Disinformation
Surveillance Self-Defense (SSD) is a guide to protecting yourself from electronic surveillance for people all over the world. Some aspects of this guide will be useful to people with very little technical knowledge, while others are aimed at an audience with considerable technical expertise and privacy/security trainers.
Understanding information disorder: understand the essentials of mis- and disinformation.
Responsible reporting in an age of disinformation: learn what you should be asking yourself to report ethically and effectively on disinformation.
Newsgathering and monitoring on the social web: find sources, monitor conversations, understand behaviours, track events and find the issues that affect a community
Verifying online information: concepts, tools and checklists to make sure you get it right
Closed spaces, messaging apps and online ads: learn how to use closed messaging apps like Telegram, WhatsApp or Discord for reporting and understand the ethical issues
Join us for a panel discussion about the current war-time disinformation landscape and learn about ways of mitigating its harmful effects.
Maja Durlik | 3 min read | Jun 15, 2022
“NATO intervention in the Kosovo war was unjustified”. This is the narrative that the Russian and Serbian propaganda has been trying to push forward for many years.
Dren Gerguri | 3 min read | May 12, 2022
The war that is currently taking place in Ukraine has devastating consequences, but it is also more present in the media – both traditional and social ones than any other armed conflict in the past few years. In a webinar organized by MAKAIA (with support from TechSoup), guests from different parts of Latin America discussed the conflict and its context, its influence on the LatAm region as well as the propaganda and disinformation strategies used in the war – also targeting Latin America.
MAKAIA | 2 min read | Apr 19, 2022
Disinformation techniques are numerous, but all of them can fall into one of those four categories: dismiss, distort, distract, or dismay. Here is the rule of thumb that will help you recognize, predict and prepare to counter disinformation.
Hive Mind | 4 min read | Apr 11, 2022
Information can come from various sources. Most often than not, you would pick up your smartphone or open your laptop and start scrolling through content; clicking on and sharing whatever looks interesting. However, it is good to know what is going on behind the scenes…
Hive Mind | 2 min read | Apr 4, 2022
If you run a campaign or simply post on your social media channels messages about the current situation, you should anticipate some hateful comments. There are certain ways to deal with trolls.
Hive Mind | 1 min read | Mar 28, 2022
Russia's war against Ukraine is not only taking place on the battlefields and in besieged cities, but also in the information space. This was true even before the digital age, but war propaganda has reached a new level thanks to the possibilities of the Internet. Fake news, dubious images, videos, untraceable figures, battlefield results, not to mention conspiracy theories explaining the background to the attack.
Bécser Vera | 2 min read | Mar 24, 2022
In today's digital world, information warfare is significantly more pronounced. The war in Ukraine is also taking place on several fronts of the information world, in front of video games, TikTok, and that of fact-checkers. Therefore, the focus of journalists should be on news sources, in controlling them to avoid the possibility of fraud from manipulated information.
Dren Gerguri | 4 min read | Mar 24, 2022
Nearly 100 years ago, on Easter Sunday, a group of women with cigarettes in their mouths walked down the most prestigious street in New York - Fifth Avenue, doing what women were not supposed to do – smoking in public, which back in the day was "not appropriate”.
Katarzyna Sadło | 2 min read | Mar 7, 2022
Knowledge about disinformation is more important now than ever. Critical thinking is key and it’s worth supporting it with the knowledge on how to recognize different forms of information disorder.
Hive Mind | 4 min read | Mar 2, 2022
Dezinformacja w służbie Putina, czyli o tym jak nie wpaść w tryby machiny propagandowej: webinarium 03.03.2022 (czwartek); 18:30-19:30
Hive Mind | 2 min read | Feb 28, 2022
On January 21, DFR Lab, Techsoup and MAKAIA officially launched Hive Mind for Latin America. In the webinar called "5 concepts you should know about digital disinformation", we shared together with CIVIX Colombia some tips for identifying information and the different learning opportunities available in Hive Mind.
MAKAIA | 2 min read | Feb 15, 2022
A humanitarian crisis has gained momentum on the Polish-Belarusian border since August 2021. Alyaksandr Lukashenko, who rules in Belarus, has encouraged thousands of people from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and African countries to come to Belarus. He has done this through a deliberate campaign to disrupt the European Union. Refugees are being forced to cross the Polish border, and those who disobey are being beaten. People at the border have no food or water. Many, including children, have died. We will explore two popular anti-refugee narratives and learn about alternative or counter narratives that are worth spreading and using in discussions.
Beata Zwierzynska | 7 min read | Dec 9, 2021
Whether it's about the ominous powers that can be lizard-people in the skin of public figures, foreigners out to destroy a country, or chips implanted by vaccines against COVID-19, fake news is spreading like wildfire on the Internet. It's not too much of a problem if you think that there are aliens lurking behind the exteriors of politicians, like in a bad B-movie.
But it can be a concrete danger to one's immediate environment to believe that coronavirus vaccines are harmful to the human body.
How do we tell our fake-news believing friends or loved ones that they should think again about these absurd misconceptions?
Mertek Media Monitor | 2 min read | Nov 10, 2021
In Hungary, when it comes to the analysis of news, fake news, or in general, any sort of medium, the most suitable subject is a media lesson to learn how to approach the topic. This subject, however, is riddled with so many problems in the already convoluted education system, that in 2020, in the first iteration of the latest National Curriculum, the subject almost got entirely removed.
Mertek Media Monitor | 5 min read | Nov 3, 2021
30 Polish editors-in-chief have recently published a joint appeal to lift the ban on journalists working in the eastern border areas in Poland, where a state of emergency was introduced due to the prolonged migration crisis.
