Meeting the Challenges of Information Disorder in the Global South

"A study of efforts to counter information disorder in the Global South is important not merely because it contributes to greater geographical diversity in the field (much as this is needed), but also because the South can hold lessons for the North."

This report shares the results of a scoping study on what is being done to counter information disorder in the Global South. It provides an overview of the key stakeholders and regional networks that are active in addressing information disorder and the approaches, methods, and tools they are using. It also offers an overview of the research landscape to identify key issues and questions for further research in this area. The study was conducted in order to gain a better understanding of further areas for intervention and research, as well as to identify opportunities for inter- and intra- regional cooperation. The report is the outcome of a project funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), which was led by Prof. Herman Wasserman (University of Cape Town) in collaboration with local research teams: Research ICT Africa (covering sub-Saharan Africa), InternetLab (covering Latin America and the Caribbean), LIRNEasia (covering Asia), and Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (covering the Middle East and North Africa).

The report makes the point that addressing information disorder, especially in the Global South, is crucial for media viability and should be taken into account within media development strategies. "Central to media development strategies is the assumption that a strong, independent, and viable media is vital for democracy. From this perspective, information disorder poses a double threat: not only is the public sphere awash with false, confusing, or unverified information [affecting the public's trust in media], but this contamination of the online public sphere has happened in parallel with a financial and political crisis affecting traditional, quality, fact-checked news sources." In addition, "The sustainability of ethical, independent, and trustworthy news media is especially important in the Global South as a bulwark against state propaganda and attempts by authoritarian states to obstruct the free flow of information and critical journalism."

In addition, the report explains that although information disorder is a widespread problem in countries in the Global South, "the study of this phenomenon remains dominated by case studies, and models from the Global North. Knowledge about the various manifestations of information disorder, the range of responses, and the success rate of interventions to counter the disorder remains fragmented and partial." This project was, therefore, launched with the following three interconnected objectives:

1. To map the actors currently working to counter information disorder and to identify the frameworks upon which such interventions are based;
2. To learn from current approaches, tools, and methods used to counter information disorder; and
3. To gain an overview of the research landscape and to identify key issues and questions for further research to inform an ongoing developmental agenda that links the fight against information disorder with the building of sustainable, independent media in the Global South.

Following an introduction, each chapter in the report is dedicated to one of the regions that make up the Global South - Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. Written by research teams from each region, the chapters discuss the methodology used for the scoping study, as well as details of the different role players, strategies, approaches, and tools used in that region (often highlighted through case studies of initiatives and containing lists of the different role players). Each chapter also offers an "academic overview" that identifies the current research that has been done in the region and potential gaps.  

Overall, the report identifies the following types of responses and notes a number of trends related to them:  

• Identification responses: monitoring, fact-checking, and investigation - These strategies are designed to identify instances of disinformation, verify and fact-check claims, and, in some cases, extend this monitoring to the broader context of information disorder: the networks, systems, and mechanisms facilitating information disorder. This type of response was found to be one of the most dominant, if not the most dominant, forms of addressing information disorder across the regions of the Global South represented in this study.
• Ecosystem responses: legislation and policy - Ecosystem responses are noted across the regions, but these policy and legal responses are characterised by paradoxes. Several countries in the Global South have attempted to counter information disorder through legislation. Unfortunately, legislative responses have also been used more negatively, and not always with transparent intentions. For example, in most Arab countries, accusations of "fake news" or "disinformation" are used as a pretext to suppress freedom of expression and silence government critics.
• Production and distribution responses: technological and curatorial responses - Responses within production and distribution are less common across the Global South, especially as far as the use of technological and algorithmic responses to counter information disorder is concerned. In Africa, for example, there are a few organisations, such as Media Monitoring Africa and RoveR, that are using natural language algorithmic processing to identify information disorder.
• Education of audiences - Responses aimed at the audiences of disinformation campaigns are widespread and well established across the regions mapped, with media literacy campaigns being one of the most commonly used strategies. In Asia, for example, a wide range of media literacy projects are conducted by journalists, academics, fact-checkers, government institutes, media organisations, and civil society organisations. Media literacy programmes are taught at various universities and schools in countries across the region, sometimes in collaboration with non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The report notes that there is no "silver bullet" to addressing disinformation due to the differences and variations that exist between countries and regions. As information disorder is embedded in a range of social, political, and economic conditions, what is required is a multi-levelled, holistic, bottom-up, and contextually relevant response. Any practical response should also be informed by academic research and vice versa.  

In terms of the research agenda, the report stresses the need for more research on information disorder in the Global South. "Such research must move beyond replicating existing empirical studies for the sake of 'diversity' and must avoid merely applying theoretical models developed in the North to the South. Instead, research on information disorder in the Global South should take the deep social, media, political, and geopolitical contexts into account, focus on specificity while seeking comparisons, and avoid treating the South as a monolith. This means that more attention should be paid to differences and similarities within Southern contexts, and that South-South collaborative and comparative research should be encouraged, while trends - and, potentially, solutions - that are similar in the Global North and South should be identified."