University of Kwazulu-Natal

Building Resilience Against Disinformation Need For Wider Education

Bonisiwe Shabane
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building resilience against disinformation need for wider education

Nanyang Technological UniversityBlock S4, Level B3, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 Increasingly, cyber threats have been directed at targets with economic, political and social impact with the aim of sowing confusion, fraying civic threads, and intensifying existing polarisations. Singapore needs to commit towards instructing the wider public on how to manage disinformation campaigns. THE EUROPEAN Commission recently proposed regulating against disinformation online, setting a ‘one-hour’ rule for the removal of content as well as penalties for non-abiding service providers. The enshrinement into law of previously advised rules signals the continued threat faced by offending material online. The statements given by social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter at the ongoing Senate Intelligence Committee hearings in the United States highlight the significant role such platforms play in ensuring both proper conduct...

Answering questions about political interference, representatives from Facebook and Twitter described how their platforms were tackling issues such as foreign influence and fake news. Much like Singapore’s Select Committee on Fake News hearings, queries were raised on the ways content is circulated to users and the limits of what these platforms are willing and able to do to... Yet, it is not enough to have legislation and hold social media giants accountable for the spread of bias and untruths online. The changing aims and presentations of cyber threats in today’s context need to be acknowledged. Individuals need to step up and take ownership of securing cyberspace for their own sake. The Administration promised free expression.

The results were anything but more freedom. With more than 22K instances since 2021, the bans have become normalized. Thu. December 4 at The Strand Bookstore in NYC The PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers recognizes 12 emerging writers each year for their debut short story

Local censorship tactics are being adopted on the state and federal levels Disinformation is more complex than ever, making media and information literacy education crucial. Image: Unsplash/Hartano Creatives The ability to critically engage with information is more important than ever. From viral falsehoods and deepfakes to emotionally manipulative content designed to mislead or divide, the information environment has become increasingly complex and opaque. In this context, media and information literacy have emerged as a global priority, recognized not only as a key individual skill set but also a foundational pillar for safeguarding democratic discourse, social cohesion and...

Media and information literacy equips individuals with the tools to access, analyze, evaluate and create information responsibly, empowering them to navigate a digital ecosystem shaped by algorithmic curation, commercial incentives and evolving threats. Yet, its significance extends beyond personal empowerment. As disinformation campaigns grow more sophisticated and pervasive, the need for a whole-of-society approach becomes clear, one that integrates media and information literacy into education systems, workplace training, public service messaging and digital platform... You have full access to this open access article A Correction to this article was published on 31 May 2025 This article addresses the critical issue of societal resilience in the face of disinformation, particularly in highly digitized democratic societies.

Recognizing the escalating impact of disinformation as a significant threat to societal security, the study conducts a scoping review of the literature from 2018 to 2022 to explore the current understanding and approaches to... The core contribution of the article is the development of a preliminary typological framework that addresses key elements and issue areas relevant to societal resilience to disinformation. This framework spans multiple dimensions, including legal/regulatory, educational, political/governance, psychological/social-psychological, and technological domains. By synthesizing existing knowledge and filling identified gaps, the framework aims to serve as a foundational tool for empirical analyses and the enhancement of resilience strategies. One of the innovative aspects of the proposed framework is its potential to be transformed into a computable and customizable tool. This tool would measure the maturity level of various countermeasures against disinformation, thereby providing a practical methodology for planning and implementing effective democratic responses to disinformation.

The article emphasizes the importance of this framework as both a conceptual and practical guide. It offers valuable insights for a wide range of civil society actors, including policymakers, educators, and technologists, in their efforts to protect information integrity and bolster societal resilience. By laying the groundwork for a more comprehensive understanding of societal resilience to disinformation, the article contributes to the broader discourse on information protection and provides actionable guidance for addressing the evolving challenges posed... Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript. In highly digitized democratic societies, there are growing concerns about the impact of disinformation. European countries have faced significant challenges related to disinformation issues, such as elections, fundamental democratic values, pandemics, and migration, among others.

