DISINFODEMIC: Deciphering COVID-19 disinformation
Access to reliable and accurate information is critical at the best of times, but during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be a matter of life and death. What follows is a summary of a research-based policy brief available in full here
European Commission:
Policy Recommendations on Tackling Disinformation Online. Nov 2021
https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2021/11/Policy-recommendations-on-tackling-disinformation_November-2021.pdf
The European Commission has the chance to effectively minimize the negative impact of
disinformation through proper enforcement of existing rules and where needed draft new
pieces of legislation such as for transparency requirements of content delivered to users.
Targeted advertising is the core of disseminating disinformation. In order to prevent the
spread of disinformation elaborated in “fake news factories” we should aim to regulate the
distribution and the targeting techniques.
Approaches to disinformation from a legal perspective include topics such as censorship vs. free speech, company liability for content as reflected in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, privacy of individual data, anti-trust legislation, surveillance, regulating social media platform functionality and algorithms, and pursuit of existing criminal law. Globally, there are many researchers, think tanks, NGO’s and governmental bodies contributing to the policy discussion.
With the growth of internet penetration, it has become increasingly hard for audiences to determine what information they can trust. They are often exposed to fabricated content that is disseminated with the intent of misleading them. In turn, disinformation causes disruptions in society, especially in the context of elections. This report looks at some of the policy examples that aim to tackle this problem. It starts with an overview of the assessments of the Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) for the specific variables that are devoted to the topic. We briefly describe the EU approach to disinformation, and, as a next step, we zoom in on seven EU member states, some of which held elections in the past years or introduced regulations related to disinformation that are worth looking into. The spread of disinformation is typically regulated by non-legislative methods, though a handful of countries have tried to use a legal approach to deal with the phenomenon. Some of the measures are still controversial, mainly because they might affect the freedom of expression. Moreover, there is a question as to whether they are complementary to a well-functioning European approach to combating disinformation.
Digital technology allows for the frictionless spread of information, including false and manipulated content. As a nation that has enshrined freedom of speech in the First Amendment of its Constitution, the policy levers available to U.S. officials to confront the free flow of dangerous misinformation—whether pertaining to COVID-19, elections or other matters of existential significance to lives and our democratic institutions—are necessarily circumscribed. Thankfully, misinformation scholars have proposed policies that comply with constitutional limitations and have the potential to mitigate the hazards of misinformation.
Following public revelations of interference in the United States 2016 election, there has been widespread concern that online disinformation poses a serious threat to democracy. Governments have responded with a wide range of policies. However, there is little clarity in elite policy debates or academic literature about what it actually means for disinformation to endanger democracy, and how different policies might protect it. This article proposes that policies to address disinformation seek to defend three important normative goods of democratic systems: self-determination, accountable representation, and public deliberation. Policy responses to protect these goods tend to fall in three corresponding governance sectors: self-determination is the focus of international and national security policies; accountable representation is addressed through electoral regulation; and threats to the quality of public debate and deliberation are countered by media regulation. The article also reveals some of the challenges and risks in these policy sectors, which can be seen in both innovative and failed policy designs.
Natasha Lomas. June 16, 2022.
The European Commission has just taken the wraps off a beefed-up industry Code of Practice for tackling online disinformation across the EU.
Signatories to the Code — who include tech giants like Google, Meta, TikTok and Amazon-owned Twitch but also smaller players like Clubhouse and Vimeo, among a number of other industry, adtech and civil society entities — have agreed to a series of commitments and to undertake specific measures to address concerns linked to this type of potentially harmful (but non typically illegal) online content.
The 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation, which applies from now but allows for a six-month implementation period, is being billed as a strengthened replacement for the 2018 self-regulatory regime it supersedes — bringing in “stronger and more granular commitments and measures” (44 commitments vs 21 previously; and 128 new measures), which the Commission says build on the operational lessons learnt in the past years.
United Nations. July 11, 2022.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan will focus her next thematic report on challenges to freedom of opinion and expression in times of armed conflict and other disturbances for the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in October 2022.
UNESCO. July 13. 2022.
UNESCO and the Freedom Online Coalition, with the support of the Permanent Delegation of Canada and the Presidency of the UNESCO General Conference, co-organized a brain boost session on “freedom of expression, disinformation and democracy” at UNESCO Headquarters, in Paris, on 8 July 2022.
The brain boost session served as a trigger for dialogue and discussion among peers to explore how freedom of expression, disinformation and democracy are interlinked and the best ways to enhance the role of the judiciary and electoral regulators to guarantee freedom of expression and, more broadly, to ensure the rule of law and respect for human rights.
October 6, 2022
Burkina: The new authorities call on the populations to divest themselves of all rumours and disinformation
The new military authorities of Burkina on Thursday called on the people of Burkina Faso to divest themselves of all rumours and misinformation that could tarnish the performance of the organs of the transition.
UOL. Patricia Campos MelloOctober 20, 2022.
Court will vote on a resolution that extends the power to act against misinformation and also ban paid advertising on the internet during the election period.
Chief Justice of the TSE (Supreme Electoral Court), Alexandre de Moraes, had a meeting this Wednesday (19) with representatives of the main social media platforms. At the meeting, he said that the platforms' performance was reasonably good in the first round, but that in this second round the fake news situation is disastrous.
Washington Post. Mac Margolis and Robert Muggah. October 27, 2022
If Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fails to win reelection this Sunday, it won’t be for lack of lying. With charges of “Satanism,” teaching homosexuality in the classroom and doctoring voting machines, right-wing partisans are working overtime to keep the campaign in smears, magical thinking and flat-out bogus news.
CBC Radio: Ideas. May 10, 2023.
For Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa and Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert, the fight against fake news is a fight for democracy itself. As part of the Toronto International Festival of Authors, they discussed the dangers of online impunity — and the future of civic life in an age of exponential lies.
Tech Policy Press. Itxaso Domínguez de Olazábal . Novembeer 6, 2023.
Amid the much-anticipated implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) as a cornerstone in fortifying digital rights for European Union (EU) citizens, a significant concern arises. While the text is heralded as a positive step in addressing illegal and harmful content, there is growing apprehension about its unintended repercussions on the digital rights of Palestinians and other vulnerable communities, notably those in the Global South. 7amleh-The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media has vigilantly monitored this issue since the onset of negotiations around the DSA, emphasizing the intricate relationship between the Israel/Palestine context, the Global South as a whole, and EU legislation.
Mis/information Review. November 15, 2023.
Examining 555 papers from 2016–2022, the researchers observed increasing trends in misinformation studies, notably a surge in COVID-19 misinformation focus since 2020. Shortcomings included a bias toward U.S. and European samples, a preoccupation with short-term consequences, and a primary focus on belief outcomes rather than behavioral changes. Despite concerns about behavioral consequences, there was a noticeable absence of direct research on behavior change.
Guardian. Jon Henley. November 7, 2023.
More than 85% of people are worried about the impact of online disinformation and 87% believe it has already harmed their country’s politics, according to a global survey, as the United Nations announced a plan to tackle the phenomenon.
Center for News, Technology and Innovation. February 26, 2024.
As the world launches into 2024, we face a year with a record-breaking number of countries (50) holding national elections including the United States, India and Mexico. With these elections come heightened concerns about the spread of disinformation and the challenge of providing voters with fact-based news.