A misleading map of ‘refugee crime’ in Germany distorts reality in a slick and sophisticated way By Abigail Fielding-Smith, Crofton Black, The Bureau of investigative journalism Last year, an anonymously-produced map started to make its way around German social media. It claimed to show viewers the spread of “refugee and migrant crime” throughout Germany. Unlike some of the lurid tales of migrant depravity that have circulated in Germany in recent…
Force, money and information are the three vectors of Russia’s attack on the West. Each makes the other more effective. Edward Lucas, for CEPA The targets range from individuals to nation-states. Assassination, poisoning, beatings and burglary are examples of the force vector at the “micro” level. So are blackmail and extortion. At the macro level, Russia lacks the Soviet Union’s military might. But it deploys what it has in an…
By Hannah Barton, Real Life “Fake news” was once the tactic of insurgent outsiders; now it’s a strategy for consolidating executive power In September 2014, following the infamous leak of celebrity iCloud photos, a website called emmayouarenext.com appeared. It displayed a cut-and-paste image of Watson wiping away tears, the phrase “Never forget, the biggest to come thus far,” and the 4chan logo, as well as a countdown clock. The site…
The latest edition of StopFake News with Marko Suprun. This week’s fakes claims that Russia is the top importer of Ukrainian weapons, Ukraine’s capital to raise electricity prices to cover costs of hosting Eurovision 2017 and the country has no heat and is forced to organize warming centers.
By IFLA Critical thinking is a key skill in media and information literacy, and the mission of libraries is to educate and advocate its importance. Discussions about fake news has led to a new focus on media literacy more broadly, and the role of libraries and other education institutions in providing this. When Oxford Dictionaries announce post-truth is Word of the Year 2016, we as librarians realise action is needed…
By EU vs Disinformation Last week, we described how trolling and personal intimidation towards journalists and commentators is the most prominent form of propaganda in the Nordic countries. The conclusion was confirmed in a story published last Thursday by the Swedish daily Eskilstuna Kuriren. For the first time, Swedish readers could go behind the scenes and learn about how work is done at a Swedish troll factory. – Hi, I’m…
By Claire Wardle, First Draft To understand the misinformation ecosystem, here’s a break down of the types of fake content, content creators motivations and how it’s being disseminated By now we’ve all agreed the term “fake news” is unhelpful, but without an alternative, we’re left awkwardly using air quotes whenever we utter the phrase. The reason we’re struggling with a replacement is because this is about more than news, it’s…
By Michael Colborne, for Coda Pro-Kremlin media have found fertile ground for Islamophobia in a country where most people have no personal experience with Islam Nestled in a courtyard a short walk from the bustle of Wenceslas Square, Prague’s central Islamic Center isn’t exactly easy to find. Save for a rug and a few wooden shelves for shoes by the door, there’s not a lot here that could help you…
By Ben Nimmo, AtlanticCouncil’s Digital Forensic Research Lab On February 20, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, died unexpectedly in New York. One minute after the news broke on the website of Kremlin broadcaster RT, and a minute before RT managed to tweet the news, a slew of Twitter accounts posted the newsflash with an identical “breaking news” caption. Most of the accounts had a number of features…
For the second time in a month, Russian media have produced fake news stories about ‘terrorists’ after a prominent lawyer the first time and civic activists on both occasions were detained in Russian-occupied Crimea. The report on Feb 21 even used entirely false video footage that had nothing to do with the detention on ‘extremism’ charges of Crimean Tatar activist Marlen Mustafaev and then of 10 other Crimean Tatars who…