This has prompted the European Commission (2018a) to outline four pillars in its action plan on tackling online disinformation. These include improving institutional capabilities, fostering coordinated responses, engaging the private sector, and raising awareness. The Digital Services Act (European Union 2022) has binding regulatory powers to address large social media platforms, for instance, if they are deemed to be promoting and disseminating disinformation. However, the effectiveness of these measures remains uncertain. The Global Risks Report 2024 by the World Economic Forum (2024) clearly illustrates this, ranking disinformation as the most severe short-term (2-year) global risk and placing societal polarization in third place – with both... Capacity Building and Strategic Consulting

We equip leaders and professionals with hands-on capacities and strategic frameworks to prevent and counter harmful disinformation – enabling organizations and communities to pursue their missions and protect their core values. Policy and academic research are essential to understanding disinformation and its societal impact – yet their insights often remain underused in real-world contexts. To complement the work of traditional think tanks, the Center for Disinformation Resilience focuses on bridging three critical gaps: We turn the latest insights into action-oriented trainings and tools tailored for practitioners and multipliers in the field. We go beyond traditional fact-checking by integrating approaches from radicalization prevention (P/CVE), systemic dialogues, alternative campaigning to enable professionals engage vulnerable communities more effectively. Introduction: The Disinformation Dilemma and the 2024 Election

The 21st century presents a paradox: despite unprecedented access to information, the public is not necessarily better informed. The decline of traditional news, the rise of inflammatory content online, and the ease of creating and disseminating disinformation, particularly with AI tools, contribute to this problem. The 2024 presidential election highlighted these challenges, with disinformation campaigns ranging from AI-generated robocalls to false claims about social issues. Xenophobia, transphobia, and racism further complicated the landscape, intertwining prejudice with perceptions of truth. Simultaneously, social media platforms scaled back content moderation, and legal pressures hampered counter-disinformation research, demanding innovative solutions. PEN America’s Localized Approach: Empowering Communities Against Disinformation

PEN America’s Disinformation and Community Engagement (DCE) program addressed this challenge by focusing on local initiatives. Recognizing that disinformation is a global problem requiring localized solutions, the program piloted interventions in Miami, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Phoenix. These rapidly growing, diverse Sunbelt cities served as bellwethers for understanding how disinformation operates and how communities react to counter-programming. The program aimed to distribute trustworthy information, amplify local perspectives on disinformation’s impact, and cultivate critical information consumption skills. While nonpartisan, the program acknowledged the highly polarized political climate surrounding the 2024 election and the frequent weaponization of the term "disinformation" itself. The Post-Election Landscape: Disinformation’s Enduring Power and the Need for Resilience

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Nanyang Technological UniversityBlock S4, Level B3, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore

Nanyang Technological UniversityBlock S4, Level B3, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 Increasingly, cyber threats have been directed at targets with economic, political and social impact with the aim of sowing confusion, fraying civic threads, and intensifying existing polarisations. Singapore needs to commit towards instructing the wider public on how to manage disinformation campaigns. THE EUR...

Answering Questions About Political Interference, Representatives From Facebook And Twitter

Answering questions about political interference, representatives from Facebook and Twitter described how their platforms were tackling issues such as foreign influence and fake news. Much like Singapore’s Select Committee on Fake News hearings, queries were raised on the ways content is circulated to users and the limits of what these platforms are willing and able to do to... Yet, it is not enou...

The Results Were Anything But More Freedom. With More Than

The results were anything but more freedom. With more than 22K instances since 2021, the bans have become normalized. Thu. December 4 at The Strand Bookstore in NYC The PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers recognizes 12 emerging writers each year for their debut short story

Local Censorship Tactics Are Being Adopted On The State And

Local censorship tactics are being adopted on the state and federal levels Disinformation is more complex than ever, making media and information literacy education crucial. Image: Unsplash/Hartano Creatives The ability to critically engage with information is more important than ever. From viral falsehoods and deepfakes to emotionally manipulative content designed to mislead or divide, the inform...

Media And Information Literacy Equips Individuals With The Tools To

Media and information literacy equips individuals with the tools to access, analyze, evaluate and create information responsibly, empowering them to navigate a digital ecosystem shaped by algorithmic curation, commercial incentives and evolving threats. Yet, its significance extends beyond personal empowerment. As disinformation campaigns grow more sophisticated and pervasive, the need for a whole...