seite 5)
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"This midterm performance evaluation of the United States Agency for International Development’s Assistance to Citizens in Fight Against Corruption Activity (ACFC) and Investigative Journalism Program (IJP) examines the outcomes the activities achieved during the first two and a half years of impl
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ementation. Both activities started in September 2019 and will end in September 2024. The evaluation concluded that the two activities increased citizens’ awareness about and confidence in anticorruption activities of civil society in directly targeted municipalities, and awareness about media anticorruption reporting at a national level. More success stories and a centralized effort to promote results and messaging should follow, and all supported media requires an improved approach to audience engagements. Despite stagnation at the national level, citizens’ engagement in anticorruption increased significantly in affected municipalities, especially through locally based informal groups and CSO initiatives, as well as through well-tailored initiatives for monitoring abuse of public resources in pre-election campaigns and public procurement during the pandemic. The lack of coordination between direct beneficiaries, and with external stakeholders, partially caused by the pandemic, made anticorruption efforts fragmented and less sustainable. The pandemic and political stalemates negatively affected the high-level advocacy initiatives with modest results only in the areas of conflict of interest and public procurement, while the ACFC grantees had some results in their advocacy initiatives. The two activities were effective in getting institutions to process corruption reports and in stopping illegal activities in some of the institutions. Investigative journalism reports resulted in several high-profile corruption cases. Even though judicial effectiveness is improving, citizens’ distrust in judicial and other institutions still hampers gains in reporting corruption." (Abstract)
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"In this story of persistent struggle in the name of truth, a young journalist joins forces with her older colleague in uncovering a complicated corruption case that leads to many dead ends. When the welfare of vulnerable people is at stake, it takes two mdern-day heroes to save the day, but every h
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ero has an achilles' heel." (Introduction)
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"The book evaluates unique civic challenges, responsibilities, and opportunities for media worldwide, exploring pandemic social norms that media promote or discourage, and how media serve as instruments of social control and resistance, or of cooperation and representation. These chapters raise sign
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ificant questions about the roles mainstream or citizen journalists or netizens play or ought to play, enlightening audiences successfully about scientific information on COVID-19 in a pandemic that magnifies social inequality and unequal access to health care, challenging popular beliefs about health and disease prevention and the role of government while the entire world pays close attention." (Publisher description)
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