Mediterranean Digital Media Observatory (MedDMO)

Latest #disinformation insights from across 🇪🇺, based on 1.781 #factchecking articles by 34 organisations: 🌍 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞-𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬, 𝐞𝐬𝐩. 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 🇪🇸 The main disinformation phenomenon in November were the catastrophic floods that hit southern Spain, partly contributing to the increase in climate-related disinformation that almost doubled in two months, passing from 7% in September to 13% in November. Expanding their circulation and relevance to the entire EU, false stories claimed that the storm was man-made through alleged geoengineering techniques or deliberately caused by the destruction of the dams in the region of Valencia. 📉 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 Disinformation about the war in the Middle East, which was the most targeted topic by false stories in October, dropped to 3% from 13% in October. The shares of disinformation on the other constantly monitored topics remained stable or decreased by a few percentage points, as in the case of baseless claims about migration, COVID-19, and LGBTQ+-related issues. 🇺🇸 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 Despite the republican candidate clearly winning the US presidential #elections, false news in the European infosphere suggested that Democrats cheated and carried electoral fraud, winning only in States where no ID was required for voting. Disinformation also suggested that Trump’s victory had immediate results on ongoing conflicts. 👉 All findings: https://loom.ly/liBNIQk 🤝 With contributions from AFP, CORRECTIV, Delfi, DemagogCZ z.s., Demagog.SK, Stowarzyszenie Demagog, dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH, Eesti Päevaleht, EFE Verifica, Ellinika Hoaxes, Fact Check Cyprus, Factcheck.Vlaanderen, Factico, FactReview, Faktisk.no, Funky Citizens, Greece Fact Check, Källkritikbyrån, Infoveritas, Lakmusz, Logically Facts, Maldita.es, Newtral, Oštro, Pagella Politica, Facta News, TheJournal.ie Fact-Check, Polígrafo, Stowarzyszenie Pravda, Re:Baltica, TjekDet, Radiotelevisión Española, and Verificat. Editors: Enzo Panizio and Tommaso Canetta.

❗️ Ranging from multifaceted online #harassment to physical threats and harm: the increasing prevalence of online and offline abuse targeting professionals in Europe who work to counter #disinformation needs to alarm us all. 📈 Our new survey draws on insights from EDMO’s multidisciplinary network including our 14 hubs, aiming to map these abuses and assess existing preventive and protective measures. 👉 Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/e-DUUs_5 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞:  ❌ Online harassment (Trolling)  ❌ Threatening and intimidating emails  ❌ Coordinated harassment (Brigading)   ❌ Physical threats or harm   ❌ Doxing The reported abuses are primarily triggered by retaliation for work on contentious topics, distrust toward the counter-disinformation community, and public speaking on issues like conspiracy theories or platform regulation, with perpetrators including individuals, ideologically motivated groups, alternative media, and political or government entities. 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐬  A relevant number of respondents reported the absence of such measures while underlying the relevance of mapping the gaps to find collective solutions. Respondents also highlight the need for strengthening some of the measures are already in place such as: 👉 Stronger and more rigorous enforcement of existing legal frameworks 👉 More robust legal advice  👉 Enhancing support systems 🔗 Read all results: https://lnkd.in/e-DUUs_5 Adria Digital Media Observatory / ADMO | Baltic Engagement Centre for Combating Information Disorders (BECID) | BENEDMO | BRODhub | CEDMO | DE FACTO_UE | EDMO Belux | EDMO Ireland | German-Austrian Digital Media Observatory (GADMO) | HDMO | IBERIFIER | IDMO | Mediterranean Digital Media Observatory (MedDMO) | NORDIS | School of Transnational Governance | European University Institute

🆕 Latest #disinformation insights, based on 1.812 #factchecking articles by 33 organisations: 📈 False content on the #MiddleEast crisis (13%) more than doubled: debunked narratives suggest an imminent mass resettlement of #Israeli citizens to the #EU, imply military involvement by EU member states, target  UNRWA, and more. Yahya Sinwar’s death was followed by propaganda narratives from both Israel and Hamas. 🌍 #Climate disinformation grew from 7% to 11% in one month, exploiting recent climate disasters in #Spain as well as hurricanes #Helene and #Milton in the #US. In addition to the ever-present circulation of false claims denying global warming, the impact of human activity on it, and the effectiveness of countermeasures to the crisis, narratives included conspiracies about weather manipulation and politically motivated blame games. 🇺🇸 Disinformation about the US #election (9%) focused on questioning the fairness of the voting procedures, multiplying baseless allegations about electoral irregularities, for example alleging that ballots for #Trump were being destroyed or that Democrats allowed irregular migrants to vote. At the same time, false narratives identified in previous months kept circulating, discrediting the Democratic candidates. Elon Musk, owner of X, campaigned for Trump and actively disseminated disinformation on his platform. 👉 All findings: https://lnkd.in/gi45sg23 🤝 With contributions from AFP, CORRECTIV, DemagogCZ z.s., Demagog.SK, Stowarzyszenie Demagog, dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH, Asociația Eurocomunicare, Eesti Päevaleht, EFE Verifica, Ellinika Hoaxes, Fact Check Cyprus, Factico, FactReview, Faktisk.no, Greece Fact Check, Kallkritikbyran, Knack, Infoveritas, Lakmusz, Les Surligneurs, Logically Facts, Maldita.es, Newtral, Oštro, Pagella Politica, Facta News, The Journal Fact-Check, Polígrafo, Stowarzyszenie Pravda, Re:Baltica, TjekDet, and Radiotelevisión Española.