Disinformation in the Global South (eBook)

Herman Wasserman is Professor of Media Studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He holds a doctorate from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, and worked as a journalist before starting an academic career. He is a Fellow of the International Communication Association and Editor-in-Chief of the Annals of the International Communication Association and African Journalism Studies. Dani Madrid-Morales, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Houston's Valenti School of Communication. He received his doctorate in Media and Communication from the City University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on the intersection of transnational media studies, global political communication, and disinformation studies in East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Biographical Notes ix

Foreword xv
Guy Berger, UNESCO Director for Strategies and Policies in the Field of Information and Communication

Section 1 - Histories, Theories, and Methods 1

1 Contextualizing Fake News: Can Online Falsehoods Spread Fast When Internet Is Slow? 3
Edson C. Tandoc Jr.

2 Disinformation in Arab Media: Cultural Histories and Political Dynamics 15
Saba Bebawi

3 Manipulated Facts and Spreadable Fantasies: Battles Over History in the Indian Digital Sphere 26
Sangeet Kumar

4 Research Methods in Comparative Disinformation Studies 41
Dani Madrid-Morales and Herman Wasserman

Section 2 - Cultures of Disinformation 59

5 Noise in Kinshasa: Ethnographic Notes on the Meanings of Mis- and Disinformation in a Post-Colonial African City 61
Katrien Pype and Sébastien Maluta Makaya

6 Aliens, Spies, and Staged Vandalism: Disinformation in the 2019 Protests in Chile 74
Ingrid Bachmann, Daniela Grassau, and Claudia Labarca

7 Encountering and Correcting Misinformation on WhatsApp: The Roles of User Motivations and Trust in Messaging Group Members 88
Ozan Kuru, Scott W. Campbell, Joseph B. Bayer, Lemi Baruh, and Richard Ling

8 "Rumor Debunking" as a Propaganda and Censorship Strategy in China: The Case of the COVID-19 Outbreak 108
Kecheng Fang

9 Media System Incentives for Disinformation: Exploring the Relationships Between Institutional Design and Disinformation Vulnerability 123
Jose Mari Hall Lanuza and Cleve V. Arguelles

10 Lies, Damned Lies, and Development: Why Statistics and Data Can No Longer Confront Disinformation in the Global South 140
Jairo Lugo-Ocando and Alessandro Martinisi

Section 3 - Responses: Southern Perspectives 159

11 Online Misinformation: Policy Lessons from the Global South 161
Anya Schiffrin and Peter Cunliffe-Jones

12 Responses to Misinformation: Examining the Kenyan Context 179
Melissa Tully

13 How Three Mission-Driven News Organizations in the Global South Combat Disinformation Through Investigation, Innovation, Advocacy, and Education 193
Nabeelah Shabbir, Julie Posetti, and Felix M. Simon

Conclusion 210
Herman Wasserman and Dani Madrid-Morales

Index 221

"If you are a media and journalism student, an academic across most disciplines, including the health sciences, or someone who works in the fact-checking or disinformation space, this book is highly recommended for you." - Yossabel Chetty, The Centre for Analytics & Behavioural Change, August 8, 2022

"All in all, the book is a very valuable contribution both to the field of mis- and disinformation studies and to communication research in the Global South." - Global Media Journal, Vol. 13 No. 1 (2023): Spring/Summer 2023

"One of the merits of this excellent book is that its contributors offer practical solutions on how the infodemic can be confronted, such as coordinated campaigns for media literacy." - International Journal of Communication 17(2023), Book Review 2448-2451