States mount pressure on media and fact-checking
Good news! A webby nomination for Meedan's Health Desk and a grant won for Meedan's work on gendered disinformation in South Asia
Hey Checklisters!
We hope you’re staying safe and healthy.
In this issue of Checklist, we highlight rising challenges to press freedom and state interferences in fact-checking in different regions of the world. From new laws and tweaks to existing ones, the pressure on journalists and fact-checkers is mounting. While journalists in Lebanon face legal intimidation in attempts to silence them, laws against ‘fake news’ are being used to justify the persecution of journalists in West Africa. In India, a state-run fact-checking unit now has the final say on which news is true/false/misleading about the government and what can remain online. In Myanmar, internet shutdowns continue to put people’s lives in danger, stifle humanitarian work and prevent any recording of the human rights abuses by the military.
As we all try to make sense of the chaos and disruptions in the media and tech landscape, we bring you Meedan's analysis of social media data surrounding two major Supreme Court events around abortion in 2022 that were also associated with surges in misinformation online.
Now, two exciting updates! We at Meedan are excited to announce that our ongoing project, Health Desk, was nominated for a Webby Award on April 4, 2023. And, we are thrilled to announce that Meedan has been announced as one of the grantees of the SVRI Knowledge for Action to End Violence Against Women and Violence Against Children Research Grant 2023 for its project to address Gendered disinformation: in South Asia.
Also, take a look at the Townsquare section where we share opportunities and events and some interesting reads from the Check Global team.
If there are updates you would like us to share from your country or region, please reach out to us at checklist@meedan.com.
The Check Global Report
By Meedan’s Check Global team in Beirut, Kochi, Bhimtal, and Nairobi
In Lebanon, journalists come under legal intimidation as press freedom declines (Al-monitor)
Two editors-in-chief of independent Lebanese news outlets have been summoned by security services, reigniting freedom of the press issues in Lebanon.
“Editor-in-chief Lara Bitar is not planning to attend the summoning scheduled for Thursday at the Anti-Cybercrime Bureau. We will be sending our lawyer because the Cybercrime Bureau does not have jurisdiction." — Annia Ciezadlo, the investigative editor at The Public Source
Indian government gives itself the power to “fact-check” and delete social media posts (Rest of World)
The Indian government’s state-run fact-checking unit will have sweeping powers to label any piece of information related to the government as “fake, false or misleading”. The country has tweaked its tech rules that now require platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to take down content flagged by the fact-checking body. Internet service providers are also expected to block URLs to such content. Failure to comply could result in the platforms losing safe harbor protection that safeguards them from legal action against any content posted by their users.
“The government has essentially appointed itself the adjudicator of truth.. This will not just have an impact on the media and those asking questions to the government. This government wants absolute control on the narrative and through this amendment, they can assert that control legally.” — Hartosh Singh Bal, political editor of independent investigative magazine The Caravan
The laws were supposed to attack ‘fake news.’ Now they are jailing journalists (Poynter)
Journalists in West Africa are facing persecution by governments that have instituted cybercrime and cybersecurity laws that repress freedom of expression on the grounds of publishing 'fake news'. While these laws are not unique to the region, they are used to justify the harassment and detention of journalists in countries with weak democratic institutions and a highly tense socio-political atmosphere, leading to abuse and manipulation.
"Today in West Africa, journalists and fact-checkers have to deal with the problem of fighting “fake news,” mainly propagated by politicians and their agents, and avoid being jailed by fake news laws passed by the same politicians" — Kwaku Krobea Asante, Team Lead, Fact-Check Ghana
How internet shutdowns in Myanmar have been endangering lives and affecting humanitarian work since the coup (Global Voices)
Almost two years after the coup, internet shutdowns, restrictions, and interruptions continue in most parts of Myanmar. The internet blackout has made it difficult for locals to both send and receive information on the conditions in the region, report human rights abuses committed by the military regime and raise funds for humanitarian business. Furthermore, there is no way to send out evidence such as photos and videos of human rights abuses and war crimes committed by military troops because there is no internet in most places where clashes are ongoing.
“As there was no flow of information, the people couldn't be warned [ahead of the raids] and were caught off guard, arrested, tortured and killed. We saw junta soldiers do whatever they pleased — killing people and burning down villages.” — Residents of Hnan Khar village of Gangaw township, Magway division
Without moderation, Twitter bears explicit content supporting school massacres in Brazil (Nucleo)
Following two attacks in Brazilian schools in March 2023, hundreds of posts were found circulating on Twitter that explicitly glorify school massacres and their perpetrators, which is a direct violation of the company's Policy on Sensitive Media. This comes after a large part of Twitter's moderation team was impacted by layoffs, leaving extremist content linked to the attack unmoderated and circulating freely on the social network.
"[we] found hundreds of posts in the last week on Twitter that explicitly extol school massacres and glorify their perpetrators. Those profiles that glorify massacres and criminals prefer to stay under the radar on Twitter, posting content only for members of the community. The motivation to use Twitter is that it's easier to find content and start conversations there" - Nucleo investigation
Meedan Analysis: Misinformation about abortion in the wake of 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision
A Meedan analysis of social media data surrounding the two monumental Supreme Court events in the summer of 2022 found that the May leak and June decision were both associated with increased misinformation online.
Townsquare
April 19 to 23, 2023
International Journalism Festival: Watch IJF panels live-streamed on the festival's IJF YouTube channel.
April 14 to May 15, 2023
IFCN’s Global Fact Check Fund: Applications are open from the Fund’s first phase, called BUILD to strengthen and develop the operational, production and engagement capacities of local and regional media organizations to increase the quality, volume, frequency, scale and impact of fact-checking abilities and activities.
April 26 to June 21, 2023
Reuter’s Global Journalism Series: The seminar will feature leading journalists, media executives, academics and campaigners from around the world.
What else we’re reading
This new research by Dr. Courtney Radsch for Internews calls for bold strategies, more money, and a collective infrastructure to support independent public interest media
Will AI-generated images create a new crisis for fact-checkers? Know what experts think
How Mafindo, a citizen-run organization, is teaching thousands of Indonesians to fact-check
Twitter is using Wikipedia to decide which media outlet is government-funded
Jay Peters of The Verge writes about the Jack Dorsey-backed Bluesky experience. It is Twitter, a decentralized one.