Katarzyna Sadło | 4 min read | Oct 15, 2021
In this short, educational video, Oana Despa and Codruța Simina talk about manipulation and fake news. Oana is the chief editor of Buletin de București and Codruța Simina is a journalist at PressOne, an independent media project very well known in Romania. In this episode, they meet online and together try to find out how to best identify fake sites or accounts in the social network.
Oana Despa | 2 min read | Oct 11, 2021
It is only human to defend ourselves when someone challenges us or our opinions. In case, however, when they have a clear proof that what we are saying is not based on facts, it is quite logical that we should not continue spreading false statements. If someone decides to do this, regardless of the consequences or harm this may cause, they should better watch out, as it's fact-checking time!
Dajana Markovic | 1 min read | Sep 28, 2021
The large number of likes, comments or distributions does not mean that it reflects the real number of people involved in that interactivity. The online public sphere is often contaminated by Bots and Trolls.
Dren Gerguri | 3 min read | Sep 23, 2021
Here are some guidelines for your greater well-being as a media consumer. Yes, we are all media consumers. You got that correctly. In the following video, you will find a number of useful tips and tricks that will aid your digital transformation from a regular media consumer to a Media Literacy Expert!
Dajana Markovic | 2 min read | Sep 20, 2021
We are living in an era when we can see or hear things that a person in fact did not say. You can’t imagine what Miroslav Lajčák, EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, is declaring in this video! Check it out and see if it's truth or fiction...
Dren Gerguri | 1 min read | Sep 6, 2021
The case discussed in the article clearly shows that manipulating pictures has become an intentional propaganda tool, aiming to distort the truth. Any such cheapfakes are dangerous because they disfigure the reality, making people to believe something far from true.
Dren Gerguri | 3 min read | Aug 16, 2021
These days, verifying information that we receive has become a must. By not verifying, then, we are putting ourselves at an outright risk of getting manipulated. So, it is more essential than ever, to put a big question mark at the end of every online message, especially when encountered on social media. It is crucial to keep that question mark until we can fully verify and eliminate doubts about sources' authenticity.
Dren Gerguri | 4 min read | Aug 11, 2021
If you’re still wondering why you need to be media literate (a skill that is in high demand today more than ever!), you’ll find the answers to this question in this short video. We have singled out the five most important reasons that will help you decide to start studying the media and their messages. The process is relatively straightforward, and you will gain all the necessary skills by simply following our channel. Let’s go!
Dajana Markovic | 1 min read | Jul 30, 2021
In this podcast episode, you will hear Jakub Górnicki talking to Tomáš Kriššák about the Project HOPE, within which a set of tools in the form of an online game was designed to help people tackle negative consequences of the Internet and the social media, including cyber-bullying and propaganda.
Dominika Uzar | 1 min read | Jul 19, 2021
Critical thinking is a buzzword that we hear almost every day. Especially in times of false information and the infodemic that is surrounding us on an everyday basis. And even though we meet with this term regularly, it is still not clear to everyone what it actually means. A brief characteristic of critical thinking is that it is the ability to form one's own opinion based on acquired knowledge, experience, not only from one's knowledge, but also from other people.
Kasia Piotrowska | 4 min read | Jul 5, 2021
Teenagers from Dream Factory acting studio created 8 raising awareness videos focusing on how to recognize Fake News, Deep News and how to behave when someone spreads misinformation, or simply is being abusive online.
Michal Prawdzik | 2 min read | May 28, 2021
Major dangers and media manipulation threats in the age of disinformation
Michal Prawdzik | 1 min read | May 24, 2021
Only by mobilizing at the grassroots can democracies counter disinformation. It’s time to vaccinate citizens against the poison of digital warfare.
Joseph Quinn | 5 min read | May 12, 2021
Due to the ongoing pandemic the schools are closed, and do you, most likely have the privilege of working from home? Well, in this case, you probably have never been so present in your child’s “school life”, even if it’s currently limited to e-learning.
Patryk Zakrzewski | 4 min read | Mar 9, 2021
Missed any of our events, feeling like watching it again diving straight into the extra resources and materials? We've got it covered.
Michal Prawdzik | 2 min read | Mar 9, 2021
Dren Gerguri | 3 min read | Dec 17, 2020
We'd like to invite young people associated in non-governmental organizations, informal groups, dialogue bodies and activists acting on their own to free online training sessions on disinformation, recognizing it, preventing and counteracting its negative effects. The training is addressed to all those who understand the importance of disinformation in public life, who would like to learn more about the ways it works, get specific tools of recognition and methods of dealing with it. We also invite people who actively participate in public life (also at the local level) and therefore are most vulnerable to disinformation actions aimed at undermining their credibility and the trust of public opinion, necessary to effectively fight for the public good or the interests of the groups they represent.
Dominika Uzar | 2 min read | Dec 14, 2020
Non-governmental organizations actively participating in public life, especially those that address topics considered controversial, or for some reason inconvenient for the authorities, business or influential circles, are increasingly becoming the target of disinformational activities aimed at undermining their credibility and depriving the public of the trust necessary for effective action. The victims of disinformation are not only the organizations themselves and the people associated with them, but also the recipients of false or manipulated information, who use it to shape their opinions on a given subject. How to recognize disinformation? How to prevent it? How to counteract its negative effects?
Dominika Uzar | 3 min read | Dec 2, 2020
How we seek information online matters.
Mark Semoil | 2 min read | Sep 1, 2020