Author: disinfo1
The presidential election in November 2020, creates multiple “windows of opportunity” for Moldovan democracy. First of all, there is a real chance that a woman may take the reins of the presidency, thus stimulating the uninhibited participation of women in local politics. The second essential moment can be the registration of the first victory, following the popular vote, of a candidate with political views dominated by an irrevocable pro-Western affiliation. Last but not least, the opportunity arises to launch and pedal radical reforms on behalf of the president, for at least 4 years, provided the robust support from parliament and the executive.…
Author: Dionis Cenuşa The regularity of the peaceful protests engages the Belarusian population in a synergy of democratizing the “social contract” with the state. The aggressive pressures continuously applied by the authorities – sequestrations, arrests, criminal investigations, political cases – produce the opposite effect of intimidating and stopping the democratic revolution, respectively (IPN, August 28, 2020). In addition to the perpetuation of the protests, they spread across new age categories, due to the involvement of youth and overall younger social strata – students and pupils. Attempts by the protest movement, led by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya – who embodies the essence of…
Author: Dionis Cenușa The concept of “revolution” is missing from the vocabulary of political and civic forces, involved in post-election protests in Belarus. Abstaining from the term “revolution” denotes, on one hand, the caution of protecting the peaceful essence of the protests in Belarus. But, on the other hand, the intention persists in differentiating the Belarusian situation from other political transformations in the Eastern Partnership, in particular, those related to the Ukrainian “Euromaidan”. The Belarusian protesters want to chart their own path, which will ensure not only the democratization of the country but also the preservation of sovereignty and territorial…
Supplying an alternative explanation of facts alone will not change the minds of those people, who already bought the disinformation. In some cases, the efforts to put the story straight only serve to further entrench erroneous convictions. Is there a way to avoid this trap? The Debunking Handbook by John Cook and Stephen Lewandowski describes 3 ways to effectively cripple a false story. Do not reinforce the myth. Instead of concentrating on the myth and likely strengthening it in the process, stick to the key facts. Do not mention the myth in the headline, providing crucial and correct information instead.…
Authors: Danil Maluha și Serghei Climovici How does Facebook spread certain information in your name? Why do your friends think you liked a site with a bad reputation? People who have created entertainment groups make money from propaganda. We have identified eight, the most common methods of manipulation and deception, used by ukrainian party staff, commercial companies and russian propagandists. A spontaneously like for a Facebook page Your Facebook friends see that you appreciate a trash site that promotes “harassment” or other inappropriate things. But you will find out about this only if one of your friends will privately write…
We can have all the checks and balances in the world but it is the right mindset which is crucial to not get tricked. Disinformation is like a virus and social media platforms ensure all their users are cramped together, living on top of each other, cheek-to-cheek and synapse-to-synapse. Just like a winter cold makes us sneeze and spread the cold virus further, disinformation is designed to trigger a strong emotional response so people share it — either out of outrage, fear, humour, disgust, love or anything else from the whole range of human emotions. What’s more, our brains are…
The industry of social media manipulation is available, cheap and efficient, while the largest social media platforms are failing to tackle coordinated inauthentic behavior online. These are the troubling findings of the latest study presented by NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence in Riga (NATO CoE). To test the ability of social media companies to uphold their voluntary commitmentsand combat manipulative behavior on their platforms, experts at NATO CoE conducted an experiment: using the services of so-called manipulation service providers they bought artificial engagement on 105 different posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube. For only 300 euros, the experts were able to…
High hills, steep falls, sharp turns – entering the world of pro-Kremlin disinformation sometimes makes one feel like everything is on its head, definitely not where it’s supposed to be. Let’s embark on a journey through 2019, where we experience all the typical symptoms of a roller coaster ride, from pure amusement to a sense of insecurity. Hop on! “Nothing New in the East” As EU vs Disinfo wrote in January 2019, Ukraine was constantly in the crosshairs of Kremlin disinformation last year and it seems that the country will remain there this year as well. Apparently, the EU disinformation watchdog was right…
Many Ukrainian commentators have focused on Transdniestria as an example of the way in which Moscow uses a frozen conflict to influence a former Soviet republic, but they might learn more from considering the case of Gagauzia, an autonomy that was reintegrated into Moldova but remains a tool for Russian leverage there. If Transdniestria demonstrates the ways in which Moscow can use a part of Moldova that remains de facto outside of Moldova’s legal space, Gagauzia, a Christian Turkic republic of some 200,000 people southeast of Chisinau, shows how Moscow can and does use an autonomy it has long supported that de jure is fully part of Moldova. A…
Silverman is the media editor of BuzzFeed News and a dis- and misinformation expert. He started digging into the topic in 2014 while researching the spread of misinformation on social media and news, for a project at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University. From tracking digital rumors to reporting on search manipulation campaigns, Silverman has been in the thick of investigating the global information crisis. Where do we find ourselves in our understanding of information manipulation? Some things remain consistent. For example, the abuse and exploitation of major social media and search platforms continues on a global scale. It is [also] very difficult…