{"id":221501,"date":"2022-04-07T02:45:22","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T00:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/lessons-from-the-global-south-on-how-to-counter-harmful-information\/"},"modified":"2022-04-07T02:45:22","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T00:45:22","slug":"lessons-from-the-global-south-on-how-to-counter-harmful-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/lessons-from-the-global-south-on-how-to-counter-harmful-information\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from the global South on how to counter harmful information"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The large-scale contamination of the public sphere by rumours, hate speech, dangerous conspiracy theories and orchestrated deception campaigns is causing widespread concern around the world. These ills are collectively referred to as \u201cinformation disorder\u201d <\/a>. <\/p>\n

The disorder results from a range of factors. They include a rapidly changing media ecology and an increasingly fractious, populist and polarised political environment. The surge in misleading and false information<\/a> about the Covid-19 pandemic has increased these concerns.<\/p>\n

Despite being a widespread problem in the Global South, the study of information disorder is dominated by examples, case studies and models from the Global North. This applies to the available knowledge about the range of responses and counter-interventions that have been put in place. <\/p>\n

Our new study<\/a>, aims to fill this gap. It provides, for the first time, a comprehensive overview of the organisations, activists and movements working across the Global South to counter information disorder. The term Global South<\/a> refers to the regions outside Europe and North America, mostly low-income and often politically or culturally marginalised.<\/p>\n

The study was a collaborative effort by research teams from four regions: sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Asia as well as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. <\/p>\n

It explored the methods people use to meet the challenge of disinformation. Special attention was given to how the Covid-19 pandemic has made the problem worse.<\/p>\n

We found that a range of actors are working to fight the problem of information disorder. These include teams of independent fact checkers, policymakers as well as media educators. Organisations and movements in lower and middle-income countries are also rising to combat the problem of \u201cfake news\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Read more: Spotting hoaxes: how young people in Africa use cues to spot misinformation online<\/a> <\/strong> <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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This study provides useful reference points on how civil society organisations in the Global South are countering information disorder. This includes a focus on what\u2019s being done to support reliable and trustworthy information.<\/p>\n

Information disorder<\/h2>\n

The information disorder is being generated by the increasing prevalence of misinformation, disinformation and malinformation<\/a> in public and on social media.<\/p>\n