Fundamental global political changes have been affecting our digital ecosystem by allowing open space for disinformation to emerge and thrive. New disinformation narratives often combine established tactics with local mobilisation. Appropriate and effective responses are therefore always context-specific: Understanding how disinformation campaigns unfold in different country contexts and what are counterstrategies that (non-)governmental stakeholders develop to tackle disinformation on a local level is essential to fight information manipulation holistically.
Building on our foundational first report, “On the Radar”, which took a bird’s eye view on disinformation trends, this report examines case studies from five countries, spanning multiple regions.
The aim is not only to map emerging disinformation tools, tactics and narratives, but also to provide insights into emerging solutions by local stakeholders to counter disinformation. Furthermore, we present Democracy Reporting International’s own innovative early detection method to combat disinformation: our threat registry Disinfo Radar.
The report includes case studies from five different countries: Brazil, Taiwan, Kenya, Sweden and Finland. These case studies offer lessons that transcend country-specific contexts, providing a broader outlook on the future of (dis)information.
Here are some lessons learned from the threats and solutions observed:
Threats:
- The role of domestic proxies: Foreign influence operations have adopted the disguise of domestic institutions, whether in the shape of influencers, junk news, or polling companies.
- Vulnerable “outsiders”: As states become more resilient, disinformation actors will continue to search for weak links in societies. Immigrants and ethnic minorities may be particularly affected by this, as the report’s case study on Finland illustrates.
Solutions:
- Investment in long-term payoffs: Our case studies showed how important it is to think about disinformation early on, even in early childhood education.
- Inclusion of citizens: The public seems to be receptive to anti-disinformation solutions and craves for healthier digital ecosystems; they are willing to adopt new solutions – whether tech or non-tech – and can become anti-disinformation agents.
- Diverse alliances: The more diverse the body of stakeholders, the more innovative the solutions will be.
While our first bi-annual publication aimed to map the different technical and tactical elements involved in the production of false narratives, this report takes a step further and maps the solutions from governments, civil society organisations and activists in countering disinformation.
The Disinfo Radar project is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.
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