6. Research on disinformation

Summary of the presentations and discussions on "research on disinformation" from the June 2021 GFMD IMPACT donor-practitioner-academic meeting on disinformation.

The insights and findings presented in this section of the report are supported by the findings of the literature review prepared for the meeting.

Literature review

Data & information sharing

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Diversity and representation

Saja Mortada reinforced this point when presenting the highlights from ARIJ’s (Dec. 2020) policy paper, “Combating Disinformation in the Arab World - The COVID-19 pandemic”.

The policy paper concluded that there were different reasons for the spreading of misleading news and conspiracy theories in the region. It was not only about technical reasons but also about psychological and cultural ones.

Effects v production

Another gap in research identified during the meeting was a tendency to focus on the effects of disinformation rather than production or producers.

Recommendations for researchers

  • Collaborate with journalists, news organisations, and civil society groups on surfacing and combatting disinformation.

  • Study cross-platform disinformation campaigns to get a more rounded, holistic perspective on the problem and responses to it.

  • Pursue independent, longitudinal, quantitative and qualitative monitoring and evaluation of disinformation responses.

  • Develop new technological tools to assist journalists in detecting and analysing disinformation; privacy, algorithmic transparency and accessibility.

  • Analyse various types of disinformation responses as they emerge and evolve, and assess their efficacy and impacts with specific reference to freedom of expression challenges.

Source: Kalina Bontcheva's presenation based on Balancing Act: Countering Digital Disinformation While Respecting Freedom of Expression - 2020)

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