In the ongoing battle against information disorder in the Global South, researchers and media practitioners are entering a critical phase of collaboration. Building on the momentum of the last year’s meeting in Jordan, last week’s 2024 gathering in Stellenbosch, South Africa, comes at a crucial midpoint of the project. This workshop aims to consolidate progress, outline outputs and timelines and set the stage for the project’s final year. Participants from across four regions (Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Arab regions assessed achievements from the previous years, confronted current and possible challenges, and mapped out the next steps to ensure impactful outcomes for the project overall.
A Pivotal Gathering
The workshop serves as a vital moment to unify efforts among teams working across various sectors, including political economy, policy interventions and influence, media literacy, and investigative journalism. The primary goals are clear:
Assess Progress: Reflect on accomplishments while identifying gaps and obstacles.
Strengthen Collaboration: Build stronger connections among teams for unified action.
Identify Strategic Focus Areas: Centre on elections and Information Disorder, public engagement, policy-making opportunities to counter disinformation and impact projects.
Key Themes for the Year Ahead
The gathering set to address several important themes that will guide the remaining work for 2025:
Elections: Information Disorder’s impact on democratic processes.
Public Engagement: Raising awareness through op-eds, public outreach and stakeholder workshops.
Policy Interventions: Crafting a white paper to shape policy in the Global South.
Methodology: Ongoing debates about the most effective ways to study disinformation.
Theory of Change: Clarifying how project outcomes will lead to societal change.
Measuring Impact
Regional Insights: A Look at Key Presentations
Representatives from various regions presented progress and ongoing challenges in their local contexts, offering a glimpse into the diverse efforts against Information Disorder
LIRNEasia: Focused on digital literacy, particularly for children and their families. The presentation highlighted challenges such as limited internet access and the rising influence of AI.
AFCN: Fact-checking practices were spotlighted, noting the importance of collaborative fact-checking, especially during natural disasters and conflicts, despite limited resources.
Internet Lab: Addressed media ownership, media consumption and demographics, trust and the sustainability of fact-checking efforts, with a call for more robust mixed-method research approaches.
RIA: Explored the ethics (or lack of) AI and the gendered nature of disinformation, with calls for better regulation and platform governance to curb harmful content.
A Call for Open Collaboration
Participants emphasized the need for openness and inclusivity in the fight against Information Disorders. By making team structures more agile and interconnected, the goal is to encourage the exchange of ideas and foster creativity in developing solutions.
Future Collaborations and Policy Impact
The workshop also focused on future outputs, with several exciting opportunities for collaboration, including:
Policy Briefs: Policy briefs and recommendations aimed at specific stakeholders.
Video Series: Cross-regional interviews showcasing the local impacts of disinformation.
Joint Case Studies: A comparative approach to understanding effective policy responses across the Global South.
Moving Forward
The project’s final phase will produce a book or collection of works, intended not only to document the research but also to offer practical, sustainable solutions. This ambitious outcome will be geared towards policymakers, journalists, and the public, with the overarching goal of fostering long-term change.
With renewed energy and a focused agenda, the teams are ready to make meaningful strides in the global fight against disinformation. Stay tuned for further updates as the project continues to progress towards its final year.
